By ROGER UNDERWOOD
YAKIMA HERALD-REPUBLIC

It wasn't the best night, for either him or them.

Zillah's Scottie Riojas scrambles for a loose ball against Cascade Christian on Saturday.   ANDY SAWYER/Yakima Herald-Republic View photos for this game

But in the grand scheme that is so frequently obscured by the combination of youth and defeat, Scottie Riojas will come to feel much better about Saturday night and what Zillah's presence in the Class 1A state championship game truly meant.

"Yeah," the 6-foot senior said outside a quiet Leopards locker room after their 71-59 loss to Cascade Christian, "we wanted to win and thought we could win. But if you stop and think about it, being second in the whole state isn't bad. How many people can say they played on a team that ever got that far?"

Especially when his three previous teams hadn't even qualified for district.

So if Riojas was among those with long faces and red eyes while the Cougars of Puyallup celebrated their second straight state title in the SunDome, he was later able to appreciate the trophy Zillah had won.

After 15 consecutive state appearances, including a championship in 1994 and a runner-up finish two years later, the Leopards went three successive years without a postseason game. Riojas played some as a freshman on the first tourney-less team, then started on the final two.

"I always came up here and watched the tournament," he said, then managed a smile and gestured to his state tournament sweatshirt. "But I never bought one of these. I always told myself I'd get one free for playing."

He concluded his Zillah career in typical fashion, scoring 10 points and providing solid overall play.

"Scottie's had his ups and downs in the program," said coach Doug Burge, whose very first Leopards team won it all. "But he's hung in there and worked hard, and he's helped us get back to a level we'd been accustomed to."

For inspiration, Riojas wears a tattoo of the Red Hot Chili Peppers logo on his right shoulder. It honors lead singer Anthony Kiedis, he said, and Kiedis' life reversal from drug addiction and other problems.

"He's changed his life," Riojas said. "I haven't had the type of problems he's had, but I use his example to try to make myself better -- as a person, as a basketball player and in school."