Kromrei, Blazers Alumni still have it at Hoopfest

Jun. 30—Devotion to a legendary youth basketball coach brought four of his distinguished alumni together last weekend, and they proved they had not forgotten what he taught them.

Reuniting with Northwest Blazers club teammates from close to two decades ago, Kellie (McCann-Smith) Kromrei of Clarkston helped the Blazers Alumni team claim a 30-and-over women’s competitive elite championship at Spokane Hoopfest on Saturday and Sunday. The group remained undefeated in their lifetimes at the large regional event.

“We probably played the most competitive ball that we’ve ever played in a really long time,” Kromrei said. “We were happy with the way we played, and we were grateful for the opportunity to play together for probably the last time.”

Kromrei, Jamie (Weisner) Scott, Daisy (Burke) Shustoff and Danielle Walter were there to celebrate the 75th birthday weekend of their former coach, Steve Klees, who founded and still oversees the Blazers program.

“He provides this huge platform for women in sports,” Kromrei said of Klees, who was named to the 100 Most Impactful People in Women’s College Basketball list by Silver Waves Media in 2022 after helping numerous youth players advance to the Division I college and professional levels. “We got together and played for him.”

Running it back against ‘Running It Back’

The Blazers Alumni’s closest contest came in the semifinals, where they edged past a Boise-area team known as Running It Back with a final score of 19-17. Under the tournament’s format, the team which holds the lead after 20 minutes of play or is first to reach 20 points prevails.

“They play street ball all the time, and it was a really fun game,” Kromrei said of the Running It Back encounter.

A 20-13 win over a Seattle-area team clinched the championship.

An all-star lineup

Kromrei believes this represents her ninth title from nine times playing at Hoopfest, in which she previously competed from 4th through 11th grades before finishing her high school career with the Clarkston Bantams and moving on to play college ball at Nebraska and the University of Washington. She is now back at Clarkston working as head coach for the Bantams.

Scott also played for Clarkston in high school. She was named Pac-12 Conference Player of the Year while competing for Oregon State in college, played professionally in the WNBA with the Washington Mystics and finally headed to Canada, where she competed on the national team in the 2018 World Cup. Shustoff and Walter both hailed from the Spokane area growing up and played college ball at Central Washington and Gonzaga, respectively.

With such distinguished records, it is hardly surprising the group can still compete at Hoopfest.

Looking ahead

Could the Blazers Alumni ride again?

All but Kromrei have since resettled away from the area, with Scott and Walter both living in Texas — which makes reunions like the one last weekend challenging to achieve. Moreover, Kromrei, Shustoff and Scott are all raising children of their own now.

“We talked about running it back again next year,” Kromrei said. “Life can pull people in different directions. If God opens the door, I’m sure we would be willing, but we can’t say for sure.

“Right now my biggest focus is my family, and then coaching other people’s kids. I love giving back everything I’ve learned over the years.”