Coach Larson, players take a trip down memory lane

As exciting as Redmond's improbable run at the 4A State Tournament was, in particular the 70-64 double-overtime win against Lake Stevens to clinch the fifth-place trophy, Coach Larson and his players were all in agreement that the Mustangs' Senior Night victory over rival Eastlake was their favorite memory of the 2008-09 basketball season.

Coach Larson: “You know, as exciting as the winner-to-state game was, and the state tournament, I think most of us here at Redmond are going to say both Eastlake games were the highlight. Up there, with the Superfans in the blackout and of course here on Senior Night and Chris (Harrington) hitting that last-second shot, you couldn’t have wrote a better ending to a story.

It meant a lot. It didn’t have an effect in terms of playoffs, but we didn’t know we were going to get to play at home again against Mountain View. We did truly believe that was the last time those seniors were going to get to play in the gym and for them to go out with a win on Senior Night like that against Eastlake ... I was personally so happy for them knowing all of the years and hours these kids put into working in our gym, knowing that every time they come back to this gym in the future, they’re going to remember that game with a big smile on their face.”

Willie Gonia: “My best memory was Chris Harrington beating Eastlake in the second Eastlake game with the buzzer-beater shot. That game meant absolutely everything. We were fighting for a good playoff spot, and we did not want to lose to our rivals at our home court on our own Senior Night. It was huge. That would have been the biggest loss in history.”

Chris Harrington: “It had to be the Eastlake (victory), that was just incredible, an unreal experience. Especially coming on Senior Night with all the seniors we had. Honestly I didn’t think we should have won that game based on how we played. It felt good to pull that out especially after the Garfield stuff, for our community.”