Monroe boys outlast Kamiak in wild 2OT basketball game

Published 10:40 pm Tuesday, January 20, 2015

MONROE — As the Kamiak and Monroe boys basketball teams prepared for their second overtime period the public address announcer at Monroe High School nailed it.

“This is just like the Seahawk game.”

Like Sunday’s wild NFC Championship game, the Knights and Bearcats had a little bit of everything Tuesday night including a 16-point comeback for Kamiak, a buzzer-beating 3-pointer to tie the game, two overtime periods and some late heroics for the home team, with Monroe managing a thrilling 70-68 victory in the Wesco 4A contest.

“Our thing that we talked about tonight, after our last game, was being mentally tough,” said Monroe head coach Tyson Horner. “We, after giving up that lead, could have very easily crumbled but our guys chose to be mentally strong. … That was the first thing we talked about when we got to the locker room — just how proud we were of their mental toughness.”

Monroe’s double-digit lead looked like it would hold up in the end, until Kamiak sophomore Christian Clausen made a deep 3-pointer as regulation expired to tie the score at 53 and send the game to its first overtime.

“That’s exactly how we drew it up,” Kamiak head coach Cory West said of the game-tying play. “That’s the same play we did for him against Lake Stevens to put it into overtime. That’s what he does. He comes in and he shoots the ball. That’s what his job is.”

The Knights rode the momentum to an early lead in the first overtime period, but late in overtime it was Monroe’s time for a game-saving shot. With the Knights up by three, Bearcats senior Andrew Chartrand made a 3-pointer as the clock ticked down to 26 seconds remaining.

Kamiak called a timeout, but the score remained 60-60 at the end of the period, forcing a second overtime.

“He was dialed in tonight,” Horner said of Chartrand, who finished with 11 points. “We had to go with him for a lot of minutes. … That game-saving shot was just heads up, knowing we had to get that shot at the end.”

With the game on the verge of a third overtime, Monroe’s John Montero came off the bench to swish a 3-pointer, tying the score at 68. He stole the ensuing inbounds pass and Chartrand made a runner with 2.2 seconds remaining to give the Bearcats, who defeated Kamiak 67-57 earlier in the season, the long-awaited victory.

“John Montero hadn’t played the whole game — he played two quarters with JV — and he hits the shot of his life from the corner,” Horner said. “And there’s multiple guys like that that stepped in for multiple minutes.”

Monroe (5-3 league, 7-5 overall) got the victory without Tristan Witham, who finished with a team-high 13 points and eight rebounds before fouling out with 6.8 seconds remaining in regulation. Several players on both sides found themselves in foul trouble, forcing others — like Monroe freshman Colby Kyle (12 points, nine rebounds) — to step up.

“For us, it was really good to get that win,” Horner said. “I think we had some questions after the Snohomish game so to bounce back and to beat a Kamiak team that we have a lot of respect for is big.”

Trevor Gray had a game-high 16 points to lead Kamiak (5-3, 9-5), which also got 13 points apiece from Carson Tuttle and Chance Lord as the Knights roared back late in the game.

“It was an incredible job by them battling back,” Horner said. “I didn’t feel like we crumbled. I felt like they were executing plays and hitting shots.”

“That’s what we do. We play, we coach till the end of the game,” West said. “Whether we’re up — or down — by 20, we play until the end of the game. … It’s exciting, it’s nervewracking, it’s everything. That’s our third or fourth game being in a second overtime (or) third overtime. It’s fun. You just want to be on the winning end.”

West said the Knights will try “to take it out on the next team” they play when they host Lake Stevens on Friday. Monroe is hoping to continue its winning ways against Mariner.

“We want to ride that momentum into Mariner,” Horner said, “and have these guys believing that they can beat anybody in the league, but humble enough to know that they can lose to anybody in the league, as well.”

At Monroe H.S.

Kamiak 11 9 13 20 7 8 —68

Monroe 12 17 14 10 7 10 —70

Kamiak—Christian Clausen 6, Carson Tuttle 13, Chance Lord 7, Jase Wiley 3, Trevor Gray 16, Marcel McQueen Jr. 7, Coleman Grayson 9, Gavin Patrick 6, Andrew Foote 0, Keller Whitney 0, Nate Shubert 1. Monroe—Andrew Chartrand 11, Tyler Koontz 5, Alex Johnson 0, Devin Sepich 0, Rhen Shore 10, Alex Spahman 6, Tristan Witham 13, Colby Kyle 12, Trenton Newhouse 8, John Montero 3, Isaiah Cole 2. 3-pointer—Clausen 2, Tuttle 4, Gray 1, McQueen Jr. 1, Chartrand 1, Koontz 1, Newhouse 1, Montero 1, Shore 1. Records—Kamiak 5-3 league, 9-5 overall. Monroe 5-3, 7-5.