Nephew Vance and the boys take State!

2A boys basketball does not hit the airwaves much in Oregon. 6A are the big schools. 2A, well that is down the line.

Vance is a team captain for the Portland Christian Royals. He is only a sophomore, but he is already a leader on the court.

The team made it to State this year. 2A basketball playoffs are always held in Pendleton, a real cow town about 3 1/2 east of Portland.

Before I talk about Vance, I need to mention his dad, Ken Downey. Ken was kind of like a second father to my wife, Jodie. Ken was married to Jodie's sister, Denise. They were living with Jodie's Mom when we started dating back in 1990. Jodie moved back in with them so we could save money for our wedding. I remember bringing Jodie back to the house. We would pull into the driveway and Ken would start turning the front light on and off, to signal that he knew we were in the driveway, and Jodie better be working on getting out of the car....not something else.

Ken played basketball with the University of Portland, 1975-1979. He was a team captain. I found a link to U of P basketball history. It is a pdf file. If you do a search for "Ken Downey", you will see he played from 1975-1979, received a team captain award in 1978, had a .787 free throw percentage, and is #9 on the career assist list. He was asked to play ball overseas after colleges, but he and Denise did not want to.

Ken became a salesman. He sold different things, but I remember him selling transportation units (truck and rail). The job fit him well. He loved to talk and he love people. He was a very generous man. Jodie and him were tight. If I had not passed Ken's standards, I would have been out the door. But I passed, and Ken walked Jodie down the aisle for me.

Two weeks after our weddings, Ken's bad headaches were diagnosed...and it was not good. Four years later his strong athletic body could no longer fight the brain tumor. I had the honor of collecting stories and writing some words that were read at Ken's funeral. This was December 1994.

Fast forward 14 years. Ken's son, Vance, is a co-captain of the varsity basketball team at Portland Christian. He is a starting guard. He was two when his dad passed away. He is now a sophomore. They had a three loss season this year; none of the losses in league.

Vance is a great basketball player. Yes, I am prejudice. He can score, he can rebound, but his magic is the way he flies around the floor. He is not so concerned with his personal stats as he is with making sure his team is properly tuned. Shots, rebounds, assists, good passes---whatever it takes to the the team a win. He makes plenty of three's, but when he does miss, blink your eyes and he is at the hoop tapping one in!

E was at the 2A basketball tourney in Pendleton for game 1 and game 2. Jodie and I had to listen to those games over internet radio. We drove to Pendleton Saturday to see game 3. Vance had solid play in each game - double digit score and some good rebounding. Game 3 was well worth the 200 hundred mile drive. Western Mennonite was a large team, in height and numbers. It was unbelievable the first quarter score, 2-22! Vance's team went on to win the championship game, 70-38.

Jodie and I were able to go to many of Vance's games this year. They were accessible to us, thanks to a new ramp at a local college, Warner Pacific, where Portland Christian played their home games. Jodie is a screaming fan. People look our way; I shrug my shoulders.

After each game, Vance has a hug for his Aunt Jodie and Uncle Troy.

The spirit of Ken Downey lives on.