Wednesday, Oct. 07, 2009

Washington prep basketball loses a legend

By Eric Degerman, sportstricities.com

This morning, I learned the sad news that Dave Robertson died of leukemia earlier this week in Spokane at the age of 79.

He coached Shadle Park to the 1981 boys basketball state championship over Mercer Island, arguably the most talked-about game at any level of any sport in Washington high school athletics.

A last-second shot by Shadle's Greg Schmidt led to so much mayhem at the Seattle Coliseum that the trophy presentation never was properly staged. Mercer Island went so far as to contest the outcome in an Ellensburg court room. And Richland's Chris Manolopoulous was one of the two referees officiating that game.

The Spokesman-Review quoted Dave's son, Jack, as saying, “My dad won a lot of games – but he lost his share, too. If that outcome had been reversed, you never would have seen him handle it the way the Mercer Island people did. It would have been done honorably."

I met "Big Dave" more than once because he was the step-father to one of my high school chums — ESPN's Neil Everett — and I often thought of Coach Robertson whenever I met up with Randy Dolven during his days as a basketball coach and administrator at Kamiakin. Both men had booming voices and deserved your respect in many ways.

Robertson won 10 Greater Spokane League titles during his 20 years of coaching in my hometown, which included four seasons at Gonzaga Prep. His career record was a remarkable 358-129, and his teams would press and play a high-tempo offense. That 1981 team featured NFL great Mark Rypien.

Here's a link to the Spokesman-Review's look back at that 1981 game.