EVERETT — Behind a third quarter surge and Conner Longoria’s 18 points and 10 rebounds, Archbishop Murphy defeated Granite Falls 71-61 in a Cascade Conference game on Tuesday night.
The third quarter comeback came after the Tigers outscored the Wildcats 21-7 in the second quarter, giving the Tigers a seven-point halftime lead. But the Wildcats came out of the half roaring and proceeded to outscore Granite Falls 24-8 in the third.
“Granite is a real tough and scrappy team,” said Archbishop Murphy head coach Jamar Williams. “At half I told them that we needed to step up to the challenge and bring some energy. We needed to get some stops.”
Williams credited Longoria’s play and his team’s defensive focus as the reason for the win.
“(Longoria) brought some great energy tonight,” said Williams. “(Defensively) we had (Drew) Benson as a focal point. We also had an eye on (Riley) Larsen. I thought we did a real good job at challenging his outside shots. This was a really good overall test for us and really the first time all year that we’ve comeback from that kind of deficit.”
Adding to Longoria’s double-double were Zander Clouse’s 12 points, 11 rebounds and four assists.
Tigers’ senior forward Drew Benson led all scorers with 24 points in the loss.
At Archbishop Murphy H.S.
Granite Falls1721815—61
Archbishop Murphy2472416—71
Granite Falls—Brandon Leitzke 0, Riley Larsen 9, Evan West 14, Dan Matalomani 6, Drew Benson 24, Karl Spencer 8. Archbishop Murphy—Zander Clouse 12, Phil Hoban 15, Brad Kwesele 9, Brantle Harris 6, Sajan Saini 3, Chase White 3, Conner Longoria 18, Josh Parafina 3, Bryant Sutton 0. 3-point goals—Larsen 1, West 1, White 1, Parafina 1. Records—Granite Falls 3-6 league, 7-8 overall. Archbishop Murphy 6-3, 8-4.
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