LRS finishes fifth in 2B tournament

SPOKANE — It didn’t go down like they thought it would, but sometimes all you can do is roll the dice and see how it all shakes out.

The Lind-Ritzville/Sprague boys basketball team has been playing together since they were in the third grade. It’s not a team, it’s a brotherhood and they took it as far as they could before losing to Brewster 63-46 in the game for third-fifth place. They’ve been a Chinook swimming against the current all season, but now that it’s all said and done, fifth place in the state of Washington is pretty good for a team that finished fifth in its district and came into the 2B tournament with 10 loses.

“It’s been a great run and a great way to end my career as a basketball player with my best friends,” senior Dallas Killian said. “These guys have been with me since third grade. There’s no better way to end it than playing hard with them.”

The Broncos were the third team in the past four years to win a trophy at the state tournament. Bringing home hardware is as much tradition as playing hard and pushing the envelope. Dylan Becker carried the trophy as the team filed out of the locker room, tucked away in the under belly of the Spokane Arena. Down the hall, Spokane Chiefs banners hung with pride telling of Western Hockey League and Memorial Cup exploits. For the Broncos, their piece of hardware was every bit as important to them and their fans.

“It’s nice to get here. We’ve been together so long. We’ve worked hard all season, which is how we got here in the first place,” Becker said. “This trophy means a lot. At the beginning of the year none of us knew how good we really were. We’ve had our ups and downs, but once we got here we knew we could play with anyone. It’s a big state and fifth is pretty good.”

Brewster’s only loss of the season came night before against Northwest Christian in the Class 2B state semifinals, so the Broncos (19-12) knew it was going to be game-on from the opening whistle. The Bears (26-1) finally broke it open midway through the third quarter to win running away. Edgar Najera, Chance Williams and Timbo Taylor had 15 points apiece for Brewster.

Broncos senior Jacob Saetre finished with a game-high 21 points. In the stands, his niece — five-year-old Jordan Saetre of Ritzville — held a poster saying “Go Uncle Jacob” high and proud. She had no idea what it meant when Uncle Jake drew his third foul in the second quarter, she was just rootin’ for the boys. Saetre drained a three-point basket in the opening minute of the second half to cut into a 14-point Brewster lead. Killian knocked down another from beyond the arch on the next possession and it looked like the Broncos might have something going.

But the Bears went on a 16-2 run to take complete control.

“We played with no fear, but I knew the three-ball wasn’t falling for us. So I tried to do something different, whether it’s me driving and dishing or driving and drawing the foul,” Saetre said, who was eight of 14 from the field. “We have nine seniors on this team and we’ve been playing together since the third grade. This has been our goal from the very beginning - to be playing at the Arena during the state tournament. We came together as a brotherhood to get it done and it absolutely means the world to me.”

Lind-Ritzville/Sprague head coach Dustan Arlt has been there every step of the way. He took over the high school coaching job when they were all fifth graders. There’s been a lot Bronco camps, road time and sweat that’s gone into what fans in the Arena saw Saturday night.

“If you’d of asked me a month ago, two months ago would we be playing on the last day of the state tournament and trophying, I’d of been pretty pleased,” Arlt said. “I’m excited for the group of seniors we have. I’ve been with them a long time. I taught some of them in elementary school and refereeing their pee wee games. They represent our town well.”