NEAH BAY — Other than watching his kids play, one of Kenrick Doherty Sr.’s favorite parts of going to state basketball tournaments in Spokane is talking with others about the history of basketball in their small towns.
“The history of small-town basketball, if you don’t know it, you’ll know it after your first trip,” he said.
On the second day of last week’s tournament, Doherty overheard two men behind him talking about the time Neah Bay and Sunnyside Christian played for the state championship in 2011.
Sunnyside Christian won 55-50, but the men were talking about the performance in that game of Neah Bay’s Drexler Doherty, who scored 31 points and nearly led the Red Devils to their first state title.
Kenrick Sr. listened for a bit before introducing himself as Drexler’s father.
Both of the men had played in the tournament decades ago, back when it was the B tournament — one for Rearden, and the other for Tonasket. (Kenrick Sr. played in the tournament for Neah Bay in 1987 and 1989.)
And to them, Drexler Doherty, who died in 2013, was part of the state tournament’s history.
The same day as that small-town hoops conversation, the Red Devils, featuring Kenrick Doherty Jr., beat Sunnyside Christian 61-58 to advance to their fourth title game in six years.
The following day, Saturday, Neah Bay crushed undefeated Almira/Coulee-Hartline 73-48 to claim the school’s first state championship in basketball.
Many friends and family and members of the Makah tribe were there in Spokane to celebrate with the team.
Many others were back in Neah Bay, watching the game together on a projector set up in the school’s gymnasium.
‘Basketball is king’
Neah Bay has become a state football powerhouse during this decade, playing in four consecutive 1B state championship games and winning titles in 2011, 2013 and 2014. The Red Devils also played in the 1989 and 1999 state title games.
But the fact that, until now, the school didn’t have a basketball championship just didn’t fit.
“It’s bigger,” Neah Bay coach Stan Claplanhoo said of the basketball title, “as far as basketball’s always been No. 1 in this town, I think.”
It’s no surprise that Kenrick Doherty Sr. agrees with Claplanhoo. He did, after all, name his first son Drexler Dominique Doherty, a nod to former NBA stars Clyde Drexler and Dominique Wilkins.
“Basketball is king around here. Always has been and always will be,” Kenrick Doherty Sr. said.
“It’s just something that cannot be taken away from this community.”
Claplanhoo was a freshman on the first Neah Bay basketball team to earn a state trophy in 1984 (seventh place). He was a junior on the second trophy-winning team in 1986 (sixth place).
One of his teammates on that 1984 team was Rob Moss, Neah Bay’s all-time leading scorer and the father of this year’s leading scorer, Ryan Moss, and Cierra and Cherish Moss, who will be vying for their second Northwest Athletic Conference title for the Peninsula College women’s team this weekend.
Claplanhoo also was teammates with Kenrick Sr. on the 1987 team that went to state but did not place.
“We all played in those Ron Johnson days,” Claplanhoo said of the longtime Neah Bay coach, who died in 2012.
“He always comes to mind. He did for me when we won [the championship].”
So close
Whenever he’s in Spokane for the state tournament, Kenrick Doherty Sr.’s mind turns to his oldest son, who was found dead in Oct. 2013.
“Every time since we’ve been going there, I catch glimpses of Drex out there,” he said.
Kenrick Sr. makes sure that he doesn’t receive all credit for the basketball talent of his four older children — Drexler, Leyton, Kenrick Jr. and sister Kiawnna. (Kenrick Sr. also has a young son, KáTyas.)
He said their mom, Tara McGimpsey, also was a good player, as were her siblings.
Kenrick Sr. also points out that his sons don’t deserve any more credit for what Neah Bay has accomplished than any of their teammates.
“My boys have played a small part,” he said. “In football, there’s eight guys; in basketball there’s five guys. It’s a team effort.”
There have been many players from a lot of different families who have been part of Neah Bay’s success.
The three Doherty boys came along when the program started making championship games.
Prior to 2011, Neah Bay had five state basketball trophies. The highest finish up to that point had been fourth place in 2005.
