It may be hard to believe, but everything was not smooth-sailing for the Redmond Mustangs boys’ basketball team, which capped an unbelievable season with a fifth-place trophy at the Class 4A state tournament in March.

The senior-laden squad began the season with a 1-3 record, including losing its first two league games.

Head coach Jeff Larson told his players to do some soul-searching, and since then, they continually found a way to win, culminating in a brilliant postseason run that included three straight state-tournament wins.

“The two things that stood out with this team was their willingness to persevere… and that they refused to lose faith,” said Larson, in his fifth season with the Mustangs. “(Our start) was frustrating, but they just never gave up or lost trust.”

The Mustang boys’ basketball team has been named the Reporter’s Team of the Year for earning the program’s first trophy since 2001 and having the best basketball season since 1996 when Redmond placed fourth at state.

UNSELFISH UPPERCLASSMEN

With an unprecedented nine seniors making the varsity squad last winter season, Larson knew that his group had all the tools and experience to achieve greatness, but the team’s success would depend on how much they would trust each other.

“Unselfishness,” replied Larson when asked what he emphasized the most last season. “We had so many pieces, we had the right personalities, the right skills at different positions. If they were willing to be unselfish, share the ball, and do the little things, I knew we would have a chance to succeed.”

That willingness to give up one’s personal stats for the greater good took some time to realize, but once the Mustangs were able to play as a team, great things started to happen.

Like how Redmond pushed undefeated Garfield, ranked No. 4 in the state, to double-overtime, nearly pulling off one of the major upsets in 4A Kingco history. And how the Mustangs defeated rival Eastlake twice, the final time on Senior Night, thanks to a miracle buzzer-beater by star guard Chris Harrington.

“Trust and believe was our motto and we did that pretty well,” said senior forward Willie Gonia. “When we didn’t play team ball is when we started to fall apart, in our first couple games. We had a big talk about it… and when we started getting that we started clicking, and playing all-around good basketball. Everyone knew their position on the team and what they had to do.”

Larson also marveled at his team’s ability to peak towards the end of the regular season and in the playoffs when the games counted the most. He felt it may have been because his nine upperclassmen, many of whom had been playing together since elementary school, simply wanted to continue to play together as long as possible.

“I think as we got closer to the end, having nine seniors that were such a close group, it wasn’t so much the wanting to win that was motivating, but the fact that they could see the end coming,” Larson explained. “They realized that every practice, every game now was closer to the last time they were ever going to play high school ball. It gave them just a little bit extra in terms of everything.”

SENIORS SHINE AT STATE

After surviving two loser-out games just to make it to Tacoma and then getting routed 66-36 by eventual runner-up Federal Way in the first round of the state tournament, the Mustangs suddenly had their backs to the wall, knowing every game from then on out could be their last.

“Every high school basketball team’s goal is to get to the state tournament, but once you realize that part of it … it doesn’t take long before your goal is truly to bring home a trophy,” Larson said. “We wanted to play (Federal Way) and give them our best shot, but if they beat us, it wasn’t enough to quit playing … We wanted to play on Saturday.”

In order to bring home some state hardware, the Mustangs needed to pull off consecutive victories against some tough competition, namely the Todd Beamer Titans of Federal Way and the Mariner Marauders of Everett, the latter having won nine of their last ten games heading into the state tournament.

The Mustangs came through, and on Saturday were crowned the fifth-best team in the state after a thrilling 70-64 double-overtime win over Lake Stevens.

“We just love playing with each other,” said Harrington, who scored a tournament-high and career-high 34 during Redmond’s final game, including two free throws with no time left in regulation to force overtime. “Before every game we said, ‘this isn’t going to be our last game.’ We wanted to play as long as we can, and that kept us going.”

While the starting five may have gotten the most attention, Larson made sure to credit each and every one of his seniors for being a part of a stellar season that will never be forgotten.

“Every one of those players truly contributed,” Larson said. “I’ve never had nine seniors on a team. I would not have kept nine seniors if every one of those players couldn’t contribute when we needed them.”

Larson continued to explain how difficult it is to ask a 17- or 18-year-old young man to be able to find happiness in being part of the whole, despite not getting much playing time. He said he believes that getting players to understand that philosophy was the key to the Mustangs’ brilliant postseason run.

“I give so much credit to them, through the regular season, the playoffs and the state tournament, because not all nine of them played as many minutes as they would have liked,” said Larson, who coached at Wood River High School in Hailey, Idaho before returning to Redmond in 2004. “The contributions were not just during games–for example the energy that Abdul Tufa and Willie Gonia brought to every practice. The personalities when we traveled to California, the way different kids brought fun, different types of humor, and just made the team complete.”

NOT YOUR ORDINARY FANS

No article mentioning the boys’ basketball team at Redmond High would be complete without credit to the Mustang “Superfans,” who came out in droves to all of the Mustangs’ games, even at the state tournament, to support the green and gold.

“Words can’t describe it. This is sincere: I’m the luckiest coach in the state to coach at Redmond because of the Superfans we have,” Larson said. “It is so exciting and gratifying, whether we’re home or away, to have the Superfans behind us. They motivate the guys more than I ever could, because kids want to play well for their friends and for their school. They bring an excitement, and that’s what high school athletics is all about.”