Bellingham Slam coach Rob Ridnour made the key point of a happy night for his team after his collection of mostly former NCAA Division II college players won an International Basketball League championship.

“I never thought of our guys as Division II players,” he said after the Slam beat the twotime defending IBL champion Elkhart Express 118-111 before a sellout crowd of more.than 1,100 fans Friday, July 18, at Whatcom Community College’s Whatcom Pavilion.

Fortunately for Ridnour, neither did his players, who beat a team of 11 former Division I performers.

“I’m sure most of our guys could have played on Division I teams somewhere,” said Ridnour, whose first two Slam teams made the quarterfinals in another conference. “What made our team so much fun to coach and watch was the chemistry. We just had great chemistry all season.”

Tyler Amaya, who had 20 points, six assists and a gamehigh 13 rebounds, said he couldn’t have agreed more.

“I absolutely love these guys,” said Amaya, who joined the team several weeks into the season and became the Slam’s sixth former Western Washington University performer. “I came back here to play because of how I feel we’re like brothers.

“And, you have to take criticism from your brothers,” he said with a grin, indicating how the Slam helped each other with constant communication against a team that suffered its first playoff loss in the IBL’s four-year history. The Express (23-2) is 69-8 overall over that span.

“We’re all long out of college and we’re all a lot better,” said Amaya, agreeing that the Division II tag no longer fits the Slam’s talent level.

Former Lynden Christian star Paul Hafford, who finished his college career at Division I Portland State, turned in his finest effort for the Slam (19-4).

After checking in six minutes into the game with the Slam trailing 22-11, the 6-foot- 4 forward scored 30 points — 13 more than the 6-4 forward’s average.

Hafford had 18 points in the first half and 10 in the fourth quarter, finishing 8 for 15 from the field, including 6 for 12 from 3-point range, and 8 for 8 from the line, plus 10 rebounds.

Former Western scoring star Jacob Stevenson, who had 24 points on 9 for 16 shooting plus nine rebounds, said guard Brandon Hartley would have been a good candidate for game MVP, too.

“Brandon really got in his face,” Stevenson said, referring to Express scoring leader Cedric Moodie, who came in averaging 28.1 points and finishing with 20, shooting 7 for 24 including 2 for 14 on 3- pointers. “As far as D-1 guys go, I agree most of our guys could have gone D-1.”

Moodie scored eight points in the opening minutes, including his only two 3-pointers, to lead the Express to an 18-4 lead, the biggest margin for either team. But Moodie but couldn’t gain any traction against defensive standout Hartley.

“I’m longed-armed and that was my role tonight, to play defensive stopper,” said Hartley, a former St. Martin’s College standout. “I just wanted to pressure him and sacrifice my offense.”

Hartley, who averaged 11.8 points, finished with six but wasn’t needed on offense, especially since guard Ryan Diggs enjoyed one of the best all-around performances of his career with 19 points, seven assists and seven rebounds to help the Slam to a 59-48 advantage on the boards.

“It feels great to finally enjoy a title again,” said Diggs, who won a conference championship his junior year at Western. “We had the jitters early, but we just got really excited and played very hard all the way.”

Stevenson’s 30-year-old brother, Jared, also a former star, contributed nine key points in the first three quarters to help the Slam to an 83- 81 lead heading into the final period.

“I can’t believe this,” said Jared, the last link to Sehome’s 30-0 state champion in 1996. “I never thought I would play again (after finishing at Western in 2000) until the Slam started up in (2006).”

Lukas Henne’s 3-pointer gave the Slam an 86-81 lead early in the fourth quarter, and Amaya followed with a steal, drive and nifty scoop shoot. The Slam was never really in trouble again and Hartley, Jacob Stevenson, Diggs and Hafford each hit two free throws in the final 1:20 to remove any doubt.

“Hey, I had a heck of a year,” said Ridnour, still a Blaine High track assistant who recalled how good he felt when his Borderite teams won state titles in 1998-1999 and 1999-2000. “We win the IBL title and my pole vaulter, Robin Taylor, won the state championship this spring.”

“I tip my hat to Bellingham,” said Express coach and owner Daimon Beathea. “Bellingham played a great game and we weren’t efficient. We missed too many layups (the Express shot 38 for 95 compared to the Slam’s 42 for 87) and we missed too many late free throws (making 11 of 17 in the last quarter).

In all, there were 13 lead changes and six ties before the fans let loose with a wild confetti celebration, courtesy of the Slam dance team.

WCC had never seen anything like it.