By SCOTT SANDSBERRY
YAKIMA HERALD-REPUBLIC

In recent years, teams from the Southwest District have had a habit of underwhelming the rest of the state during 1A week at the SunDome, with the occasional arcing comet and a bunch of early flameouts. In the last couple of years, though, that trend has changed.

Teams from the Southwest regained a measure of respect for their region in the 2004 and 2005 tournament. They came away with five trophies last year (three girls, two boys) and a pair on each court this year. Another measure of the Southwest’s current up-cycle: This year, they won more than they lost in inter-district games in the SunDome. The SW girls went 7-4 against teams from other districts, the second-best mark behind the Northeast (which had both finalists, going 6-0 against non-NE foes). The SW boys were 5-4 outside their district. Not sensational, but not shabby, either.

The Great Eight Tournament, a summer tournament at Seattle Christian, turned out to a precursor of the state boys tournament. The same four teams made the final four, and the same two — Brewster and Bellevue Christian — were in the finals, with the Bears winning a 20-point game.

Overheard after Seattle Christian’s third-place win over White Swan, one SC assistant coach to another, marveling about the Cougars’ Chris Jones: “The guy’s amazing. He had that one where he went up sideways and off-balance and he puts it up soft as a feather. How does he do that? How do you stop that?”

Answer: You don’t. It’s why Jones was the unanimous choice as the SCAC West’s top player.

The final day’s most out-of-nowhere performance in the girls tournament: Katie Carns’ 30-point, 11-rebound one-girl show against Liberty Bell in Napavine’s third-place win. Carns had been averaging single figures over the first three days while shooting under 40 percent from the field.

Lake Roosevelt guard Rhonda St. Pierre had a difficult, if brief, assignment, during the Raiders’ 64-57 loss to White Pass in the fourth-seven place game. After getting poked in the eye — which, yes, qualifies as a foul — she went to the foul line for two free throws. The problem? One of her contact lenses had been knocked out. When she put the lens in her mouth, a referee asked if she needed a moment to replace the lens. She answered no, she could see OK. She hit both free throws. Could she really see OK? “Well,” she said later, “it was a little blurry.”

Somebody grab a tape measure. Whenever White Pass freshman Breanna Moody stands next to some player listed at 6-foot or 6-1, the other player always seems to be looking up at Moody, who’s listed at 5-10. And when White Swan’s boys played Bellevue Christian, the Cougars’ Jones (who’s 6-5 in the roster) was standing next to BC’s Jeffrey Downs (who’s officially 6-4). Downs looked like he was easily two inches taller. But then, the Vikings were winning big; perhaps that does something for the posture.

Seattle Christian boys coach Roger DeBoer not only can coach, he can apparently see the future. In the hotel Saturday morning, he told athletic director Dave Peterson, “Lance Myers is gonna go off tonight.” Peterson wasn’t so sure, considering that Myers averaged less than seven points during the regular season. But DeBoer was adamant: “He’s going to have a great game.”

Myers sank five of six 3-pointers. That qualifies as going off.