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Tekoa's triple threat

Cook brothers in hunt for B tourney glory

Christopher Rodkey  •  Staff writer
Published March 2, 2006

From top, Austin, Kelly and Casey Cook are brothers and starters for the Tekoa-Oakesdale basketball team in the State B tournament. Austin is a senior, and Kelly and Casey are freshmen. (Holly Pickett / The Spokesman-Review)

It's a good thing Tekoa-Oakesdale doesn't put last names on the backs of their jerseys.

People might get confused.

As the announcer read the names of the Nighthawks starting lineup during Wednesday's matchup against Lummi, he introduced Austin, Casey and Kelly Cook – all brothers, all starters, and all of them hoping to bring a bit of glory back to their small farm town in the Palouse.

"Pretty much our whole lives are basketball," said senior Austin Cook, the team's leading scorer and the oldest of the three brothers.

The Cooks have video games in their home, but they go unused. Instead, nights are spent honing skills at the gym and around the family's basketball hoop.

The three have been playing since they can remember holding a ball. Last year, they were on the same Hoopfest team. This year, they've surprised many in their community with how hard they've worked – and how well they work together.

"This is not something that's been handed to them," said coach Russ Tampien. "They're in the gym more than anyone else, and that includes my own son. I almost have to kick them out to get some rest."

The brothers, all wearing tan khakis, crisp neckties and identical blue shirts on game day Wednesday , attend tiny Tekoa High School, enrollment 66, where the walls are painted in light blue to match the school colors, and the brothers take good-natured teasing in stride.

A picture of their father, Dallas, hangs in the lunchroom, student body president in 1982 and a basketball legend himself. He was on the team that went to state in 1982 but lost to Reardan in the championship game, 47-45.

Tonight, as he sat with the boys' grandparents and other family, Dallas Cook's normally brown hair was bright blue, the result of a bet he made with his sons years ago that if all three of them started in the state tournament, he'd adopt an azure look.

It was a bet few people thought the boys would win.

"I don't think anyone was expecting us to go to state, we were so young," Austin Cook said. Six seniors left the team last year, leaving the door open to youngsters.

With the three all on the same team together, Casey and Kelly put in hard work and made it up to starting positions, and Tampien said they have a family connection while they play.

"They fight and argue like any other brothers, but not on the floor," Tampien said. "Even though the team hasn't been together, they've been together for so long."

Though the soft-spoken boys won't boast of it, Kelly Cook said they have an advantage over other teams.

"After playing together, we kind of know how some things are going to be," he said.

For now, the boys will enjoy the moment, particularly since Austin is graduating this spring.

"It's a once in a lifetime thing," Casey Cook said. "It's going to be different without him when we're playing."

Though the Nighthawks lost their first game Wednesday night to Lummi, 53-45, they'll keep playing throughout the weekend.

But even making it this far has been the real reward, Tampien said.

"It's kind of a dream come true for all of them to be starting in the state tournament together," he said. "Because they've played so much, they've earned the respect of their teammates and the rest of the league."