THE SEASON... THAT DOESN'T END

For some basketball players in Lake County, the season never ends.

Last weekend at The Warehouse in Spokane, several Mission Valley basketball standouts played against other all-stars at the Spring Fling Tournament in a facility built by NBA legend John Stockton right across from Gonzaga University.

For some basketball players in Lake County, the season never ends.

Last weekend at The Warehouse in Spokane, several Mission Valley basketball standouts played against other all-stars at the Spring Fling Tournament in a facility built by NBA legend John Stockton right across from Gonzaga University.

The Mission Valley squad placed third in its round robin play after facing Spokane select teams and squads from the Colville Indian Reservation. This wasn’t the first time since the high school season that these kids have played competitive ball, nor will it be the last. Some Mission Valley players will play until August with the goal of facing the best talent in the region and getting better in preparation for the far off high school season.

Two Eagle head basketball coach Clayton Malatare knows how these spring and summer high school basketball tournaments can help players. While he doesn’t coach his players during this time period, he’s spent several years driving kids to tournaments as far off as the Oregon coast to give them the experience of playing high-level basketball.

Malatare has a first-hand example of how tournaments can help players improve in Two Eagle standout Artie Mendoza. Nicknamed “Sweetness,” Mendoza is a streak out on the basketball court, showcasing incredible moves to the basket and an ferocious will to win. Mendoza had no problem scoring 20 on a said night this season and Malatare thinks his work during the summers definitely helped that.

“From his first year of JV basketball to now, it’s a 360 degree turnaround,” Malatare said. “He’s so much better and he has a lot of confidence. The players face a lot of state championship teams all the the time at these tournaments from Idaho, Washington, Oregon and Montana.”

Malatare said he remembered taking a junior high team that included his son, Clay, Polson basketball players Lewis Mohr, Sheldon Fisher, Ronan’s Marley Tanner and Edmond Dupuis, Arlee’s Junior Sansavere, Two Eagle’s Marcus Brown and Mission’s Stuart Grant to a tournament in Ft. Hall, Idaho. That team of the future ”who’s who” of Mission Valley basketball bulldozed teams in the tournament.

“Those guys went through the tournament unscathed and in the championship game they were up by 40 points in the third quarter,” Malatare said. “The other team quit and didn’t play the fourth.”

Malatare said that these spring and summer tournaments give high school kids from the Flathead Reservation something positive to do and it keeps them busy and focused.

“It’s something for them to have, if they start to feel down they can look back at those memories from these big tournaments and nobody can take that from them,” Malatare said.

It’s no secret that basketball is big in Lake County and on the Flathead Reservation. Walk into the Ronan Events Center to a packed crowd for a divisional or district championship game and you know. Walk around the packed streets in downtown Polson during Hoopfest and you know. Sign up for the numerous 3-on-3 tournaments held in the valley during the summer and you know. It’s a big deal.

“It’s unbelievable,” Malatare said of players’ passion for the game. “Sometimes we’d stay in just two rooms because that’s what we could afford. Some kids wouldn’t want to go if they didn’t get their own room but kids around here would sleep in the car if they had to. Kids just love basketball over here.”

It’s basketball that has helped many kids get through tough times. Malatare’s own son had to deal with the death of his grandmother a few years ago just before one of his games. His grandmother had told Clay that she wanted him to play the game.

“It has helped my son get through some tough times,” Malatare said. “It was one of those things that happened, his grandmother wanting him to play the game, that just means the world to him. You’ll see some of these kids come in that are going through some tough stuff and when they get on the court, they’re smiling, joking around and having a good time.”

While the tournaments, the travel and the lodging aren’t cheap, Malatare said that he’s even taken out a few loans to make sure he can get kids to these tournaments. Malatare, who’s lived in Arlee for nearly two decades, started taking teams to tournaments six years ago, and despite the high cost, has found a way to give kids a chance to experience strong competition.

“The first time I did it, it was mainly Arlee kids,” Malatare said. “Parents further north heard about it and were wondering about it. I took it on myself to help them out.”

Foster & Durgeloh Funeral Home in St. Ignatius has helped Malatare with the costs even when there aren’t any Mission kids on the team. Malatare said that he helps out people if they don’t have the money to send kids to tournaments because people have done the same for him.

“There are people that have taken Clay to tournaments when I haven’t had the money to send him,” Malatare said. “We take them. We find a way to take them.”

The Mission Valley team that was in Spokane last weekend was a nice cross section of Arlee, Mission and Two Eagle players. Josh Reed vacuumed up rebounds like he did for the Warriors, Stuart Grant faked a drive and pulled up for a nothing-but-net three-pointer and Clay Malatare made a sick bounce pass that would make Chris Paul clap approvingly.

You’ve seen it before on basketball courts around the county, this time it happened against some of the best players in Spokane. While off the court, Malatare expects the players to stay out of trouble and said he hasn’t had any issues whatsoever. The kids get to experience cities and towns that they might not otherwise travel to.

“They coach themselves during these tournaments,” Malatare said. “We take them and they enjoy themselves. When we go, we try to show them the area and give them an experience. When we went to the Oregon coast for a tournament some of these kids hadn’t seen the ocean.”

On the court, it’s talented kids going up against talented kids.

“It’s great,” Malatare said. “Everything is two steps quicker — every pass and shot. The game is played so much faster. It gets all these players to be able to know that once they get to the high school season they’re able to play against anything and at any speed.”

Malatare points to Mendoza’s one-step quickness on the court. Anyone who’s seem him accelerate toward the basket knows he can go from zero to layup in the blink of an eye.

“They learn how much they have to work,” Malatare said. “They see some of these teams with talented kids and see how they have to evolve into a better player. They have to work, there are kids out there that are better. We think we have good shooters on our team and when we go to these tournaments, they blend in with the other shooters there.”

Malatare’s own team is a perfect example. The Eagles looked much improved from the previous 2010-2011 season and went on to advance to divisionals for the first time in nearly half a decade.

“When kids come in after playing all spring and summer it gives us an advantage skills-wise and mentally,” Malatare said. “The kids can handle anything. Like at districts when we slowed it down against Superior, the Bobcats were surprised and weren’t prepared. They had thought we were going to run with it.”

When the Arlee basketball team made the run to the Class C championship game last year, several of the kids on the roster had spent springs and summers traveling to these tournaments.

“That’s satisfying to see what those kids did,” Malatare said. “You just see all the smiles while they’re playing basketball and it warms your heart.”