Almira/Coulee-Hartline girls basketball coach Ben Addink watches opposing players warm up before Wednesday's state opener against St. John-Endicott.   ANDY SAWYER/ Yakima Herald-Republic

Ex-YVCC player returns leading ACH Warriors

By SCOTT SANDSBERRY
YAKIMA HERALD-REPUBLIC

As a coach, Ben Addink is a stand-up guy. Literally.

The Almira/Coulee-Hartline girls basketball coach simply never sits down during a Warriors game. While his carry bag occupies the end bench seat next to his assistant coach, Addink paces the length of the coach’s box, shouting instructions or encouragement, barking out the next play call.

And it doesn’t matter if his team is ahead or behind. He was just as intense and focused in Thursday’s consolation game — in which his team led, 30-6, early in the second half — as he was in the second-ranked Warriors’ opening-round loss to No. 3 St. John-Endicott the day before.

“That’s the player in me,” Addink said. “I’ve got to fight to have the right amount of intensity — being encouraging without being scary.”

At 6-foot-5, Addink might seem a bit intimidating, but he’s armed primarily with a ready smile, a quick wit and his varied basketball experience. His personal odyssey within the game took him from high school in Buckley to community-college ball at Yakima Valley (1997-98 and ‘98-’99 seasons), to four-year university ball at Hawaii-Hilo, and then, after five years away from the game, to coaching in what he calls “the ideal small-town environment.”

Addink came to YVCC to play for the legendary Dean Nicholson, then co-coaching with Leon Rice, and loved his time in Yakima. “I had fun there; it was a great experience,” he said. For one thing, he met his wife-to-be, Jada, at YVCC, and he played on an outstanding Yaks team.

“Our practices were as competitive as games,” Addink recalled. “Our second team was better than some of the teams in the conference.”

In his second year, the Yaks carried a 21-game winning streak into the NWAACC tournament only to lose in the opening round. Addink played well enough to attract the attention of the coaching staff at Central Washington and also, of course, at Hilo.

“That was an odd deal,” Addink recalled. “I could have gone to Central, but I had a full scholarship opportunity at Hilo and I figured it would be the only chance I’d ever have to live in Hawaii. Hey, I was 20 at the time, what can I say? The 20-year-old in me came out.”

After his stint in Hawaii, Addink became a financial adviser and now owns a land-development business, developing recreational property near Lake Roosevelt. Although he lives in Ephrata, a 40-minute drive from Hartline, when the Warriors’ head job came open, Addink didn’t hesitate. And he’s having a blast. In this, his third season, the Warriors brought a 22-1 record and a No. 2 state ranking into the tournament, and much of the populace of the three small towns that make up the school district have been in the SunDome this week to support ACH’s boys and girls teams.

“It’s a great family community,” he said. “It’s an ideal small-town environment, with good people trying to do the right thing. I enjoy it.”

On Thursday, he enjoyed watching his players play well and win the day after their heartbreaking opening-round loss, and hopes they can come back to capture the fifth-place trophy.

“At White River, we lost in the finals when I was a sophomore, and the next year we were picked to win it, lost our first game and went two-and-out,” Addink said. And, of course, YVCC was ousted in his last game with the Yaks.

“They can do something I never had the chance to do as a player — come back strong after losing,” he said. “To get to show what they’re made of.”