NEAH BAY — The Neah Bay boys basketball team starts its quest for a second 1B state championship this school year when it leaves by bus Wednesday morning to Spokane.
These Red Devils know how to win big and they’re hoping that the football title they won in fall — their first — and a second-place finish last year in basketball will propel them to take that next step and bring home a hoops championship.
“Absolutely, [winning the football title] and last year’s experience at state [in basketball] will help us,” Neah Bay second-year coach Gerrad Brooks said.
“I thank God for this opportunity and for what the boys have accomplished and for their hard work and for the challenges ahead of us this week.”
There will be eight teams at state starting Thursday at the Spokane Arena. Only two will return home without hardware but it’s the state championship trophy that is attracting the interest of the Red Devils.
After all, they remember what it was like to win their first football title in late fall.
But Brooks said he knows it won’t be easy.
The Red Devils open against Tri-District opponent Mount Rainier Lutheran, which they beat only 55-53 in the Tri-District semifinals.
But lurking in the shadows for Friday’s semifinals is Sunnyside Christian, the two-time defending state champion that beat the Red Devils 55-50 for the title a year ago.
Brooks said he doesn’t believe his players are overlooking Mount Rainier because of the possible Sunnyside showdown the next day.
“I do not get the sense of that,” Brooks said. “And I won’t allow it.”
For one thing, Mount Rainier is a dangerous senior-dominated team that came back on Neah Bay after being behind 20 points at halftime to take the lead late in Tri-Districts.
“We remember how we let them come back on us,” Brooks said.
In that semifinal battle, the Red Devils ran out of gas late while the Mount Rainier seniors, the team starts five, kept plugging away.
“We hit a wall and they began hitting some buckets,” Brooks said. “We only scored 14 points in the entire second half.”
Once Mount Rainier went ahead, the game went back-and-forth until the Red Devils had a two-point advantage at the buzzer.
“They have a few good shooters and a disciplined team,” Brooks said about Mount Rainier.
“They are a good team. They hung with it.”
All the games except the first-round 13-point win over Tulalip Heritage at Tri-Districts were close for Neah Bay.
After beating Mount Rainier by two, the Red Devils shaded Lummi Nation 57-51 for the title.
“We haven’t been able to put two halves together,” Brooks said.
But on the other hand, the 19-3 Red Devils rarely lose and they haven’t dropped a game down the stretch.
Neah Bay has a balanced team which makes it difficult for opponents to key on any one or two players.
“It has been a total team effort,” Brooks said. “Everyone is stepping up, coming off the bench to contribute.
“Everyone is prepared and ready to contribute [at state].”
And the bad news for the other teams is that the Red Devils are healthy with no injuries or illness going into championship week.
Tyler McCaulley, who has been dealing with a high-ankle sprain the past few weeks, has pretty much recovered from that, Brooks said.
Of all the 1B teams, Neah Bay will have the longest trip to Spokane Arena but Brooks doesn’t believe that will limit the Red Devil fans.
“The community has been very supportive of the team,” Brooks said. “I anticipate a good crowd [from Neah Bay at state].”
Both the Neah Bay boys and girls basketball teams will be treated to a send-off-to-state dinner tonight.
Both teams will leave together on the same bus to state Wednesday morning.
The Red Devils open state against Mount Rainier at 10:30 a.m. Thursday.
The winner plays in the championship semifinals against the Sunnyside Christian-Valley Christian winner Friday at 3:45 p.m. while the losers from the two games play in the loser-out consolation semifinals in the breakfast circuit at 9 a.m. Friday.
The championship game is scheduled for 7 p.m. Saturday.