Kamiak outlasts Cascade

Published 10:58 pm Tuesday, December 7, 2010

MUKILTEO — In a game of missed layins, missed free throws and other miscues, the Kamiak boys basketball team found a way to do enough things right down the stretch for a 62-59 victory over visiting Cascade on Tuesday night.

The Knights led the entire game, except for two third-quarter ties, and they were able to ease back in front late in the third period and then protect their margin through an often frantic fourth quarter.

Guard Nicholas Kussman scored seven of his game-high 24 points in the last quarter and guard Josh Wisnubroto added five as Kamiak kept the lead between two and seven points through the final eight minutes.

And even though Kamiak’s offense sputtered at times, the Knights stepped up defensively when it counted most.

Trailing by three points with 24 seconds to play, Cascade worked the ball on the perimeter, looking for a game-tying 3-point attempt. But the Knights would have none of it. They hounded the Bruins at the arc, refusing to give up an open look, and Cascade had to settle for a desperation 3-pointer that was an airball with three seconds to play.

“I thought it was very sloppy,” Kamiak coach Cory West said afterward. “Too sloppy for me. … (But) it’s a win, and we can learn and get better from it.”

The youthful Knights, with no senior starters and just one healthy senior on the roster, started well, scoring the game’s first nine points and eventually pushing to a 14-2 lead. There were other double-digit margins in the second and third quarters, but Kamiak was never able to put the visitors away.

“With a team like that, you have to bury them when you can, if you can,” West said. “Because they’ll hang around. … When we had them by nine or 10 points, the goal was to put them away. ‘Let’s try to get up 15, let’s try to get 20.’ But we had too many mental breakdowns and they (the Bruins) hung in there.”

With balanced scoring, Cascade had a strong third quarter and finally knotted the score 44-44, and again 46-46. But the momentum swung back to Kamiak in the fourth quarter, though the Bruins still had a chance to force overtime with their final shot.

“I thought we played pretty sloppy,” said Cascade coach Dan Hornaday, echoing West. “But in the second half defensively we kind of picked it up. Our defense in the second half really set the tone for a lot of the stuff we can do.

“We’re still kind of a work in progress offensively, (particularly in) trying to be patient,” he added. “We had a lot of turnovers in the last two minutes when it was a three- or four-point game, and we probably could have slowed it down and got some better shots.

“But even though we have nine seniors, we’re still pretty young as far as experience. And in a game like this, it’s hard to expect them to go out and execute at the end of a game when a lot of them have never been there before. … But the guys were playing as hard as they can. And we showed a lot of mettle by coming back.”

Guard Johnnie Hilliard led Cascade with 18 points while backup guard LaQuondis Bruce added 12 points.

At Kamiak H.S.

Cascade10181813—59

Kamiak18191114—62

Cascade — Hilliard 18, Jackson 2, Shankle 2, Bruce 12, Mickelsen 0, Nelson 4, Bergmans 2, Cline 9, Walker 5, Gallardo 5. Kamiak — Wisnubroto 9, Berg 9, Carlson 2, Kussman 24, Erickson 0, Manchester 13, Vicente 0, Blacksmith 5, Parker 2. 3-point shots — Bruce 1, Cline 1, Walker 1, Berg 1, Manchester 2. Records — Cascade is 1-2 overall. Kamiak is 2-1.