Washington Lumberjacks
The Washington Lumberjacks, based in the Tri-Cities area of Kennewick, Washington, played one season in the Western Basketball Association, 1978-79. The Tri-Cities are Kennewick, Pasco and Richland, and the team had no arena of its own. It played in high school gyms, including Columbia High School (capacity about 4,800) and Pasco High School (about 2,200), and moved six home games to the Spokane Coliseum in January 1979.
On the court the team did well. The Lumberjacks went 29-19 and lost to the Reno Bighorns in the semifinal round of the playoffs. Center Jeff Cook was named the league's most valuable player, and he and forward Walter Jordan made the first all-league team. The roster also included Bird Averitt, who had spent time in the ABA, and Louie Nelson, a former University of Washington guard.
Crowds were small. Home games in the high school gyms drew about 1,000 fans, and the Spokane games averaged roughly 500. The league had planned to merge into a national circuit with the CBA, but every Western Basketball Association team folded in the summer of 1979, so the plan never happened.
