Pages

Saturday, February 27, 2016

Shorecrest stuns Steilacoom in OT - surges to State

Steven Lin (40) and Omar Camara celebrate with their teammates after SC's OT win
Photo by Geoff Vlcek

For the second week in a row, the Shorecrest boys' basketball team overcame a horrid first half to charge from behind in the second half to overtake a scrappy squad from Steilacoom Friday night, 66-57 in overtime, to advance to next week's 2A State Championship tournament in Yakima.

Trailing 34-24 at the half, Scots' Coach Brian Fischer pleaded with his team "to quit thinking so much and just play ball like we know how".

As big a hole as the Scots dug themselves in the first half, it would have been substantially worse had it not been for the long-range shooting accuracy of junior Daggy Menelik, who hit all three of his 3-point attempts in the second quarter. Later in the game, it was Menelik whose 3-pointer with :30 to play in the game finally brought the game back to even for the Scots.

The Sentinels had a chance to win the game in regulation, but Philip Pepple had his eighth blocked shot as time expired.

#10 - Dagi Menelik with one of his 3-pointers that got SC back into the game
Photo by Geoff Vlcek

In the overtime, SC took the lead for good on a free throw from Tobyn Lawson. Then junior Malcolm Rosier-Butler made a lay-in, was fouled, and sank the free throw to extend the Scots' lead to 58-54 with 1:30 to play.

"Coach reminded  us at halftime that we'd come from behind last week (in Districts against Squalicum), and that we could do it again", said an excited Rosier-Butler minutes after the game. 
"We had, I had, too many turnovers in the first half. We wanted to feed the ball to Philip (Pepple) down low. It was a great team win for us". 

Feed Pepple they did, as he had 12 of his 14 points in the second half and overtime, while Rosier-Butler led the Scots with 18.

For Coach Brian Fischer, he felt the relief of a jinx being removed. Seems the site of the game, Mountlake Terrace HS, has been a haunted house for him over the years.

Four years ago his team had a chance to advance to State with a win over Glacier Peak. The Scots led the entire game until 8 seconds remained when GP took a 1 point lead. A shot at the buzzer was off the mark, and that dream of going to State was dashed.

Two years ago his team faced O'Dea with a berth at State on the line. Roaring back from 11 points down with three minutes to play, the Scots had the ball and a 2 point lead with 30 seconds to play, only to have that game slip through their fingers.

"I think I know how the Boston Red Sox felt when they finally won the World Series in 2004 and lifted the Curse of the Bambino".

Steilacoom                 15         19        9      10       4         57
Shorecrest                    7         17       18     11      13        66

On Sunday, the WIAA will announce all the pairings for the State Tournament which begins on Thursday.

--Frank Workman



No comments:

Post a Comment

We encourage the thoughtful sharing of information and ideas. We expect comments to be civil and respectful, with no personal attacks or offensive language. We reserve the right to delete any comment.