By Micheal Rios, Tulalip News
After their 3rd place finish in the Tri-District Tournament, the (19-3) Tulalip Heritage boys basketball team ventured 2 ½ hours south for a much anticipated 1st round matchup in the WIAA 1B State Tournament. Their opponent? The (21-2) Willapa Valley Vikings out of Menlo, Washington.
The day’s finale after a full slate of 1st round games played on February 28 at W.F. High School in Chehalis, the Hawks and Vikings tipped-off at 8:05pm.
Junior shooting guard Davien Parks was sizzling early. He put his Hawks on the board with a strong drive to the bucket and score, followed by a transition layup, and then made a 15-foot jumper. His six early points notched the game at 6-6 nearly halfway through the opening quarter. Moments later, sophomore Ziggy Myles-Gilford entered the game. Ziggy missed the previous two Heritage games with a sprained ankle. He wasted no time shooting and knocking down his first jump shot of the game, resulting in an applause from the Tulalip fans in attendance, that put his Hawks up 8-7.
Heritage’s offense remained most effective in transition. Whether it was pushing the ball ahead after securing a defensive rebound or after turning the Vikings over, the boys were intent on pushing the pace and instituting their preferred high-octane style of play. Transition bucket after transition bucket, and one layup after another, Heritage was rolling early. Up 20-17 with seconds left in the 1st quarter, the Vikings missed a shot, corralled an offensive rebound, and scored on a put back as the quarter-ending buzzer sounded. 20-19 Hawks after one.
In the 2nd quarter, the offensive efficiency took a hit as the Hawks continued to push the pace. Sophomore guard J.J. Gray had himself a crowd pleasing stretch when he splashed a 3-pointer, came up with a couple steals, and outjumped multiple Vikings players for a rebound. The 5’5 J.J. even managed to climb the proverbial ladder and block the 6’2 Vikings center’s point-blank shot attempt. All that action came during a near 5-minute dry spell when both teams were struggling to score.
Up 25-21, with two minutes until halftime, the Hawks again found success from their transition game when first Davis and then J.J. broke free for layups. Looking to take a 31-26 lead into halftime, the Hawks watched as the Vikings hit another quarter-ending buzzer beater. This time, it was a prayer heaved from out near half court that went in. 31-29 Hawks at the half.
Notably, the Hawks went 1-5 from 3-point in the 1st half. The lack of 3-point shots were indicative of an effective attack mindset by the boys. They were getting to the bucket and feasting in transition over the game’s first two quarters. This was also observed by the Vikings coaching staff who made a halftime adjustment to play less press coverage, opting to give the Hawks more space on the perimeter.
Over the course of the 2nd half, the Vikings defensive decision to load up the paint and close off driving lanes, while giving more space to Heritage perimeter players resulted in way more 3-point attempts for the Hawks. Unfortunately, they weren’t able capitalize on their 3-point barrage, like they were able to do so often during the regular season. At one point, the Hawks missed eight straight attempts from long distance and finished the 2nd half just 2-13 from downtown.
Even with the ineffective 3-point shooting, the Hawks managed to keep the score close midway through the 4th quarter, 47-51, after junior forward Tokala Black Tomahawk found nothing but nylon on a jump shot.
Ultimately, the lack of accustomed firepower that was missing from the Hawks on this night would prove to be too big of an obstacle to overcome. They ended up on the wrong side of a 51-59 loss.
The 51 total points is the second lowest scoring output by the Hawks all season.
After the game, J.J., who led Heritage in scoring with 19 points, shared, “Regardless of who are opponent is or what the defense is doing, it’s still just basketball. For me, it’s simple. It’s about playing team ball, getting the best looks possible, and scoring more points [than the other team]. We got a lot of good looks tonight, but didn’t make enough of them. There’s going to be games like that. We really wanted to win this game, but now we have to stay humble and keep our focus on playing as a team and getting the next win.”
Despite the disappointing loss to Willapa Valley, the now (19-4) Hawks will continue on their State Tournament journey. Next up, they travel to eastern Washington for a March 5 matchup with Summit Classical Christian in a loser-out game to be played inside Spokane Arena. Heritage previously defeated Summit, 66-53, two weeks ago in the Tri-District 3rd place game.