The Mustangs: back row, coach Ryan Surface, Bradyn Schmekel, Raiff Reichert, Quincy Scott, Morgan Spellman, Lucien Paz, coach Colt Scott. Front row: Mac Surface, Cade Hink, Remi Paz, Bodie Thomson.
The Methow Mustangs sixth-grade AAU boys’ basketball team won five games by an average of more than 29 points to take the state championship in Spokane last week.
The same group of boys won the state championship in the fifth-grade competition last year, so it’s consecutive titles for the Methow Valley team.
In the championship game last weekend, the Mustangs overwhelmed the White River Sting, 67-36.
The Mustangs’ record for the season, which started last November, was 44-5. That includes a record of 11-3 against seventh-grade opponents. And the schedule included no home games. The team’s closest competition was at a tournament in Omak.
The Mustangs tuned up for the state tournament by winning seven games in 30 hours to take first place at a tournament in Moses Lake the previous week. They won four other tournaments this season as well.
The team members are Quincy Scott, Raiff Reichert, Bradyn Schmekel, Cade Hink, Mac Surface, Lucien Paz, Remi Paz, Bodie Thomson and Morgan Spellman. Coaches are Colt Scott and Ryan Surface. Bookkeepers are Nancy Jergen and Paul Schmekel.
The AAU program includes teams from fourth through eighth grades, so the sixth-grade Mustangs could play a couple of more years together.
The Methow Valley program is supported by fundraisers including bake sales at Christmas at the End of the Road and both Methow Valley rodeos, and the local organization handles parking at the annual Winthrop Rhythm & Blues Festival.
