The North River Mustangs, the small-town "Hoosiers" from tiny Brooklyn in Pacific County who were featured in Wednesday's Herald-Republic, didn't win any basketball games at the tournament. They only won hearts. The small-town heroes were big-town celebs.

After being eliminated on Thursday with with their second loss, the team was interviewed on Northwest Cable News for a feature that ran that night and again Friday morning, this time with different anchors, each one with a different take on the tournament's "Hoosiers," a reference both to the headline over the Herald-Republic's story and the classic 1986 basketball underdog movie.

On Friday morning, the Mustangs went to Gilbert Elementary as part of the WIAA-sponsored "Teaming Up" program, reading to kids in the classroom and showing them some moves on the basketball court. And the students were thrilled to have the famous "Hoosiers" there.

"And that's what everybody called us, the Hoosiers," said North River coach Les Lande. "It was all, 'How did the Hoosiers do? Oh no, the Hoosiers lost?"

The school's athletic director, Larry Nielson, also made a school appearance, speaking to about 75 sixth- through eighth-graders at the Discovery Lab on his experiences of climbing Mount Everest.

Seventeen of the 32 teams in the 1B tournament visited area schools as part of the Teaming Up program, in which the high school heroes stress the importance of sportsmanship and scholarship to the wide-eyed youngsters.

TAKE A SEAT, LADIES: Tim McKeown has a lot to say at halftime and he doesn't want his TOUCHET girls expending any extra energy jogging around the SunDome. That's why the Indians stay on their bench during the break.

"It's just a little bit of strategy," McKeown explained. "I've got 10 minutes and it's a long way from the girls court to the locker rooms. So we save a few minutes and they're off their feet."

It's energy well saved. In Touchet's charge into Friday's semifinals, the Indians outscored their first two opponents 40-13 in the fourth quarter.

TLG BACK ON TRACK: After missing today's trophy round by a single basket, TROUT LAKE-GLENWOOD's girls departed the SunDome on Friday. For two starters, though, there won't be much rest. The first day of track and field practice is Monday and KINDA VanLAAR and DAVE'Y LUMLEY will get busy helping the Mustangs defend their state 1B championship.

VanLaar, who scored in double figures and hit four 3-pointers in her last two state games, is the reigning 1B state champ in the pole vault and Lumley, who put together 29 points and 10 assists in three games here, is a two-time state placer in the discus.

SOUNDING GOOD: The band playing in support of the Almira/Coulee-Hartline girls was somewhat better than most high school bands, and a great deal older. The band was made up not of students but of community members, ranging from their 30s into their 60s. And they could seriously jam, too.

LOOKING GOOD: That's what Yakima Valley College women's basketball coach Cody Butler — at the SunDome to watch possible recruits — was thinking after watching CLARA HULL's 18-point, nine-rebound performance in Pateros' consolation-bracket victory over ACH and then ALISA MOEHRLE-DRUFFEL's explosive second half in Colton's semifinal triumph over Touchet.

"I like Clara Hull and that Colton number 13 (Moehrle-Druffel)," Butler said. "Both can shoot the ball, both can handle the ball and both can post up. Because they're from a smaller school, they can do everything, they're not specialized. And they both have good work ethics."

Butler was also impressed with a couple of Sunnyside Christian players, center ANDREA SCHUTT — "She played really well last night," he noted — and EMMA NEWHOUSE. "Emma can shoot the ball and she's a physical rebounder. She's another one we'd be taking a look at."

ENJOYING THE MOMENT: After the COLTON girls' semifinal victory over TOUCHET, coach Clark Vining was talking with a friend and noted that his upcoming seventh- and eighth-graders may have even better athletes than some of the kids on his varsity.

"You guys could be the new Colfax," the friend said, and Vining responded how much he'd love that. Who wouldn't? Colfax has won four straight 1A girls titles.

But there was a big difference. After the Wildcats' win on Friday, instead of heading for the postgame locker room team meeting, Vining let his girls celebrate and mill around with fans at courtside for pretty much as long as they wanted — something Colfax coach Corey Baerlocher would almost certainly have balked at. What? Celebrating when there's still another game left to win?

Vining's reasoning was simple. "I thought , hey, you gotta let them enjoy it a little bit. These are the times of their lives. Those are the things I remember from high school athletics, going to state, playing in tournaments. This is only the second time we've ever been to state, and now we're playing for the championship.

"I want them to enjoy it."