TACOMA — Four years ago, a freshman named Jon Brockman dunked on two Garfield defenders on the final day of the Class 4A state boys basketball tournament and branded himself as a player to watch the next three years.

Yesterday, Brockman played his final game for Snohomish. He passed the 2,000-point milestone in his storied high-school career as he scored 27 points and grabbed 15 rebounds in a 65-62 loss to Eisenhower of Yakima.

The future Washington Husky scored point No. 2,000 on a free throw in the second quarter and finished his career with 2,023 points. His team, which hadn't been given much chance of earning any trophy, finished seventh.

"It's been an unbelievable experience to play basketball at Snohomish," the 6-foot-8 forward said after his final game. "I couldn't have asked for anything more. Seventh place is great in my book. The group of guys that we did it with, we're buddies. And that's what high-school basketball is all about — having fun, growing as a team and exceeding what people were thinking you could do."

Brockman averaged 25 points and 16.8 rebounds in the tournament.

Brockman, a McDonald's All-American, has two national all-star games and an international tournament ahead of him in the next month. He said yesterday the thought that he no longer plays for his hometown team hasn't hit him.

"Monday, after school when I'm wondering what the heck I'm going to do with myself, it will hit harder," he said.

It will be a change for coach Len Bone, too.

"Having him four years has been wonderful," Bone said.

One of Brockman's few mistakes in the tournament was putting his basketball shorts on backward for the first half against Curtis on Friday. He noticed the mistake after the game began and told teammates in a huddle, "Don't tell anyone, but my pants are on backwards."

JOHN LOK / THE SEATTLE TIMES Kayla Martindale, center, cheers the Bethel Braves, along with classmates Charles Woodward, left, and Demetra Barrington against Mountlake Terrace on Friday.

They were on correctly when he emerged for the second half. It was the strangest "halftime adjustment" of his prep career.

Inglemoor's injured hero

Skyler Riley of Inglemoor had an uneasy feeling in his stomach at the end of yesterday's fifth-place game against Prairie. It wasn't nerves getting the better of the Inglemoor senior, however, but rather his own blood.

Riley took an elbow to the chin early in the fourth quarter, causing him to bite his tongue, leaving a deep half-inch gash. He left the game for two minutes, then returned with his tongue still bleeding, eventually hitting a three-pointer with 1.6 seconds left to give the Vikings a 51-48 win.

"I was bleeding quite a bit," said Riley. "I'm not feeling very good right now. In the fourth quarter, I swallowed a lot of blood."

The injury did have one advantage for Riley.

"I have a problem keeping my mouth shut with the refs, so it was good I couldn't say anything," he said.

Hosts with the most

The team "host" program was so popular this year that for the first time there was a waiting list. Each boys and girls team in the Class 3A and 4A tournaments is assigned hosts that do everything from arrange practice gyms to take teams to lunch or dinner.

The program was started by Tacoma sports organizer Doug McArthur in 1958 when the old Class A tournament was at the University of Puget Sound. One host, Darron Nelson of Tacoma, has sponsored a team for 48 years.

"Some guys go overboard and I can't stop them," said Marlowe Roeser, who has coordinated the program with his wife, Diane, for more than 20 years.

Mike Medrzycki, a contractor, has been the host for Snohomish in the Panthers' past three state appearances. He gave each player a T-shirt with "Living the dream" written on it this year.

"You feel like you're part of the family," said Medrzycki.

Notes

• One of the training items at Eisenhower of Yakima is a basketball with a rope imbedded in it that is used to teach and improve rebounding. It operates off a pulley and is like a fishing line — the ball is dangled above players and they leap and grab it.

The device was developed by assistant coach Frank Mattson, who has coached at Highland, Naches and Ike.

"My former players have said, 'Coach, you have to start selling these things,' " said Mattson, who has just given them away to coaching friends.

• Snohomish's Bone was ejected for the first time in his 18-year career as a head coach. He left after his second technical with 5:25 to play and his team trailing 50-47, after standing up from his chair as he prepared to holler instructions to his team. A coach with a technical is required to stay on the bench.

• South Kitsap coach John Callaghan refused to use his team's three-point loss to Bethel in Friday's semifinals as an excuse after a 64-43 loss to Mountlake Terrace yesterday in the game for third and sixth places. "You've got to show up and play as hard as you can," he said. "I'm not sure we played as hard as we could today."

• Yesterday's all-day attendance was 5,774, down from last year's final-day total of 6,084. The four-day tournament total was 29,811, down from last year's 32,899.

• This was the first tournament since 1995 without an entry from the Tacoma city limits. Tacoma enjoyed a strong run early this century when Foss won the title in 2000 and Lincoln won in 2001 and 2002.

Seattle Times staff reporter Matt Peterson and correspondent John Boyle contributed to this notebook.

Final tallies
Jon Brockman of Snohomish finished with 2,023 career points, the most of any of the seven high-scoring seniors finishing their illustrious prep careers:
Player	School	Pts.
Jon Brockman	Snohomish	2,023
Garrison Carr	Issaquah	2,012
Marcus Williams	Roosevelt	1,977
Mitch Johnson	O'Dea	1,759
Martell Webster	Seattle Prep	1,418
Micah Downs	Juanita*	1,254
Terrence Williams	Rainier Beach	1,159
* Downs played junior season at Bothell and sophomore season at Butte (Mont.) High School

Making his points
Year-by-year look at Jon Brockman's career:
Season	G	Pts.	Avg.
2001-02	27	221	8.2
2002-03	26	477	18.4
2003-04	24	537	22.4
2004-05	28	788	28.1
Totals	105	2,023	19.3