Wary of looking beyond the business at hand, Zillah’s boys basketball team tried not to look ahead when the Class 1A state tournament draw was announced last Sunday.

But despite the warnings, most of them simply couldn’t help it. Especially the seniors.

Should all go well during the first two days in the SunDome, the Leopards saw it looming in the semifinals on Friday like a distant rumbling on the horizon.

Brewster.

“You have no idea how big a deal that is to us,” said Andy Jones, one of Zillah’s seven seniors. “We saw the brackets and we knew if we played well we’d get a chance to play Brewster. Now we’ve got that chance.”

The Leopards, riding a 19-game win streak, will indeed take on the top-ranked Bears, who have won 23 in a row, Friday at 4 p.m. in the first semifinal. Considering that Brewster has pretty much owned the joint here, reaching the championship final in each of the past three years, Zillah’s players are understandably thrilled about trying to derail another Bears’ march to Saturday night’s main event.

“They’re tough, we know that,” said Justin Rico, who pitched in 25 points in Thursday’s 73-53 quarterfinal win over Overlake. “Take nothing away from them, they’re No. 1. But that’s a team we want to beat.”

Friday’s matchup permeates with the rich tradition of small-school state basketball. With Brewster and Zillah, the legacy before them is over a half century old and counting.

Zillah is appearing in its 31st state tournament. Brewster’s been in 29.

The Bears have played in 106 state games heading into Friday, the Leopards have participated in 104.

Zillah has collected 17 state trophies, Brewster 22. And add one for each thanks to their impressive wins on Thursday.

Despite that rich history the two programs have met only three times in state play and Brewster has won all three, most recently in 2003 and 2001.

The coaches, Zillah’s Doug Burge and Brewster’s Tim Taylor, have a great deal of respect for each other and have even gone head-to-head on the court in what Burge recalls as post-college “old-man leagues” in Whatcom County.

“You can always count on Zillah being athletic and quick,” Taylor said after his team took apart Freeman, 72-30. “Doug was a tough point guard and he’s a good coach. It should be a fun game.”

The Leopards face the daunting task of dealing with Tim’s son, 6-foot-3 senior Michael Taylor, who’s headed to Eastern Washington University.

Burge didn’t want to confirm that defensive specialist Chris Gasseling would get that job.

“We may put all five guys on him,” he joked. “They’re a great team with a great player, but we’re athletic and we have a lot of heart. All we wanted was the opportunity and now we can go out and give it our best shot.”

“There will be a lot of ups and downs in the game, I think,” Rico predicted. “It’ll take a lot of heart and a lot of guts to beat them. But heck, playing the No. 1 team to get to the championship, who wouldn’t love that?”

A victory would give Zillah the chance to play for the championship for the first time since 1996. Not that any extra motivation is necessary.

“The kids are excited and we’re getting a ton of fan support,” Burge said. “We’re all smiles today.”

Even those fans worked up the courage to chant “Bring on Brewster” in the final minutes of Thursday’s win.

Well folks, game’s on.