Fame Flees For Injured Cascade Ace

It was his first and only crack at the state tournament, so Adam Barringer was in street clothes Wednesday, his expression understandably glum.

He tried to do what he could for the Cascade Christian Cougars - after leading them in scoring with 17 points a game - but he was limited.

The right knuckle above his index finger was broken in a tri-district tournament game. His two fingers wrapped in a splint, Barringer watched his team go down to the North Beach Hyaks 55-48.

“I couldn’t even clap right,” he said. “I had to use my leg.”

Barringer’s picture is in the state tournament program, but he’s not identified. His name and his scoring stats were left out.

It’s not much of a legacy for a guy who did so much until “I went up for a layin and the guy (from Neah Bay) fouled me and threw me into the backboard.”

Sitting out this dance is the toughest thing he’s had to do, he said, tougher because Cascade beat North Beach earlier in the year with Barringer in the lineup.

His injury may have been the difference between the loser-out game they face this morning and a quarterfinal date tonight with the Chief Leschi Warriors.

At least Barringer was impressed by what the Cougars did in his absence. Matt Rody, a 6-6 junior, had the game of his life and the rest of the team made North Beach sweat it out.

Ticket sales drag

The tournament management’s first oversight was exposed early, when fans were kept outside the Arena well after the start of the 9 a.m. opener, waiting to buy tickets.

“I don’t know what the deal is,” said Bill Edwardson who made the drive from Entiat, north of Wenatchee. “This is the first year this has happened. We’ve been out here 15 minutes and none of the lines are moving very fast.”

A tournament official said responsibility lies with the ticketing agent, G&B Select-A-Seat. He said the problem is being addressed.

Edwardson and his son shrugged off the inconvenience.

“It’s a long day,” he said. “We’ll be here Thursday and Friday, too.”

Not Saturday?

“We’ll watch the championship on TV,” Edwardson said, “and avoid this stuff.”

Watch for Moser

Look for Drew Moser to make his mark at this tournament in the years to come. A ninth-grader for the St. George’s Dragons, Moser averaged more than a point a game this season for every year he’s been in school.

That’s a 9.7 average for a 5-foot-11 freshman.

His 10-point, six-rebound effort in a 10-point win over Snohomish County Christian was an impressive start at this tournament. He sank 4 of 6 shots and had a game-high five assists.

“He didn’t get a lot of opportunities,” coach Jennifer Mountain said. “Usually, he’ll hit a couple more shots than he did today. They manned him up. He’s a big threat against a zone.”

A bad hair day

If blondes - or blonds in this case - have more fun you couldn’t prove it by coach Steve Hudson and his Snohomish County Christian Lions.

They took a 12-7 first-quarter lead over St. George’s. Too bad the lead faded faster than the bleach in the Lions’ hair.

Everybody on the club is a bleached blond. So, to traditional game socks and game faces add a new twist, game hair.

The Lions went blond last week after beating Seattle Lutheran in a district tournament game for the right to go state.

Steeped in tradition

Grant Bafus grew up listening to stories of glory and setback in B Tournament basketball.

The junior guard form Endicott heard it from his father, Darrell, who played for Endicott. His uncle, Allen, also played for Endicott, “back before the co-op,” Bafus said.

That’s before St. John and Endicott were merged.

Bob Bafus, who built a coaching reputation at Colfax, is a “very distant relative,” said Grant, whose sister Brooke, played in the girls championship game here two years ago.

So Grant Bafus, who compensated for a tough 3-for-16 shooting performance by otherwise taking good care of the basketball, has heard and seen a lot of what this tournament is all about.

“It’s pressure but it’s good pressure,” he said. “It gets you real excited for this. I didn’t do it tonight, but usually it makes you play at another level.”

St. John-Endicott is back, trying to recapture the success generated by teams led a decade ago by the all-time leading scorer in this event, Blaze Burnham.

“I watched him when he played here,”Bafus said. “I really looked up to him when I was in first-grade. I asked him for his autograph. He was really cool. He set a good example for a lot of us.”

, DataTimes