1997-11-05-sr-p27-reardan-to-1a

November 05, 1997 Spokesman-Review Page 27:

Reardan’s B tourney days over

It’s a no-win for kids’ as basketball tradition derailed by WIAA ruling

By Dave Trimmer

Staff writer

It’s more than the end of an era, it’s the end of a dream.

Young boys and girls in Reardan go to bed at night with visions of basketballs bouncing in their heads.

They dream of the State B basketball tournament in Spokane, the small-town showcase Reardan has been part of so many times in the past.

Reardan students learned Monday the State B tournament really is a dream, one that won’t come true.

The executive board of the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association ruled Friday that Reardan would have to move up to 1A, leaving the storied Bi-County League for the Northeast A, effective with winter sports, which begin practice in less than two weeks.

“I don’t know, I kind of had it all planned out since I was a little kid, dreaming of playing in the State B’s my senior year,” Reardan senior Rhett Soliday said. “And this is really a blow, especially in the middle of my senior year. I definitely wanted to do what my dad’s done, all my uncles, all my cousins. It was definitely big, I wanted to leave my mark here."

Reardan was bumped up because first-year superintendent Rob Clark reported a mis-

Continued: Reardan/C6

[photo]

Rhett Soliday