Inaugural Cruiser Classic Alumni basketball tourney a success

This past Saturday, the Eatonville High School basketball program held its inaugural Cruiser Classic Alumni basketball fundraiser tournament at Eatonville High School.

Four teams competed against each other in a miniature tournament, and a champion was crowned. EHS alumni made up three of the teams, while current Cruiser boys basketball team players comprised the fourth.

In game 1, Team Swartout efficiently handled Team Clark by a score of 58-44. Dalton Hancock led Team Swartout with 22 points. Reilly McIlraith led Team Clark with 15 points.

In game 2, Team Osborn came away with a 66-53 victory over Team Cruisers. McIlraith, who was a fill-in player on Team Osborn, led the team with 19 points, while Hunter Klumpar led Team Cruisers with 18.

That set up a championship match featuring Team Swartout against a combined team of Clark and Osborn players. It was a close contest for most of the game until Team Swartout pulled away during the latter part of the game to secure a 69-60 victory to claim the championship. Hancock led Team Swartout with 18 points. Brock Tollefson led Team Clark/Osborn with 15 points.

In a separate three-point contest, McIlraith defeated Hancock in the finals in a sudden death playoff by a score of 21-20.

Head coach TJ Cotterill was very pleased with how the tournament went.

“It was such a great opportunity for our current players to connect with former ones,” he said. “That was the best part of this. With guys like Chase DeMoor flying in, [and] another I heard traveled from Florida just to be there. We wanted to make sure all our alumni could have a fun and memorable experience returning to their gym, throwing one of our classic Eatonville jerseys on and playing in front of an energetic crowd.

“But, maybe selfishly, the biggest thing for us was connecting current players with the history and legacy of this program,” Cotterill added. “Having a Hall of Famer like Jeb Dorn stay in front of current Cruiser Shay Brannon; seeing Chase DeMoor go at Kyle Cox and Hunter Klumpar, and Eric Mead run with Walker Bruun — all with former head coach Mark Swartout commentating on the mic — were fantastic, invaluable moments and lessons for us. Hopefully, it speaks to the work players before them have poured into their craft and the work ahead of us as we prepare to make this coming season a special one.

“Everyone we spoke to afterward was excited to see this event only get bigger and bigger, with more players and teams to come next summer. We’re excited for the opportunity to run it back.”

Championship Game Stats

Swartout 69

Dalton Hancock 18, Brad Norman 15, Chance Hancock 12, Keaton McAtee 11, Taylor Callahan 11, Derrick LaClef 2

Osborn 60

Brock Tollefson 15, Carson Hutchings 15, Reilly McIlraith 13, Erik Mead 6, Chase DeMoor 5, Wyatt Layman 4, Andrea Hutchings 3

Team Swartout

Keaton McAtee (2008)

Brad Norman (2010)

Taylor Callahan (2010)

Chance Hancock (2008)

Dalton Hancock (2012)

Melissa Bickford (1999)

Derrick Laclef (2011)

Team Clark

Nicole Bickford (2000)

Carson Hutchings (2017)

Wyatt Layman (2018)

Karen Toulouse (2002)

Reilly McIlraith (2022)

Chase DeMoor (2014)

Team Osborn

Brock Tollefson (2013)

Andrea Hutchings (2020)

Jared Keefer (2012)

Erik Mead (2013)

Jeb Dorn (1998)

Max Van Eaton (2021)

Team Cruisers

Hunter Klumpar

Kyle Cox

Walker Bruun

Griffin Clevenger

Shay Brannon

Max Henley

Carter Taylor

Connor McIlraith

Logan Taylor