Coloradans tend to get around when it comes to tournaments. Hot spots — literally — such as California, Arizona, Florida, etc.
And then there are the Fairview Knights, who hit the Last Frontier — Alaska — over the holidays for boys basketball.
“I would recommend it to anybody,” coach Frank Lee said.
Lee wasn’t kidding. Look beyond the 49th state’s remoteness. The horror stories of the long, long, frigid nights that never seem to end and eat power, particularly light bulbs, like snacks. The tales of its residents having to head to town just to, well, visit the bathroom comfortably. Or fleeing packs of wolves or some other dangerous wildlife.
Seward’s Folly is full of folks passionate about their sports, including on the high school level.
“They take their stuff seriously. The stands were packed,” Lee said.
The Knights won all three of their games, but not without getting exhausted on the return trip, discovering that they were grossly misinformed about one of the more unusual places on the planet and unknowingly developing personal “remember when” stories that will stay with them forever.
Lee, who completed the 50th state visit on his bucket list, found out about the tournament about six years ago, when he was in Hawaii. Not surprisingly, it was a tough sell initially to moms, dads and players.
“Who goes to Alaska?” he laughed.
Fairview wound up in Wasilla, where its prep team is coached by Ryan Engebretsen, who attended Mesa State.
The highlights for the Knights at the Doc Larson Roundball Classic were numerous and not just on the court.
Fairview, now 7-2, won three games to take the tournament title, over Alaska’s Wasilla Warriors, Dimond Lynx (Anchorage) and North Pole Patriots — I was totally disappointed by the lack of a fun mascot here — by a combined 20 points.
Then there was the food, mostly potluck, according to Lee, that included halibut and king crab.
The Knights stayed there on the Alaskans’ dime.
“Their hospitality was unbelievable,” Lee said.
The Knights were permitted to ride dogs sleds with huskies used in the Iditarod but never really saw any local game.
“(Junior) Shane O’Neill asked me if we were going to see any polar bears,” Lee said. “We didn’t. I was all right with that.”
There was actual daylight, Lee said, from “about 9 (a.m.) to 3:30 (p.m.).”
Differences? One of Wasilla’s opponents is so out of the mix that it must travel to league games by plane.
Courtesies? Larson, who provides on-site medical care for tourney games and practices for free, took the Knights on a local tour and told them they missed a visit by Sarah Palin by about a week. She’s a regular part of the community.
Trophy? Fairview was handed a unique combination of a knife imbedded in a fish. However, the Knights were told to pack it in their suitcases — it never would have cleared security as a carry-on.
And on Christmas Day, Wasilla headed to Memphis, Tenn., for a tournament.
“I wouldn’t want to spend the winter there, but it was beautiful, a great experience,” Lee said. “I don’t think the kids went up there with the intention of liking it. But they all thought it was a pretty neat trip.”
Neil H. Devlin: 303-954-1714 or ndevlin@denverpost.com
