Tradition

The Wahoo basketball tradition wasn’t difficult to identify.  The Warriors had been playing championship basketball for nine years – nine consecutive trips to the state tournament.  That, in itself, was quite an accomplishment.  But included in that state run was six championship trophies.  Ryly Jane Hambleton of the Lincoln Journal/Star declared, “Some schools measure tradition by appearances at state.  Wahoo has come to measure its tradition by championships.”  While the trophies took center stage, they were displayed with a backdrop of legendary moments.  The first title had come in 1988 when Steve Carmer drove to the hoop in the closing seconds to score the winning basket.  In 1989 the “richter roar” resonated from the rafters of the Bob Davaney Sports Center when Troy Glock’s three pointer bounced in at the end of regulation to tie the game.   And then there was the winning – 114 consecutive games at one point.  Wahoo hadn’t lost to a Nebraska team in the regular season since January of 1988.  Wahoo hadn’t lost on their home court since 1988.  The losses that Wahoo had experienced also contributed to the tradition.  In 1987, Wahoo had made the state tournament for the first time in forty years (not much tradition there).  The 1987 Warriors lost by a last second basket in the semifinals.  How did they respond?  The team came back in 1988 to claim their first championship.  In 1992, the Warriors lost in the semifinals, ending the 114 game winning streak.  How did they respond?  The team came back in 1993 to claim a fifth title. 

This was the tradition Coach Watton was referring to on the cover of the 1995 booklet.  And inside, he pulled no punches.  Referring to the fact that all the starters were returning, Coach Watton proclaimed, “There is a next year!  There were five seniors in 1992 that didn’t have a next year.”  The challenge was unmistakable – can the 1996 Warriors do as their predecessors had done in 1988 and 1993 and bring a championship to Wahoo?

In some ways, this tradition was a burden.  It set expectations so high that the slightest stumble could be seen as failure.  It’s hard for a team that truly expects to win every game to put a loss behind them.  But the tradition also creates a swagger that can be an advantage.  St. Paul coach Rick Peters commented, “Tradition is a lot to do with Wahoo.  They were stung a little last year and I’m sure they wanted to get back to a championship game.”  Following his team’s loss to Wahoo, O’Neill coach Nick Hostert commented, “The tradition part of it took over.”

When Coach Watton claimed “We have the tradition,” he was referring to all of this.  The winning.  The championships.  The ability to bounce back from disappointment.  And the capacity to produce a miracle when needed.