T O U R N E Y T O W N  ARCHIVES

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That isn’t the official name for the little basketball park in the middle of town. The boys call it The Cage because that’s what it looks like: just a patch of blacktop surrounded by a 12-foot-tall chain-link fence, within which stand its sole attractions -- basketball backboards with metal rims and chain nets, overlooking courts with lines faded by years of rain and Reeboks, by the footfall of young basketballers hoping to make the high school team at Hoquiam and nearby Aberdeen or trying to relive past glories.

Or, in the case of the Hoquiam Grizzlies, to ensure future glory. In rugged, no-blood-no-foul, winners-hold-the-court games.

“Next season starts tomorrow,” Grizzlies junior Jeff Wayman said Saturday afternoon after scoring a game-high 19 points in a 64-39 victory over Ilwaco in the Class 2A fourth-seventh place game. “Lifting in the weightroom at school, basketball at the YMCA and at The Cage.”

But nearly perfect — 26-1 — wasn’t good enough for the Grizzlies, who came into the tournament with an unblemished record. Their one loss came against Nooksack Valley in the quarterfinals, and even though the Grizzlies were glad to finish the season with two victories and the fourth-place trophy, their postgame celebration Saturday was somewhat muted.

Because, as coach Brian Grun said, “We have some unfinished business.”

“Our goal was the state championship,” said junior forward Jeff Niemi, who will be one of four returning starters next year. Once we lost to Nooksack Valley, we knew we could still play for fourth place, and we did that. Top four in state in nothing to be ashamed of. But we want to do better than that.

“We’ll probably be ranked No. 1 at the beginning of the year and have that bullseye on our chest.”

They’ll likely have that ranking because they’ll return Wayman, Niemi, 6-foot-6 center David Brittinen and sharpshooting guard Justin Reed, four starters from a team that won its 23 regular-season and district games by an average of 21.1 points, five times scoring more than 80 points with a high of 95.

But the one starter they lose, Tim Grun, will be dearly missed — the point guard, the distributor, the glue guy, the defensive stopper, the league MVP.

“He’s our best defensive ballplayer,” Niemi said of Grun, the coach’s nephew. “He can stop guys like Nate Alanko (of La Center, a 24-points-a-night scorer). Plus, he distributes the ball; he’s a great floor leader.”

“He was our main man. It’ll be weird not having him,” Wayman said, then added with a grin, “Maybe we’ll bring him back as a coach or something.”

The Grizzlies will probably move Reed from shooting guard to the point, but filling the leadership void left the young Grun might become a leadership-by-committee: Seven returners from this year’s squad will be seniors next March.

“Most of us juniors were playing together back in fifth-grade AAU ball, except Brittinen; he didn’t start basketball until seventh or eighth grade,” said Niemi. “We weren’t that good in the fifth and sixth grades. But now we’ve been playing together so long, you know them all so well, what they’re going to do next.”

Next? That’s easy.

Head for The Cage.

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Tourney Bracket
:: Boys tournament
 
Other Games
Saturday
:: Lynden Christian 60, Kiona-Benton 54
:: Hoquiam 64, Ilwaco 39
:: Chewelah 63, Cashmere 52
:: Nooksack Valley 56, Pullman 54
Friday
:: Lynden Christian 70, Steilacoom 63
:: Kiona-Benton 52, Othello 45
:: Ilwaco 45, Connell 39
:: Hoquiam 48, Lakeside 46
:: Pullman 57, Cashmere 40
:: Nooksack Valley 68, Chewelah 36
Thursday
:: Lynden Christian 58, Meridian 55
:: Steilacoom 70, Ridgefield 39
:: Othello 71, Chimacum 57
:: Kiona-Benton 66, La Center 47
:: Cashmere 48, Connell 44
:: Pullman 67, Ilwaco 37
:: Nooksack Valley 59, Hoquiam 40
:: Chewelah 66. Lakeside 51
Wednesday
:: Connell 57, Lynden Christian 45
:: Cashmere 52, Meridian 39
:: Pullman 70, Ridgefield 57
:: Ilwaco 50, Steilacoom 35
:: Nooksack Valley 70, Chimacum 42
:: Hoquiam 54, Othello 53
:: Chewelah 50, Kiona-Benton 28
:: Lakeside 66, La Center 51
 
Latest Statistics
:: Boys tournament
 
Team Capsules
:: Boys tournament

Record Books
:: Boys records
:: Boys champions
:: Boys all-time scoring leaders
 
District Results
:: Boys tournament
 
Girls Tourney
:: Girls tournament