The 2010-11 Red Devils went all the way to the championship game, falling to Sunnyside Christian by five points.
Drexler Doherty put up 31 points, which was a 1B tournament record at the time, in the final game of his career.
“That was actually one of the first times I saw Drex get emotional,” Kenrick Sr. said.
“He was usually real stoic. He choked up and cried after the game.”
Sunnyside Christian’s coach, Dean Wagenaar, was so impressed with Drexler’s performance that he walked into Neah Bay’s locker room and gave a piece of the net to Drexler.
“He said he deserved every bit of that [net],” Kenrick Sr. said.
“He told Drex that he was a legend.”
Two years later, Leyton Doherty helped lead the Red Devils back to the championship game his senior season.
Again they faced Sunnyside Christian, and again they lost, 44-36.
Last year, Neah Bay, with sophomore Kenrick Jr., returned to the title game. The Red Devils played undefeated Lummi Nation close until the last quarter when the Blackhawks pulled away with a 15-0 run to win 54-33.
Three second-place finishes in five years. Impressive, but painful.
“My older brothers — Drexler, he lost to Sunnyside; Leyton lost to Sunnyside again,” Kenrick Doherty Jr. said.
“And us losing last year . . . Oh, man, it’s just so tough.”
Being a student of the history of small-town basketball, Kenrick Sr. couldn’t help but think of Naselle, which made state nearly every season in the 1960s, 70s and 80s, but settled for five runner-up finishes during that period.
Impressive, but painful.
“It was starting to feel like the Naselle team,” he said.
‘We finally got it’
This year’s Red Devils opened state by beating Taholah on Thursday. That set up a semifinal matchup with Sunnyside Christian.
But instead of the Knights darkening Neah Bay’s title hopes once again, the Red Devils won 61-58, thanks in part to 19 points from Kenrick Jr.
“The first monkey we got off our back was beating Sunnyside Christian,” Claplanhoo said.
“Then, I said, ‘Well, let’s get the other one off our back, too.’”
But to do that, they had to do something no team had done this season: beat Almira/Coulee-Hartline.
Easier done than said. The Red Devils dominated the Warriors for three of the four quarters and rolled to a convincing 25-point win.
They ran all over the Warriors. They pressured them. It was Neah Basketball in its purest form.
“We made the decision [after the third game of the season] we were going to press every game until the end of the season,” Claplanhoo said.
“To get in shape, one, and because that was our team.
“We’ve always played that kind of basketball in Neah Bay: we run the ball, run the ball.
“We’re not tall out here. Tempo is a big-man’s kryptonite.”
Kenrick Doherty Sr. sat next to Leyton Doherty during the championship game.
“He got that glassy-eyed look,” Kenrick Sr. said.
“He looked at me and he said, ‘Dad, we finally got it.’
“And he brought up that fact that Drex was there — he said, ‘He’s here.’ It gets me choked up talking about it.
“[Kenrick Jr.] knows his big brother would be proud of him, just like Drex was proud when Leyton won the first football championship.”
The pride isn’t just a family thing.
“Our community really gets behind these boys,” Claplanhoo said. “Any time the kids can be No. 1 in something they worked so hard at, they’re there for them.”
Basketball isn’t just a boys game, of course. The Neah Bay girls program has made 13 state appearances and brought home seven trophies (the lone Doherty sister, Kiawnna, helped the girls take fifth in 2015).
The boys have been to state 21 times and earned 11 trophies.
And now, the 2015-16 Red Devils are part of Neah Bay and Class 1B history. They’re also the first boys basketball team from the North Olympic Peninsula to win a state title (Port Townsend won the 1984 girls championship).
It’s something they can tell stories about on trips to Spokane when they’re older.
“The kids will talk about this for the rest of their lives,” Kenrick Sr. said.
“When they go there with their kids, they’ll be able to put the story out there about being the first ones to win a championship.”
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Sports Editor Lee Horton can be reached at 360-417-3525 or at lhorton@peninsuladailynews.com.
