TACOMA — The bar is set — and quite high for a program in just its second year of competition.
Jack Bonner hit three 3-pointers in the fourth quarter and the Glacier Peak boys basketball team completed a 10-point second-half comeback to claim fourth place in the state 3A tournament Saturday at the Tacoma Dome.
Bonner, a 6-foot-3 junior, had a team-high 19 points and 11 rebounds as the Grizzlies rallied with a 14-4 run during the final 3 minutes, 44 seconds for a 63-59 season-ending win over Bellevue (24-5).
“We really wanted to finish it on the right note more than anything else,” Glacier Peak head coach Brian Hunter said. “… They’re just resilient guys.”
The Grizzlies (22-6 overall) came up with big stops and made the hustle plays crucial to a late comeback while earning a trophy and the highest finish in program history in the team’s first state tournament appearance.
Junior Payton Pervier, a 6-11 post, also got his name in the record book with an eight-point, four-block performance.
Pervier’s four blocks gave him a tournament total of 24, which bested the previous record of 22 set in 1999 by Marshaun Thompson of Bremerton High.
“It means a lot,” Pervier said of the record, adding that winning the game was more important. “It’s a big thing, it’s a state record. As a junior, coming out and breaking it, it feels good.”
“It’s kinda nice to see Glacier Peak get on the record board for something,” Bonner added.
Senior Nick Persha added 10 points and junior Tanner Southard had 12 points as the Grizzlies overcame a strong effort from Bellevue’s Stanford University-bound guard Aaron Bright.
Bright, a shifty 5-11 point guard, scored a game-high 28 points in his final high school game.
“They (Glacier Peak) just wanted it more, that’s all it is. They just wanted it more,” said Bright, who shot 11 of 22 from the field. “When it comes to a game like that when you’re playing for pride, you’re not playing for a title or anything, they just wanted it more.”
Pervier, who is receiving early interest from a handful of Division-I college programs, including the University of Portland, stepped up late with a basket to cut Bellevue’s lead to three, 55-52, followed by a block and an assist to Bonner on the game-tying 3-pointer with 1:46 remaining on the clock.
Bonner nailed back-to-back 3-pointers during Glacier Peak’s decisive run.
“Jack really stepped up in the fourth quarter. … He just really played a complete game,” Hunter said. “… I thought all of our guys had the resolve that they didn’t want to settle no matter what it was. Even if we lost, they wanted to play a certain way to end it … That’s kind of been our motto, play a certain way, play really hard and good things happen.”
The road to fourth place certainly wasn’t simple for Glacier Peak. The Grizzlies squared off against highly-regarded Rainier Beach (’08 champion) and Bellevue, which took third place last year. Glacier Peak’s only tournament blemish was to a strong Lakes squad which claimed the third-place trophy with a win over Spokane’s Shadle Park High.
“For us as a second year program, you probably couldn’t script it any better,” Hunter said.
At The Tacoma Dome
Glacier Peak16141023—63
Bellevue11231411—59
Glacier Peak—Persha 10, Hill 0, Southard 12, Cummins 8, Manning 0, Kiser 6, Bonner 19, Pervier 8. Bellevue—Dresser 0, Walton 0, Richard 7, Ahrens 10, Sikma 4, K. Van Acheren 2, Gordon 4, Bright 28, Locke 4. Records—Glacier Peak 22-6 overall. Bellevue 24-5.
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