T O U R N E Y T O W N  ARCHIVES

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The minuses are twofold: Brewster, the team presumed by many at the season’s outset as the favorite to recapture the title it won in 2000 and 2001, and defending champion Colfax, the hottest team in the state, are both in the Knights’ side of the bracket.

The pluses are also twofold: One, provided it stays in the winner’s bracket, King’s would have to play one, not both of those two powers. And two, the Knights are in the early bracket, playing at 9 a.m. instead of their accustomed spot at 9 p.m.

“I think three of the last four years we’ve played the 9:30 p.m. game,” said King’s coach Eric Rasmussen, whose 21-2 team has lost only to 4A Central Kitsap and to a team from Ohio.

“If you’re in that slot the whole time and you’re continuing to win, it’s taxing. You don’t get to relax during the day because you’ve got the anxiety that goes along with playing in the state tournament.”

In the 2002 tournament, King’s never had a game start before 9:30 p.m., and by the time the Knights beat Brewster 54-51 in a draining semifinal, they were playing on weary legs.

“I thought last year when we played King’s in the semifinals, that was really the championship,” said Brewster coach Bryan Boesel. “I watched that game (the final, won by Colfax 42-32) and King’s didn’t look anything like they did when they played us. They had to play tooth and nail against us, and they didn’t have anything left for Colfax.”

This year could have a similar early-round showdown, with Boesel’s 21-4 team conceivably facing Colfax (23-3) in the second round. The winner would probably then face a semifinal matchup against King’s, which will be favored in the first round against River View (19-5) and would have a second-round game against the winner of Cedar Park Christian (20-5) and Dayton (14-9).

The lower bracket doesn’t have quite the muscle, with its best teams, Tonasket (20-4) and Archbishop Murphy (21-2),  not slated to meet until the semifinals.

“Hey, I’m thinking somebody’s got some political clout over there,” Colfax coach Corey Baerlocher said. “Look at Tonasket’s draw. I’m not saying those teams (in the lower bracket) aren’t worthy of state competition, but I’m thinking what did we do wrong here? Should we have lost that (district championship) game? I don’t know exactly how this shakes out.

“I know this much: Our road is going to be a windy one. It’s going to be interesting.” 

Rasmussen, the King’s coach, would clearly rather not have the specter of a Colfax or a Brewster awaiting them in the semifinals. But he knows that kind of foe would await them sooner or later.

“It sounds like Colfax is playing real well now,” Rasmussen said. “The further you get into the tournament, if you’re fortunate enough to keep moving (in the winner’s bracket), you’re going to face somebody like a Colfax or a Brewster or a Tonasket. There’s not a real good way of getting around them.

“Brewster’s won it two times and Colfax has won it once and was in the other championship game (losing to Brewster in 2001), and they both return enough kids from those teams that you’d have to consider them the favorites.”

Brewster also has the best player in the tournament in Jeni Boesel, who last year missed by just a single vote of winning a third straight tournament MVP honor. The 5-foot-9 guard averages nearly 30 points and just over 10 rebounds per game, drives the lane with the confidence of a collegiate All-America and can shoot 3-pointers all night.

“Brewster has Boesel. You really don’t stop Boesel, you just have to try to stop the others,” said Tonasket coach Gary Smith, whose team has won two of three games against the Bears this year, including .

“Against Brewster, we have to work team-wise to try to channel her and keep her under 30 and hope the others don’t score alot on you.”

Brewster opens against Coupeville (18-6) in a rematch of last year’s 3rd-6th place game. 

The top team from the South Central Athletic Conference, Cle Elum (17-6), finds itself in the late bracket, playing a 9 p.m. Wednesday opener against Bellevue Christian (17-6). With a win, the Warriors would play another 9 p.m. game on Thursday, presumably against Tonasket.

Besides Tonasket, the leading contender in the bottom bracket is probably Archbishop Murphy (21-2), which reached the Tri-District finals before falling 58-45 to King’s.

That could mean that the lower-bracket winner could come into the championship game a little less emotionally and physically worn down than their championship game opponent.

Because whoever survives that top bracket will have been through a war.

“Whoever comes out of that group (of Brewster, King’s and Colfax) will have earned their way into the final,” Baerlocher said. “And, unfortunately, two other teams will come up short. You’re going to be looking at three championship games this week. At least, the competition’s going to be there.”

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