YAKIMA — The Yakima Valley may be home to the Washington state wine industry, but for a few hours at the end of the Class 1A state basketball championships it was ground zero of the “whine” industry.
I have been attending the 1A tournament off and on since my high school played in the 1972 championships at the UPS Fieldhouse. But I have never seen a spectacle by a coach like the one I saw in Yakima this year.
Freeman boys head coach Mike Thacker ought to be sanctioned by the WIAA for his boorish, juvenile behavior during his team’s consolation final against the King’s Knights.
In a weekend filled with fantastic performances, class kids, parents, administrators and fans, Thacker was the proverbial you-know-what in the punchbowl.
His team fell into the consolation bracket when they lost a second round game to eventual runner-up Seattle Christian.
The machinations of the tournament meant that the Scotties drew a hot two-time defending state champion King’s team that also had lost in the second round.
The difference between the two teams was speed and size. King’s had it, Freeman did not. It was a recipe for a rout.
The Scotties were held to single digit scoring in each of the first three quarters while King’s built a healthy lead. Entering the final period, the Knights had a comfy 54-26 advantage. And King’s junior point guard Chris Faidley was on the verge of setting a tournament record for 3-pointers.
Faidley, standing 6-foot-1, had spent the night guarded by 5-7 Jason Bailey. Faidley feasted on the diminutive sophomore guard.
With minutes to go and Faidley on the bench, King’s head coach Marv Morris reinserted Faidley into the lineup to go for the record. The Knights set plays, took intentional fouls and did everything they could, but Faidley was unable to get the record breaker. He did finish the game with 42 points and the Knights brought home fourth-place hardware.
But it was Thacker’s behavior in the final two minutes that made the game memorable.
When Faidley reentered the game, Thacker flew from his seat and stalked down court, yelling at Morris.
His behavior sent the Freeman fans into frenzy. They took to shouting obscenities at the King’s bench. The Freeman players took to making the game more of a rugby scrum.
When the final horn sounded, Thacker refused to participate in the traditional postgame handshake.
After seeing his team awarded its trophy, Morris directed the Knights away from the abusive fans and into the locker room.
After the game, Thacker first refused to talk to the press. Finally, prodded by the largest gathering of reporters the tournament had seen, he let loose.
“I have never seen such behavior in 22 years of coaching at the 3A and A levels,” he said. “We were down by 26 points and they were rubbing our faces in it.”
When it was pointed out that his team had allowed the situation to develop over the first 30 minutes of the game, Thacker broke out the glasses and corkscrew.
“We had lost our best player, we were down,” he said. “There was no need to use a fist to fight off a pinky finger.”
The low-class of those statements was compounded by being made in a hallway with his players looking on.
“I teach team basketball,” said Thacker. “I cannot ever imagine doing something like that, taking timeouts and fouls when we are ahead.”
Thacker did give his due to Faidley, but it was a remark veiled in another swipe at Morris.
“Faidley is a great shooter, the best in the tournament right now,” he said. “But doing something like that takes the focus away from kids and puts it on one kid.”
Morris is a longtime prep coach who has a solid reputation for not embarrassing the opposition. Moreover, a reputation for looking out for his players.
“You have to give your kid a chance to set a record if he has that chance,” Morris said. “If I was a player and the coach didn’t do that, I would think he cheated me.”
More important is that Morris kept his decorum and that of his players during the tournament. For that he should be saluted.
While King’s will be thought of as cheaters and ball hogs in the small burg of Freeman, it is Thacker that gave many more of us long lasting memories. He has sullied his profession and owes a lot of people on the rainy side of the hill a big apology.
Morris Malakoff covered the Class 1A state basketball championships for The Enterprise Newspapers. Questions and comments may be sent via e-mail to entsports@heraldnet.com, by fax to 425-774-8622 or by mail to: Sports editor, The Enterprise, 4303 198th St. SW., Lynnwood, WA 98036.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
