Davenport boys win program's first title

SPOKANE - 1961, 2009 and 2023. Those are the three years that the Davenport boys basketball team made the B State Championship game.

The only team to win that game? This year's iteration of the Gorillas, who came back to defeat No. 5 Brewster 65-58 in the 2B State Championship game at the Spokane Arena Saturday, March 4 to capture the program's first state title in school history.

"Most of these kids have been playing together since they were in second grade, and watching them grow up together, fight through adversity, and first state championship in school history, it means a lot," Davenport superintendent Chad Prewitt said. "Coach (Matt) Henry said it best, this is something that the community should be proud of and the school should be proud of."

The No. 1 ranked Gorillas had to get two difficult wins before even getting to the state championship, however.

Gorillas hold off NWC in quarterfinals

There's an old adage in sports: It's hard to beat a team three times. Davenport found that to be especially true if you up that number to four, but the Gorillas did just enough to hold off District 7 rival Northwest Christian 62-58 in the 2B state quarterfinals Thursday, March 2.

The win was, indeed, Davenport's fourth in as many tries against the Crusaders this season.

But No. 7 NWC did not make it easy "Three times is never easy, but that fourth time was real tough," Davenport head coach Matt Henry said. "We know each other so well, and they know our strengths and weaknesses, so that was really tough going in."

The start of the game indicated it might be another double-digit win for Davenport, as the first three matchups between the two schools had been. The Gorillas took a 20-10 lead that was 20-13 after a quarter behind 10 points from Tennessee Rainwater.

But then, Davenport's offense began to struggle, and NWC put up just enough points to draw within three at 29-26 at halftime.

Davenport managed to build a 39-32 lead in the third quarter, but the Crusaders scored seven straight points to tie the game 39-39 with 2:29 left in the quarter.

NWC wasn't done fighting, as Asher West's layup gave the Crusaders a 45-43 lead that the underdogs took into the final quarter.

Then, Rainwater decided his team's goal of a state title wasn't going to end. He scored six straight points and found Cash Colbert for a breakaway layup to give Davenport a 51-45 lead, but the drama wasn't over: he picked up his fourth foul with 5:19 left.

Henry trusted his star, keeping him in the game. The trust was rewarded, as Rainwater put up 15 points in the fourth quarter and 30 for the game.

"We just knew that we had to score. We couldn't be afraid (and) we couldn't back down," Rainwater said. "I think I'm the front-runner to set that atmosphere and set that tone for our offense, so that's what I was trying to do in that second half."

Avi West hit a three-pointer with 1:05 remaining to cut Davenport's lead to 58-54 with 1:05 left, but the Crusaders couldn't draw closer and the Gorillas held on.

Davenport managed a win behind 30 points and eight rebounds from Rainwater and 16 points and 12 rebounds from Colbert.

"Everyone's playing their best basketball right now, and our goal is to do that as well," Rainwater said. "It's a new atmosphere. We haven't been here ever our whole career. Just getting used to this atmosphere and dialing it in and making sure we're executing was big for us down the stretch."

NWC was led by the West brothers. Asher West had 17 points and Avi West scored 15 points. Nate Clark added 10 points for the Crusaders.

The Gorillas earned a win on the defensive end, getting just enough stops to offset several missed layups, 12 missed free throws and a goose egg from the three-point line for Davenport.

"They're seniors, and so I think they have a really good amount of composure that they've gained throughout the years," Henry said. "Even when they made that run, I kind of look around in the huddle and it's fun to see them go 'alright, let's go' instead of some of those big eyes. It's just a composure that I really appreciate."

Gorillas rout Columbia in semifinals

After the No. 4 Columbia (Burbank) Coyotes blew the doors off No. 3 Lake Roosevelt in the second half of a quarterfinal matchup Thursday, one might have wondered if the young and talented Coyotes could challenge Davenport for a state title.

The Gorillas made quite a statement in the 2B state semifinals Friday that that was not the case, never trailing against Columbia en route to a convincing 76-52 win Friday, March 3.

Davenport advanced to the state championship game with the victory.

The Gorillas were rarely challenged all night Friday, jumping out to a 10-0 lead. Columbia managed to score six straight after that, but Davenport responded by pushing the lead back to 10 at 21-11.

"We know they're good and we know that we have to push it to get things going," Davenport senior Brenick Soliday said. "That's our identity and that's how we're going to go the distance."

Davenport made a statement with the three-point shot early after not converting once against Northwest Christian in the quarterfinals.

"Hitting threes takes a lot of pressure off everyone," Soliday said. "Yesterday we weren't able to hit it, but we were more confident and comfortable back on the floor."

Soliday and Jaeger Jacobsen combined to knock down three treys in the first quarter. Colbert added six points and six rebounds in the period to give Davenport the early edge.

The Gorillas weren't done. Davenport pushed the lead to 42-22 by halftime behind 12 points from Rainwater, 10 points and eight rebounds from Colbert and nine points on three treys from Soliday.

"We have a really well-rounded team this year, and we took advantage of that this game," Colbert said. "Last game we didn't hit as many shots as we needed team, and that kind of put a downer on us since we're more of an inside-out team...This game we executed very well because they double-teamed on our bigs, we kicked it out and were able to hit threes."

Columbia briefly cut the lead to 42-28 with a pair of threes in the first quarter, but Davenport made sure the Coyotes wouldn't go on one of their patented hot streaks, pushing the lead back to 20 in a jiffy.

"We really focused on the first four minutes of that third quarter knowing they were going to give us everything they can," Henry said.

