Exclusive: EC’s Merritt reflects on trials, tribulations, road to first state championship

It has been a strong year for Eastside Catholic basketball with the team having more talent than ever before. And with all this talent and strength they need a great leader to spearhead this program, and sure enough Coach Brent Merritt lead them to winning state championships this year. This is a huge accomplishment for EC as this is the first state championship won by basketball for the school, and the team couldn’t be happier.

But the road here wasn’t an easy one. A game in the semi-finals against Mount Spokane almost derailed the team, with Mt. Spokane almost coming back but Eastside still winning by 2 points. Even with the final score so close, Coach B said that even with the stakes so high he was confident that they were going to win as he said, “After the first quarter I knew we were gonna win that game. We were making a few mistakes down the stretch that it was making me nervous that a miraculous shot from half-court was gonna beat us. But we knew what we had to do to win, and our game plan was already set up for us. No one played Hero Ball, we played as a team and we won.”

With the trophy in their grasp, EC was in it to win it, and all that stood between them was Rainer Beach. By the first half the game was favoring EC, but by the end of the 3^rd quarter the score was tied 44 on both sides. EC were making some slip ups and let their lead go giving Beach the chance to score 21 points in a single quarter. I asked Coach B what the talk was like on the bench at the time, and he said that, “Even with the score tied, I was still confident we were going to win. Once we got an 8-point lead in the final quarter that we could control the game. All we had to do was get back to basics and we had the game in the bag.”

It was a phenomenal tournament for Eastside and an amazing championship game as many players got to really strut their skills. Kodi Greene was constantly backing guys down and using his size to body guys to the basket, a lot of solid defense from Jacob Cofie, and the first 16 points were scored by the sophomore Yabi Aklog. These were all great plays by individuals, but the team itself worked like a well-oiled machine. A single player can do as well as they want, but it’s a team game and your only as strong as your weakest link. But this school has built a program that pushes not only the individual but everyone around them as well, and that’s what has pushed them to win the championship.

But the players aren’t the entire team. Coach B. has had an extensive coaching career that has helped culminate this team into what it is today. He has played in the Brazilian Basketball League for 11 years, played D1 Basketball and Track in college, and has coaching for multiple different schools before Eastside. But what experience or person that has contributed the most to him being such a great coach was his mentor Jojo Rodriguez. As Coach Brent said, “I learned everything from him, he was my first job, gave me an opportunity and to have my voice heard, he was like a father figure to me. I didn’t even know I wanted to coach till I coached with him. I was planning on coaching with some school like Roosevelt or Blanchet when I was first talking with him, but he said ‘you ain’t coaching for them you coaching for me,’ and I was thinking ‘oh I am?’ because I didn’t know too much about Garfield’s basketball team. I heard they had a good team but that was it. But when I got there and started coaching I knew it, I felt it, I had a passion for it. When he left I followed him to Ingraham where we coached for a year and a half. When we finished he told me I was ready to coach. At the time I asked, ‘are you sure?’ and he responded, ‘Yes, you’re ready.’ And ever since then I began coaching on my own. We still talk every day, he was there at the championship game and gave me a hug, hes kinda like my dad, my daughters godfather, its just great to have someone like that in my life.”

So this is the story of the team and the coach who pushed and fought their way to the top. And who knows what next years championship holds, and if EC can hold their title, so stay tuned!