It's Title X For Garfield -- Hairston Takes Record Fifth Over Redmond
CUTLINE: ROD MAR / SEATTLE TIMES: PHIL RODMAN, CENTER, OF KENT-MERIDIAN FIGHTS FOR A LOOSE BALL WITH DAMON NOVELL OF FERRIS WHILE CHRIS SCHLECHT, LEFT, OF K-M AND JUSTIN THOMAS OF FERRIS WATCH. RODMAN HAD 21 POINTS AND 14 REBOUNDS, BUT IT WASN'T ENOUGH FOR THE ROYALS. (PHOTO DID NOT RUN IN FINAL EDITION.)
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Jo Jo Rodriguez still clutched the nickel as Garfield players, coaches and fans clogged the center of the Seattle Coliseum floor after the Bulldogs beat Redmond 63-51 for the school's 10th Class AAA boys state basketball championship.
``I'm going to have it framed, and I'm going to present it to him,'' said Rodriguez, a Garfield assistant coach.
``Him'' is Garfield Coach Al Hairston, who found the nickel under his chair before Thursday's quarterfinal game. Two days later, he found himself the state's most proficient coach at winning AAA boys basketball titles.
Garfield's 10th title, which extends its own record, is Hairston's record fifth. Hairston, in his 12th season at Garfield, had been tied with retired coaches Irv Leifer of Renton and E.L. ``Squinty'' Hunter of Lewis and Clark with four titles each.
``When I walked over to my seat before Thursday's game, and the nickel was sitting under my chair,'' Hairston said. ``I turned to Jo Jo and said, `We're going to win by five,' and he said, `No, that means you're going to win your fifth championship.' ''
The nickel never left Hairston's possession last night.
The Bulldogs (28-1) jumped to a 15-7 lead and never trailed, extending it to the final margin.
``I've been rubbing it all night,'' Hairston said of the nickel. ``When it was all over, I flipped it to Jo Jo and said, `All yours.' I don't know if it made any difference or not, but it was just one of those things when you're reaching for something extra.''
Bryant Boston provided all the extra Redmond could handle. The tournament most valuable player scored the first four points of the game and 14 of his game-high 25 in the first half as the Bulldogs sprinted to a 25-14 lead before settling for a 25-20 lead at the half.
Boston said the Bulldogs wanted to win it for Hairston.
``And for ourselves, too,'' the University of Washington-bound guard said. ``We talked about it, but he told us to go out and win for ourselves and then think about all the other things that come with it.''
Some salient points about last night's victory:
-- It broke a string of three straight losses to Redmond, including a 59-50 loss in the 1989 state title game.
-- It helped the Bulldogs avert a third straight title-game loss, which would have been a state record.
-- It gave Garfield the title in its last season at the Class AAA level. The Bulldogs will drop with the rest of the Metro AAA League into a 15-team Metro AA League next fall.
A crowd of 10,267 watched Garfield avenge a 71-54 loss to the Mustangs (24-5) in last Saturday's Sea-King District title game.
``It's special, very special,'' Hairston said of his fifth title. ``After coming down here twice and leaving empty-handed, it's really nice to get this out of the way - especially since it's our last chance.''
It was Boston's last chance, too.
``This is the third year I've played in this game, and we finally did it,'' Boston said. ``It feels real good. I keep thinking that I'm dreaming, but I guess I'm not.''
Redmond players will attest to that. Boston was a Mustang nightmare.
``He turned it up,'' Hairston said. ``I hate to put pressure on a kid like that, but I said to Bryant and LeNard (Jones), `You're our go-to people. When it's time, you've got to step forward and turn it up.' That's exactly what Bryant did.''
Jones didn't do badly, either, adding 13 points, including his daily dunk - a flying, two-handed jam on a fast break during a 6-0 Garfield run to start the second half.
``We didn't play good at all,'' Redmond's Barry Johnson said. ``We just couldn't do anything. We went back to January instead of March.''
In Redmond's most unlikely performance of the season, its most unlikely reserve stepped to the spotlight for the Mustangs.
Ray Ailus, a Finnish exchange student, who averaged 4.7 points per game this season, came off the bench to lead Redmond with 18 points.
``I didn't even know what to do with him,'' Hairston said. ``We didn't even have him in our scouting report. Our coaches looked at each other and said, `Where did he come from?' ''
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GARFIELD'S STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS
-- Garfield won its record 10th Class AAA state boys basketball championship last night and the record fifth for Coach Al Hairston. Here is a look at the Bulldogs' titles:
Year Record Coach Opponent/Score .
1991 28-1 Al Hairston Redmond, 63-51 .
1987 24-5 Al Hairston Roosevelt, 63-60 .
1986 24-3 Al Hairston Curtis, 51-41 .
1983 21-7 Al Hairston Walla Walla, 44-42 (OT) .
1980 25-0 Al Hairston Bellarmine, 59-53 .
1978 20-2 Fernando Amorteguy Sammamish, 58-56 .
1974 24-0 Fernando Amorteguy Richland, 79-67 .
1962 16-5 Ron Patnoe Bothell, 36-34 .
1961 19-3 Ron Patnoe Ballard, 58-51 .
1955 17-1 Bob Tate O'Dea, 46-38 .
# Note: The Metro League did not play in the state tournament until 1945, even though the tournament began in 1923.