TACOMA — It’s easy to see why Glacier Peak boys basketball wouldn’t be here — in the WIAA 4A Boys State semifinals — without Zachary Albright. The sophomore forward’s dominance on the boards helped the Grizzlies advance past Camas in the quarterfinals with a 44-42 overtime win.
But Albright himself nearly wasn’t here, on the court of the Tacoma Dome. If you asked him three months ago, he would have expected to be on the sideline in street clothes. A wide receiver for Glacier Peak football, he broke his fibula during the final regular season game — a 28-14 win against Kamiak on Nov. 1 — not only cutting his year on the gridiron short, but also putting his entire basketball season in jeopardy.
After undergoing surgery two weeks following the injury, the 6-foot-5 Albright attacked rehab for three months. He credits the school’s athletic training staff for putting in “so much work,” and his coaches for maintaining his schedule. With all that support in his corner, Albright made it back for the last stretch of the basketball season.
“Zach is not a normal 15-year-old,” Grizzlies coach Brian Hunter said. “I mean, shoot, he’s played about seven games, he broke his leg in football, and I don’t think you’d ever know that he missed the first three months of our season, or whatever it was. It was no given (that) he was going to play this year.”
But his runway before the postseason was short; Thursday’s quarterfinal win marked just his seventh game of the season. With 15 rebounds and seven points on 2-for-5 shooting from the field, Albright was an anchor defensively and chipped in just enough offensively for Glacier Peak.
So much for rust.
“I could not imagine being back out here on the floor,” Albright said. “I thought I was going to be a spectator the rest of the season. So I’m just beyond happy that I’m out here.”
Albright was not only playing, but making impactful plays in the clutch. Three of his five offensive rebounds came in the final 90 seconds of regulation, keeping possessions alive for the Grizzlies. The third came with 2.7 seconds left, when he drew a foul to give Glacier Peak a chance to take a game-winning shot off an inbound, but Camas broke the play up to force overtime.
Albright pulled in two more crucial rebounds in overtime. He drew another foul with the first one, which sent him to the free throw line with 2:09 left and the score tied 41-41. He knocked down both, which were ultimately the game-winning points for Glacier Peak.
“He’s fearless. Those two free throws he made,” Hunter said, pausing to reflect for a moment. “I was hoping he would stick his nose in there. I knew he would, but those are hard shots to make.”
The Grizzlies face the top-seeded Gonzaga Prep in the semifinals on Friday, but they are less concerned about who they’re playing than how they will.
“Everyone who has made it this far, they’re one of the top teams in the state,” Albright said. “I think everyone’s going to probably (be) evenly matched. It’s just going to come down to who wants it more.”
If Albright and the Grizzlies play with the same intensity as they did Wednesday, they’ll have a shot.
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