Check out a complete list of the 2006 tournament leaders, including all-tourney teams, top scorers and top rebounders.

Boys

Girls

It was the last time they'd take the sign down here at the arena.
It's also the last time you'll see runner-up Curlew here. That might be a shame, since they have no seniors on the team this year.
Check out the forums which were active on this topic throughout the tournament.

Not only are the Northwest Christian boys the State B basketball champs with their 54-48 win over Republic, they're also the State B academic champs with a cumulative GPA of 3.660.
That's a well-rounded team, folks.

Congratulations to Matthew Elder and Craig Groth, who tied for the best score in our 2006 State B bracket game.

One point of interest: The last free throw by Northwest Christian might not have affected the championship game's outcome, but it made a big difference in the bracket game. That final point pushed the total game score to 102, meaning the tiebreaker guesses by Elder (109) and Groth (95) were both seven points off. One less point would have given the bracket game win to Groth.

Republic's Derek Gianukakis just blew a breakaway dunk with his team down 13. Would you have gone for the dunk or the layup?
Tell us in the comments of this post.

There couldn't be more contrast in team color this year for the championship, with Northwest Christian's green and gold vs. Republic's orange and black.
In particular, the family of Republic senior guard Adam Hancock was getting ready for the title game with some face painting.
Mom Artie McRae has done some different artwork each day.
For the title game, cousin Cameron Schneider was getting "Tigers" painted on his face.
And daughter Haley's makeup rivals that for the musical "Cats."
"It's the best job I've done," she said.
The family is hoping for a Republic win to add another title to the family warchest -- son Jordan took state in his 135-pound weight class just two weeks ago.

Shot of the day
Tisa Pelletier hit a hook shot from the right baseline at the first half buzzer to give Mossyrock a 23-22 lead.
Top scorers
Roni Jo Mielke, Sprague-Harrington, and Nichole Miller, Curlew, 22 apiece
Top rebounder
Emma Newhouse, Sunnyside Christian, 15
The last word
"In our league, they'll send two, three, and if three don't work, they'll send four at her. She's seen it all before."

Shot of the day
John Graham hit both ends of a one-and-one with 8.9 seconds left to seal Northwest Christian's 35-31 semifinal win over Moses Lake Christian.
Top scorer
Zach Gianukakis, Republic 32
Top rebounder
Derek Gianukakis, Republic 20
The last word
"Yeah, we really notched it up a level. Maybe tomorrow we'll win 37-31."•NWC head coach Ray Ricks, after a 33-31 quarterfinal win and a 35-31 semifinal win.

Fans watching the Moses Lake Christian / Northwest Christian matchup, in addition to getting to see one heck of a basketball game, were treated to a performance by Spokane's own Lewis and Clark Tiger drill team.

It was impressive, all right, but can they hit a three-pointer?

Mossyrock fans (from left) Gina, Karlita and Kim know how to stand out in a crowd. "Last night we were all painted up, and we wanted to do something different," Kim said.

So why the white hats? "Mainly we just want to irritate the three of them," Karlita says, gesturing to their husbands, intently watching the game in the row ahead of them.

In the end, though, Gina says, it's all about supporting the team - and they'll be back tomorrow night with different outfits.

Republic's Zach Gianukakis makes a run down the apron to high-five fans after their 72-58 victory over Morton. Zach took the long way around, but Matt Ciais gave us quite a shock by leaping over the press table to get to the fans. (Photo by Christopher Anderson / The Spokesman-Review)

Gonzaga stars David Pendergraft and Derek Raivio got plenty of attention from Zags fans on the Republic sidelines, but most fans were too busy watching the game to notice (or too polite to stare).

Both were graciously signing autographs for fans (and, if I'm not mistaken, it looks like they may have even brought their own pen), but Pendergraft was the only one I was able to catch in the act.

Some memories are State B aspirations that never materialized.
Colleen De Groot, a center for Sunnyside Christian in the late '90s shared her best memories with us, and as a postscript, she also shared her worst:

"My worst memory of the tournament is not being able to participate in the event as a senior despite an undefeated regular season record (only other team to do that was St. Georges the eventual state champions). With only one berth out of our district, we lost by one point and ended our season to Lyle, who took home the 3rd place trophy that year. A team, we had previously beaten two times.

Sunnyside Christian's boys and girls teams are both playing for the 4th/7th place trophies Saturday, and Toutle Lake's teams are both playing for 5th/8th place, which necessitates some (tidy) game schedule changes.
Please note:

12:30 p.m.

Girls 5th/8th place, Toutle Lake vs. Sprague-Harrington
Boys 4th/7th place, Sunnyside Christian vs. Neah Bay

2:30 p.m.

Girls 4th/7th place, Evergreen Lutheran vs. Sunnyside Christian
Boys 5th/8th place, Toutle Lake vs. St. John-Endicott

Without a doubt the best hairdo we've seen this year is that of Josiah Beasley, a sophomore forward from Liberty Christian. And as unwieldy as it looks, it doesn't get in his eyes when he plays.
Is it as good as ex-Zag, now Laker Ronny Turiaf's mane at its best?
Tell us in the comments, who else has great hair this year?

We're keeping with the water theme for one more post.
The Sunnyside Christian-Lummi game shaped up to be quite a low-scoring affair. Lummi managed just 22 points -- almost 50 points lower than their season average of 69.2 points per game. And Sunnyside Christian didn't fare all that much better with a winning total of 35 points.
For the trivia buffs out there, Lummi's scoring futility was not the lowest point total in boys B history. That dubious distinction belongs to Valleyford, which scored just seven points way back in 1932.

