SULTAN — Behind a 30-point, 12-rebound effort by Giovanni Williams, the Sultan boys basketball team escaped with a 85-82 win over Lakewood in a Cascade Conference showdown on Tuesday night that elevates the Turks to first place.
Trailing after three quarters, Lakewood outscored the Turks 30-29 in a fourth quarter that saw the lead change multiple times until a Tyler Morris 3-pointer with one minute to play sealed the deal for the Turks.
Williams found himself in foul trouble early in the game, forcing him to the bench for most of the half. But Williams heated up after halftime to score 20 points in the second half, including 14 in the fourth quarter.
“He struggled with fouls early on,” Sultan head coach Nate Trichler said, “but he finally got into a groove. He can really create off the dribble and slash to the hoop, or he can post you up and score down low.”
Ryan Alford led all Lakewood scorers with 28, including six 3-pointers. Trichler knew that Alford was their go-to scorer but couldn’t stop his array of fadeaways and long range shots. Sultan led by six with two minutes to play, but a pair of Alford 3-pointers put Lakewood back on top.
“Alford put them (Lakewood) on his back,” Trichler said. “He willed them into that game. I knew he could shoot but he had a couple shots we couldn’t guard.”
The win improves Sultan to 8-2 overall and puts them in first place of the Cascade Conference alone after Cedarcrest lost Tuesday night.
At Sultan H.S.
Lakewood 19 17 16 30 — 82
Sultan 16 26 14 29 — 85
Lakewood—Brady Camp 0, Ryan Alford 28,Hunter Fritz 13, Matthew Keen 2, Sam Linscott 2, Paul Coleman 11, Chance Schueller 3, Eljay Johnson 6, Philip Hofmann 9, Robert Sims 8,Sean Dawson 0. Sultan—Robbie Rappuhn 8, Joe Schmidt 0, Giovonni Williams 30, Chris Walcott 5, Tyler Morris 13, Bubba Branham 15, Jordan Alexander 0, Cooper Beucherie 7, Antonio Rivas 0, Deion Bonilla 7. 3-point goals—Alford 6, Fritz 2, Coleman, Schueller, Hoffman, Rappuhn, Walcott, Morris 2, Branham, Bonilla. Records—Lakewood 2-4 league, 5-7 overall. Sultan 5-1, 8-2.
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