That 20-point lead held for the rest of the game, and a strong contingent of red-and-white clad fans roared through the Arena knowing Davenport was one win away from the first state title in program history.

"When little towns like this have the success, everybody's in there and everybody feels like they're a part of it, because they truly are," Henry said. "From our little bitty ball tournament that we put on on President's Day, it's just something that everybody has a part to play. They volunteer, they come to games, they've done these things and so they've earned this just as much as anybody."

Rainwater had another big game with 28 points and 13 rebounds. Colbert added 16 points and nine rebounds, while Soliday had 14 points and Jacobsen had 10 points for the Gorillas.

Tristan Frimodt had 17 points and Quincy Scott had 16 points for the Coyotes.

Gorillas come back to win state title

Davenport had to battle back against a tough, experienced Brewster squad in the championship game that didn't tip off until 9:45 p.m. Saturday.

Much of the talk going into the game was the matchup between Rainwater and Brewster star Kelson Gebbers, who will play for the University of Portland next year.

But it was Soliday who kept the Gorillas hanging around in the first half, knocking down three threes and scoring a game-high 12 points by halftime.

Gebbers held Rainwater in check in the first half, giving up just four points to the Davenport star by halftime and scoring 11 points himself.

Brewster built a lead as large as 24-16 in the first half, but three big threes, two by Soliday and one by Jayvee Fudurich, helped the Gorillas trim the deficit to 31-28 at halftime.

"We always encourage each other no matter what, ups and downs. We keep positivity from Day 1 until now," Fudurich said. "We just keep going, encourage each other, keep (our) heads up no matter what."

The Bears retook an eight-point lead in the third quarter, but slowly and surely, Rainwater began to find an offensive rhythm after missing his first seven shots from the field in the first half.

Back and forth he, Soliday and Gebbers went. Davenport brought the deficit to one point but couldn't retake the lead in the third quarter.

The Bears led 43-42 after three quarters, and tensions rose higher and higher from an Arena painted in red on each side.

But in the fourth quarter, Rainwater took over. He scored 10 points and dished out a couple assists as Davenport took a 51-45 lead with 5:40 left.

Gebbers got a layup, but Rainwater and Soliday returned with two baskets to keep Davenport in front 55-50 with 2:20 left.

Then, Jacobsen's veins filled with ice water. He calmly stepped up to the line and knocked down two free throws to give Davenport a 60-54 lead with 47 seconds left.

But Gebbers proved why he is a Division I player moments later, drilling a three to cut the deficit in half.

Not to be shaken, Jacobsen hit four more free throws in the final 10 seconds.

"Every day in practice, we probably do 30 free throws, and I think I'm pretty decent at them, and I showed that I was," Jacobsen said. "Brenick and all the other teammates were encouraging me the whole time."

Brewster managed just one point in that span, and for the first time, the 2B boys basketball first-place trophy belonged to Davenport.

Rainwater finished with a game-high 25 points, including 21 in the second half, and seven rebounds. Soliday had 17 points, while Colbert had six points and 11 rebounds.

Jacobsen added eight points and five rebounds, while Evan Gunning had seven points for the Gorillas.

Gebbers led Brewster with 23 points and seven rebounds. His brother, Cort Gebbers, added 13 points for the Bears.

Time to celebrate

Davenport celebrated the win in front of an Arena crowd packed with thousands of Gorilla faithful that frequented the tournament all week.

"Every game everyone's out supporting, no matter who we're playing," senior Jesse Raugust said. "The people who were here, they were at the other games. There was no one I saw here that weren't at our other games. So it was crazy to see and awesome to see that they were with us the whole ride."

"I think it brings everyone together," Soliday added. "The whole community was out there supporting us, and I want to thank every one of them."

Emotions flowed for many of the team's 10 seniors, who had to deal with the sting of losing to Lind-Ritzville/Sprague at districts and missing out on the state tournament last season.

"That 100% (motivated us)," Colbert said. "We fought in practice every day. There was arguments. There was blood, sweat and tears. That's kind of the motivation of, we've got to do better, and that is what made us get to this point and I would never regret doing exactly what we did."

Rainwater won his state title after transferring to Davenport from the West Side in eighth grade, opting to stick with the Gorillas despite their 2B, small school status and his individual success.

"I just had a dream when I didn't move schools that I wanted to win a state championship with my brothers," Rainwater said. "That's exactly what we did, and to be able to accomplish that dream and that goal of mine, it means everything to me. I'm really proud of my coaches and all my teammates."

Soliday and Jacobsen won a state title 30 years after their mothers, Stacia (Marriott) Soliday and Andee (Marriott) Jacobsen, helped the Gorilla girls team win back-to-back state championships of their own.

"It means everything," Soliday said. "To bring everything back to Davenport, for the community, for the school, for our program. To do it 30 years (later) is just another blessing."

"They put in the hard work to get where they are, and so did we (with) the same result," Jacobsen added. "It probably grows our family even better."

Now, the program can look ahead to building on the success of the best boys basketball team the school has ever seen.

"I think it really encourages the younger guys," Jacobsen said. "They probably look up to us. Them seeing us win just encourages them to work harder."

"It just establishes the boys program like the girls program. We have a winning tradition," Henry added. "We have something to uphold. We're a state title town now, so hopefully it inspires these young kids like my sons to do what they need to do to keep this tradition alive."

Author Bio

Drew Lawson, Editor

Drew Lawson is the editor of the Davenport Times. He is a graduate of Eastern Washington University.

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