High school bands show loads of spirit. But what to do if the name of your town is too long to put on the slide of your trombone? Waterville senior Cameron Mielke shortened it with the help of the periodic table of elements.
And while we're on the subject of Waterville, here's some trivia to add to the brain sludge: Although the town's name sounds like the area is awash in the hydrogen-oxygen compound, it turns out it's all relative.
From the town's website:

The building of a town on the location of Waterville was conceived by A.T. Greene, who is known as the "Father of Waterville." Mr. Greene relinquished one forty acre tract and he and surveyor J.M. Snow platted the town site. The town was named Waterville in consideration of the plentiful well in sharp contrast to the dry wells in Okanogan.

You can preserve your dignity and still satisfy that mini donut craving, here's how:
Alternate your visits to the Bartlett's Bakers' dozen donut stand. There's one on the northwest concourse and one on the southeast side.

Shot of the day
Toutle Lake's Denali Preston hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to give the Ducks a seven-point lead over Pateros after the first quarter of their loser-out game. TL carried the momentum en route to a 29-point win.
Top scorer
Julia DeKoekkoek, Shoreline Christian, 25
Top rebounder
Stephanie Turner, Dayton, and Nichole Miller, Curlew, 14 apiece
The last word
"It's awesome, just being like 'Yeah, that's our name right there.' It doesn't matter what it's for or anything; it's just there."• Morton guard Miranda Coleman, whose team allowed the fewest points in State B history Thursday.
Addendum: Erika Laete also had 14 rebounds.

Shot of the day
Tacoma Baptist's Jason Shulhauser hit the first of two free throws with 0.8 seconds left in the third overtime to give the Crusaders a 64-63 triple-overtime win over Tekoa-Oakesdale in a loser-out game.
Top scorer
Derek Gianukakis, Republic, 31.
Top rebounder
Derek Gianukakis, Republic, 12
The last word
"We can 'D' it up, we can't always shoot the ball real well. We didn't rebound as well as we needed to, we didn't shoot free throws as well as we needed to, but all in all, we got the job done."• Moses Lake Christian head coach Lonnie Brown, whose team moved into the semifinals with a 48-39 win over Lummi."

Apparently it only takes 5 or 10 minutes to transform from mild-mannered seventh-grade girls into high-power, "most school spirit in the whole junior high" Sunnyside Christian superfans.

You could do it too, as long you have a friend's mom with a little bit of free time and some scarlet and gold paint.

Janelle DeGroot, 12, (left) and Renae Visser, 13, (right) are those kind of fans, although "we didn't have time to do it yesterday." Sunnyside's girls came through anyway, though, knocking off #1-ranked and undefeated Sprague-Harrington.

For tonight's boys game against Northwest Christian, the Sunnyside superfans weren't leaving anything to chance. "We'll do it tomorrow, too," Renae said, then immediately launched into a list of all the great things about Knight basketball. These girls are serious.

And tomorrow they'll be a trio, too. That's 12-year-old Devi Knotts in the middle of the picture, and she'll have a fair amount of ground to make up after missing tonight's pre-game face decoration. A Friday with twice as much face paint ought to do just about right.

When you're under constant auditory assault by pep bands and cheering fans, sometimes you've just got to get away. So Cass Rollinger, 18, of Yakima brought his iPod.

While mixing in some crazy cheers for Riverside Christian, Cass likes to pump the metal, electronica and rap. He shuffled up five random songs for us and offered a few thoughts on his soundtrack for State B.

"The Call Of Ktulu," Metallica. "Old school."

"Without Me," Eminem. "He's white trash, but he's still good. He's got crazy rhymes."

"Low Man's Lyric," Metallica. "Without these guys, none of the bands today would sound like they do. (Points to his Avenged Sevenfold shirt.) They have an old-school feel, but their lyrics mean something."

"Step To Me," Thousand Foot Krutch. "It gives you a feeling of adrenaline."

"The Love Song," Marilyn Manson. "Oh, I shouldn't have that on here. It's really bad."

Sabrina Castro from Granger, Wash., is a Mossyrock fan. Her daughter Corina Allen is a 5-5 guard for the Vikings, and has been to State B three times.

Tonight, though, Sabrina is watching a battle between a couple other teams from her area -- La Salle and Sunnyside Christian -- with husband Emilio. And Emilio easily has the finest mustache in the Arena.

It's the kind of mustache you could use to intimidate the people around you, but Emilio insists he doesn't use his powers for evil. Not on fellow fans, anyway. "Just on my kids," he says. His smile gives him away, though.

Emilio's had the 'stache for a "long, long time," but he did seem willing to part with a few hairs to help a brother out, if Adam Morrison ever comes calling. Other than that, the facial hair's going nowhere.

Which means the real question is: What does Sabrina think? "I like it very much," she says.

'Nuff said.

Tyler Kimmet, 11, of Spokane is a fan of Northwest Christian (and of "Napoleon Dynamite"). He took some time Thursday night to step away from the games and answer some of our burning questions. Thanks, Tyler.

Do you own a liger?

No.

Do you have any sweet skills?

I can talk like Donald Duck! (This was no softball interview; I made him prove it. And he can, in fact, talk like Donald Duck.)

Do you know any freakin' idiots?

Ha! Yeah, these guys ... (motioning to the three buddies he was sitting with)

How are your moves on the dance floor?

I suck at dancing. (He seemed earnest. I didn't make him prove this one.)

Do you believe that, given the proper application of electricity to a specially grown crystal, that you could open up a wormhole and use it to travel back in time?

No.

What is the best tater tot condiment?

Barbecue sauce. Because it's like my favorite sauce. I put it on everything.

Bonus 7th question: What do you like best about State B?

You get to scream at people without them knowing it's you.