EVERETT — It wasn’t exactly what Cascade boys basketball coach Darrell McNeal drew up, but senior Isaiah Gotell made him look like a genius all the same.
With the undefeated Bruins and Kamiak tied at 59 with 4.6 seconds to play in the fourth quarter, senior Brennen Hancock inbounded the ball to Gotell, who dribbled from half court down the left side of the floor and hit an off-balance runner as time expired to give his team a 61-59 victory.
Gotell, who scored 18 points, admitted after the game that the play was designed to go to senior guard Drew Magaoay, but wound up in his hands instead.
“It was drawn up for Drew and there were so many screens, I’m sure (Kamiak) knew what was coming,” Gotell said. “Typically most of my points are in the paint, so that was a pretty tough shot for me. I just shot it and if all else fails we go to overtime. Luckily I made it and the crowd went wild. This is something a kid dreams of when he grows up.”
McNeal credited Hancock with making the play happen.
“They covered the screens really well and got through them,” McNeal said. “Brennen is a great passer and he sees the floor and that’s why I had him take the ball out of bounds. He saw the floor and he knew he could throw it up to Isaiah. We love Isaiah in that sense. He’ll tell you, ‘just throw it up and I’ll go get it.’ And he will.”
Both teams came into the game undefeated in the Wesco 4A at 6-0. The Bruins improved to 7-0 in league and 13-0 overall and are alone in first place. The Knights dropped to 6-1 in league and 9-4 overall.
“Our guys, we just keep fighting every night,” Gotell said. “Practice, games, whatever we have to do to get better. It’s 13 (wins) in a row and we’re really proud about that. We’re just really trying to make our school proud and our community proud.”
The game was close throughout. Cascade’s 20-12 lead in the second quarter was the largest of the game by either team. Kamiak answered with a 9-0 run to take a 21-20 lead, which Cascade countered with a 6-0 run to take a 26-21 lead.
“It’s fun,” McNeal said of the back-and-forth battle. “Win or lose, because of the respect that we have for each other, it was a good game. It was fun. It was intense. Nobody ran away with it. We’d get up, they would come back. They would go up and we would come back. … That’s fun. That’s what it’s all about. Whether you win over lose, you handle it like a champion.”
The Bruins led 33-29 at halftime thanks in large part to Magaoay’s 14 first-half points. Magaoay didn’t get to take the final shot, but he did finish with 22 points to lead the Bruins.
“He’s very crafty,” McNeal said. “He’s real calm, cool and collected. He lives for the pressure. He lives for the intensity. He just comes out and he plays one possession at a time. He doesn’t get caught up in the hype.”
The Bruins were able to jump out to a 47-40 lead in the third quarter, but junior guard Christian Clausen kept the Knights in the game. Clausen finished with 24 points and set a school record with eight 3-pointers, a mark that was previously shared by three former players.
“I’ve been waiting for him to break the record,” Kamiak head coach Cory West said. “He’s in the gym shooting every morning. He’s a shooter.”
Clausen hit back-to-back 3s in the fourth quarter to give the Knights their first lead since midway through the second quarter.
“I’ve watched plenty of film and I watched that kid play last year, that’s what he does,” McNeal said. “If anybody came out tonight and they were shocked by him hitting those shots, I wasn’t. I’ve watched him on film and I remember him from last year and he will do that. If you give him just a sniff, he’ll pull it. When you hit your first two or three, you’re feeling good and you’re telling them, ‘run it through me, I want the ball.’ That kid wants the ball. He wants the ball in big times and he’s clutch.”
The Knights led 59-55 with 2 minutes, 29 seconds to play in the fourth quarter, but the Bruins finished the game on a 6-0 run.
West was pleased with his team’s effort, but disappointed it couldn’t hang on for the victory.
“I always want the win,” West said. “I’ve had enough moral victories. I have a lot of moral victories in my eight years of coaching, so I told the guys, ‘I don’t want a moral victory, I want the win.’ They know that and they want the win. I’m proud of them because they showed what they can do in that type of atmosphere against a pretty damn good team.”
At Cascade H.S.
Kamiak 12 17 18 12 —59
Cascade 13 20 14 14 —61
Kamiak—Carson Tuttle 8, Christian Clausen 24,Trevor Gray 1, Coleman Grayson 18, Gavin Patrick 8, Nathan Shubert 0. Cascade—Trevon Blackmon 2, Drew Magaoay 22, D’Andre Bryant 2, Cameron McGrath 8, Alex Stewart 0, Muhammed Kolly 2, Kevin Burns 2, Brennen Hancock 5, Isaiah Gotell 18. Records—Kamiak 6-1 league, 9-4 overall. Cascade 7-0, 13-0.
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