Glacier Peak boys basketball falls in 4A state quarterfinals
Published 2:20 am Friday, March 6, 2026
TACOMA — Reed Nagel kept his team’s hopes alive until the very last second.
With Glacier Peak boys basketball trailing by four points to Lake Washington in the 4A State quarterfinals at the Tacoma Dome on Thursday, the senior guard took a baseline inbound and sprinted down the court, jumping from just behind the arc and sinking a 3-pointer to cut it to 47-46 with four seconds left. He moved so quickly, that his forward momentum landed him in the paint after releasing the shot from deep.
Glacier Peak called timeout and fouled Lake Washington on the inbound. Junior Jayden Hunt knocked down both free throws to make it a 49-46 lead, and somehow with even less time on the clock, Glacier Peak managed to get the ball in its star player’s hands for a final shot from the corner.
The attempt to tie fell short, and the No. 4 seed Grizzlies (22-3) missed out on reaching the state semifinals for a third straight year with a 49-46 loss to the No. 3 seed Kangaroos (24-4).
“I think all game, they just made a few more tough plays than we did,” Glacier Peak coach Brian Hunter said. “And we missed a lot of layups. We missed a lot of free throws. Give them credit, they made the plays they had to. Our guys competed … We didn’t finish the way we normally finish, and that hurt us tonight.”
Nagel led the way with 20 points, seven assists and three rebounds, and junior Zachary Albright had 12 points and six boards. Hunt scored 16 points for Lake Washington, which handed the Grizzlies their first loss of the season in the District 1/2 4A semifinals on Feb. 19 following a 21-0 start.
After falling behind 9-6 late in the first quarter, the Grizzlies went on a 9-0 run to go up 15-9 by the first minute of the second quarter. Junior Edison Kan slipped behind every Lake Washington player to receive an outlet pass for an easy layup, cutting it to 9-8 before Nagel drained a 3-pointer off a crossover with 38 seconds left in the first to put Glacier Peak ahead 11-9.
The Grizzlies built up the lead to 19-12 with unselfish play around the rim. Nagel set up Albright and senior Brody Pierpoint amid an 8-3 stretch across the first three minutes of the second quarter. Kan capped the mini-run with a steal to halt a Kangaroos fast break and fired a pass up to Albright for a layup in transition.
However, Lake Washington closed the half on an 11-0 run over the final 3:30. Junior Omer Ziklik scoring eight of the points, cutting through the paint as Glacier Peak’s shots stopped falling. After going down by as much as eight points in the third quarter, the Grizzlies trimmed it back to 35-30 entering the final frame, where they took a 39-38 lead on a 3-pointer from senior Paulos Mulugeta with about 4:15 remaining.
That was the last lead they held, as Hunt hit a 3-pointer in transition to put Lake Washington ahead 41-39 with less then two-and-a-half minutes left.
After losing 45-41 to No. 5 seed Gonzaga Prep in the state opening round on Feb. 28 and defeating No. 13 seed Woodinville 57-38 in the Round of 12 on Wednesday, Glacier Peak has three losses in its past four games.
It’s not the way anyone on the team envisioned things playing out in the postseason, as the entire program was eager to improve upon its third-place finishes from the past two seasons, but the Grizzlies still have a chance to end their season on a relatively high note by competing for a spot in Saturday’s fourth-place game in a consolation matchup against No. 8 West Valley (Yakima) on Friday.
“Today’s a tough day for a bunch of teams, and how do you respond,” Hunter said. “We’re one of very few teams that are playing tomorrow, and you want to make the most of it. It’s a special place, so we want to keep going.”
