By ROGER UNDERWOOD
YAKIMA HERALD-REPUBLIC

Kenneth Fiander sat on a trainer's table Saturday afternoon, awaiting treatment for his left ankle.

"It hurts here," he said, pointing to the lower outside portion of the foot and gesturing to toward the other side, "all the way around to here. Bad."

White Swan's Chris Jones, left, and Kenneth Fiander box in Seattle Christian's Trevor Petersen in Saturday's third-place game.   SANDY SUMMERS/Yakima Herald-Republic

First there would be ice to reduce the swelling -- "my toes have gotten really fat," Fiander observed -- and then there would be taping to stabilize the ankle for a farewell to White Swan basketball for Fiander and seven other Cougars seniors.

They would play Seattle Christian in a Class 1A state tournament game for third and sixth places. But, truth be told, White Swan's season had already been made, adding a compelling chapter to the school's hoops history.

The Cougars' 58-40 quarterfinal crushing of No. 2-ranked Freeman on Thursday night in the SunDome will go down as one of the program's most memorable, ranking with the 1967 shocking of then-No. 1 Ilwaco in Tacoma.

It also assured White Swan's second 1A trophy and first in 38 years, with the aforementioned '67 team having placed second to Prosser.

Such a comparison, with no mention of a championship, might imply that White Swan's boys basketball success has not been as extensive as that of other small-school programs in the state. And it's true that the Cougars' history has not been nearly as glowing as that of Brewster or, closer to home, Zillah.

But even though White Swan has not won a state basketball title, it has a history of which it is intensely proud.

The community's self-esteem has been evidenced by the Cougars' fan support throughout the tournament and was not lost on Michael Downs, who coaches the Bellevue Christian team that defeated White Swan in a Friday night semifinal.

"That crowd was absolutely tremendous," Downs said. "Even when the reserves were in toward the end of the game, they were cheering everything those kids did."

And just as Brewster has had so many Boesels and Gebbers and now Taylors among its hometown heroes, the Cougars have had Fianders, Blodgetts and Mesplies, among others, who for generations have played prominent roles.

Kenneth Fiander, a 6-foot-1 guard, has had an exceptional career despite his ankle injury, which was preceded by a devastating right knee injury during football season.

It was initially believed that Fiander's high school career ended with that incident.

"What Kenny has done to be able to come back and play," coach Ray Funk said, "is nothing short of remarkable."

Funk himself played at White Swan, helping the Cougars to three consecutive Class B state tournaments and earning all-state honors, along with teammate Don Jones, as a senior in 1988. Jones' son, Chris, is a White Swan senior and the Cougars' leading scorer.

In his 10th season as head boys basketball coach, Funk is also the school's athletic director.

Preceding Kenneth Fiander on Funk's teams, meanwhile, were older brothers Michael Jr. and Narcease. Their father, Michael Fiander, played prep hoops at Glenwood.

"Michael Jr. is at the U (University of Washington) and he's very close to graduating," Funk said. "Narcease is preparing to be a carpenter. They're great kids.

"We're waiting to see if someone will notice how well Kenny plays the game and gives him a chance in college, or whether he'll just go to the U and be a student like his brother. He's very bright."

The Cougar community, like most its size, is very close-knit. Also like many, is sports programs sometimes provide athletes with a sense of support and family they don't get elsewhere.

"There are some similarities between some of the situations at Davis," Funk said, "and with some we have at White Swan. The bottom line is you try to be as helpful as you can and to do the right thing."

As a longtime member of the old Yakima Valley A League, the Cougars won their first league basketball championship in 1977 at near the same time that their present gym replaced the tiny, old arena which had permanent wooden stands.

White Swan then competed at the Class B level from 1985 to 1992 in the South Central B League. And some are wondering if the school might drop down again as a result of impending statewide reclassification.

"As Ray Funk the basketball coach, I have different feelings about that than Ray Funk the athletic director," Funk said. "But I'm not really expecting it to happen, although if it does, it does and there's nothing you can do about it."

Funk said the last student count at the high school was 166 in grades 10 through 12, and that the freshman class is proportionately large.

There also appears to be some solid basketball talent coming up for both the boys and girls programs.

There were three freshmen on White Swan's varsity boys roster and two on that of the girls, who on Saturday defeated Coupeville for fifth place in the tournament.

On the way up also is Katie Fiander, Kenneth's sister, who's a sixth-grader. And he refers to freshman Adrian Komaromy, one of the boys varsity members, as his little brother.

"We've sort of adopted each other," Fiander said. "He's going to be really good."

And so should the Cougars, in part perhaps because of what this season's team did against Freeman.

"I feel like we sort of broke a barrier," Fiander said. "We came here as sophomores and went two-and-out, then came back last year and went two-and-out. Winning our first game Wednesday (over Winlock) and then beating Freeman, hopefully that will have a lasting effect."