MUKILTEO — The Jackson boys basketball team took its first lead of the game with 53.9 seconds to go in its contest against Kamiak.
Then it took all the Timberwolves had to hold off the Knights and maintain that lead.
Jackson senior Dolan Tierney made three key free throws after both defenses shined in the final period to lead the Timberwolves to a 50-47 Wesco 4A victory Friday night at Kamiak High School.
“That’s what high school basketball is all about,” Johnson said. “We stayed the course. We kept working, kept getting defensive stops and rebounding and kind of chipped away.”
Kamiak started the game with an 8-0 run and led throughout the contest until the final minute when Yegor Gorbenko gave Jackson a 47-45 advantage with a pair of free throws. Tierney added two more points 30 seconds later and one final free throw with seven seconds remaining to complete Jackson’s comeback.
“I think we kind of settled down and got back into it. We went from 14 to seven and kept chipping away,” Johnson said. “… Really, you’ve got to approach it like there’s no 14-point plays, there’s no seven-point plays. You’ve got to just keep chipping away.”
The Timberwolves, who trailed by as many as 14 in the contest, tied the score at 45 on a basket by Brian Brown with 3:52 to go in the game.
After Brown’s basket, neither team scored until Gorbenko’s free throws about three minutes later gave the lead to Jackson (12-1 league, 14-5 overall), which outscored the Knights 13-4 in the final period.
“It was certainly a struggle there in the fourth quarter for both teams,” Johnson said. “It was like, ‘Who’s going to make a basket here?’ It seemed like a really long time (without a score).” Sam Saufferer led all scorers with 16 points and fellow junior Colton Faddis added 12 points and eight rebounds for Jackson (12-1 league, 14-5 overall), which had already clinched a first-round bye in the upcoming 4A District 1 tournament.
“He’s had a great year,” Johnson said of Faddis. “He’s had several double-digit rebounding games — he’s around that double-double every night. He just works so hard. … He’s been great. He’s given us that inside presence. He has done a real nice job. He got a lot of rebounds when we really needed them.”
Johnson said Friday’s contest provided a good example of how tough each game is going to be in the postseason.
“Obviously, as you can tell from that game, the playoffs are going to be a slugfest,” Johnson said. “At the beginning of the year, I thought there would be a ton of close games this year. We’ve been fortunate to get our fair share of them.”
Like Jackson, Kamiak has had several close games this season as well. In Friday night’s, Knights head coach Cory West attributed the fast start to the emotions surrounding senior night and the slow finish to the Jackson defense forcing turnovers by Kamiak.
“Senior night always helps. It gets electric on senior night. Things just fall into place,” West said. “I’ve been in a lot of senior nights and on senior night things seem to click early. But it’s not about who does it early. The slow turtle wins the race.”
Gavin Patrick led a balanced scoring attack for Kamiak (6-7, 10-9) with 12 points and seven rebounds. West highlighted his seniors, guard Chance Lord (four points and five rebounds) and wing Andrew Foote (seven points and four rebounds), who battled in the final home game of their Knights’ careers.
“My two seniors: Chance Lord, Andrew Foote. I don’t even know the scorebook. I don’t really pay attention unless I’m calling The Herald,” West said. “They left it all on the court. The good thing about it is it’s not their last game. My seniors are everything.
“This time of year I want our guys playing our hearts out, which I felt they did. Just came up short.”
At Kamiak H.S.
Jackson 11 15 11 13 —50
Kamiak 16 17 10 4 —47
Jackson—Frank Rossi 6, Dolan Tierney 3, Brian Brown 6, Markus Sullivan 0, Yegor Gorbenko 7, Connor Marschall 0, Ethan Hammond 0, Parker Manalo 0, Sam Saufferer 16, Colton Faddis 12. Kamiak—Carson Tuttle 2, Chance Lord 4, Jase Wiley 3, Marcell McQueen Jr. 7, Coleman Grayson 10, Gavin Patrick 12, Andrew Foote 7, Keller Whitney 0, Nate Shubert 2. 3-point goals—Gorbenko 1, Saufferer 2, Wiley 1, McQueen Jr. 1. Records—Jackson 12-1 league, 14-5 overall. Kamiak 6-7, 10-9.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
