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Orcas
Island Ousts White Swan, 57-54
By
SCOTT SPRUILL
YAKIMA HERALD-REPUBLIC
Gregg Sasan could laugh and joke about it on Thursday.
"I don't know where our team was yesterday -- I think we left in Ellensburg
on our way over," said Orcas Island's boys coach. "We drove back last night
and got it."
With their identity hastily recovered, the Vikings showed the form that
earned them a fourth-place trophy here last year but it came at the expense
of a hustling crew from White Swan that desperately wanted its season to
continue.
|
 |
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White Swan's Zack Aguilar, who
scored
19 points Thursday, sits
on the bench after the Cougars
were eliminated from
the
tournament by Orcas Island.
GORDON KING/
Yakima Herald-Republic |
Josh Gage's two free throws with 27 seconds left -- and two rebounds by the
sophomore in the final minute -- helped Orcas Island overcome a 10-point
second-half deficit and beat White Swan 57-54 in a loser-out game.
It was a stinging end to a season that included conference and district
titles for the Cougars, who fell into the consolation bracket Wednesday with
an equally tough 54-51 loss to Winlock.
"They're just kids and they're taking it pretty hard," said White Swan coach
Ray Funk, whose team finished the season 18-7. "But the reality is they did
so much to be proud of. Last year's team was the one that was supposed to
win league and district and we lost a lot of kids off that team. These guys
weren't picked to do anything and still they got this far."
There were several times in the second half it appeared the Cougars had
pushed their season to another day.
Zack Aguilar hit one of his five 3-pointers to trigger a 7-0 blitz that took
less than a minute in the third quarter. A back-and-forth game had suddenly
turned into a 45-35 lead for White Swan.
"We had a chance there but I think we eased up and started resting on our
laurels," Funk said. "When you hear a player start wondering where we're
going for dinner that's not a good sign."
Orcas Island's response was far different than its listless effort in a
31-point loss to Goldendale on opening day. The Vikings charged back to
close the third period with an 11-0 run as Gage pitched in seven of his
game-high 21 points.
"That's the team we thought we brought here," Sasan said. "They're a tough
bunch and they don't get down. We figured if we hung around we'd be OK. We
knew White Swan would bring a lot of energy and pressure so we had to match
that.
There were eight lead changes in the fourth quarter, the last coming on a
3-pointer by Orcas' Jordan Gage, Josh's senior brother. The trey came with
2:20 left and put the Vikings up 55-54, and White Swan missed its last four
shots.
"Those Gage kids are tough and they didn't give up," Funk said. "That's a
team that was fourth last year so they've got experience."
Aguilar was 5 of 11 from 3-point distance and finished with a team-high 19
points. The senior guard also had six rebounds and three assists.
Sophomore Chris Jones, who played only 13 minutes in Wednesday's game
because of foul trouble, chased down a game-high 13 rebounds, scored 12
points and collected four assists.
Josh Gage, who was an icy 4-for-13 against Goldendale, turned it around
Thursday, going 7-for-11 from the field, didn't miss on three 3-point
attempts and was 4-for-4 on free throws.
"We apologized to our host (Kathi Mercy of Yakima Theatres) for playing as
badly as we did," Sasan said. "Nobody had a clue why it happened, it just
wasn't us. I thought the kids would snap out of it and they sure did."
Orcas Island (16-10) will play another loser-out game Friday at 10:30 a.m.
against Thursday's Kettle Falls-La Conner winner.
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Orcas Island -- Parkerson 2-3 0-0 5, Plaister 5-19 1-3 13, Jor.
Gage 2-6 1-5 6, Harvey 0-1 0-0 0, Langworthy 5-9 0-3 10, Talbot 0-1
0-0 0, Jos. Gage 7-11 4-4 21, Kimple 0-4 2-2 2. Totals 21-54 8-17 57. |
|
White Swan -- Colfax 0-0 0-0 0, K. Fiander 2-6 2-2 6, Brice 1-1
0-0 2, Aguilar 7-19 0-0 19, N. Fiander 6-12 3-4 15, McConville 0-3 0-0
0, Jones 6-17 0-0 12, Selam 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 22-58 5-6 54. |
| Orcas Island |
13 |
14 |
19 |
11 |
-- |
57 |
| White Swan |
15 |
21 |
9 |
9 |
-- |
54 |
|
3-point goals--O 7-11 (Plaister 2-5, Parkerson 1-1, Jor. Gage 1-1,
Jos. Gage 3-3, Kimple 0-1), WS 5-18 (Aguilar 5-11, K. Fiander 0-1, N.
Fiander 0-1, McConville 0-3, Jones 0-2). Rebounds--O 37 (Langworthy
10, Jos. Gage 9), WS 31 (Jones 14). Assists--O 12 (Jor. Gage 5), WS 15
(K. Fiander 4, Aguilar 3). Steals--O 10 (Jor. Gage 5), WS 8 (K.
Fiander 3). Blocked shots--O 2, WS 0. Fouled out--None. Total fouls--O
8, WS 16. Technical fouls--None. Turnovers--O 21, WS 18. |
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Tourney Bracket
::
Boys tournament
Other Games
Saturday
::
Bellevue
Christian 61, Kettle Falls 48
:: King's 71,
Freeman 42
:: Napavine
59, Goldendale 54
:: Brewster
69, Seattle Christian 44
Friday
::
Bellevue
Christian 47, Charles Wright 36
:: Kettle
Falls 67, Orcas Island 39
:: King's 69,
Zillah 50
:: Freeman 57,
Winlock 52
:: Brewster
74, Napavine 39
:: Seattle
Christian 66, Goldendale 54
Thursday
:: Bellevue
Christian 73, North Beach 40
:: Charles
Wright 33, River View 27
:: Orcas
Island 57, White Swan 54
:: Kettle
Falls 53, La Conner 50
:: Brewster
53, Zillah 26
:: Napavine
53, King's 46
:: Goldendale
58, Winlock 48
:: Seattle
Christian 56, Freeman 41
Wednesday
::
Brewster 83,
North Beach 54
:: Zillah 42,
Bellevue Christian 41
:: King's 51,
River View 35
:: Napavine 48,
Charles Wright 33
:: Goldendale
62, Orcas Island 31
:: Winlock 54,
White Swan 51
:: Seattle
Christian 63, Kettle Falls 48
:: Freeman 51,
La Conner 43
Latest Statistics
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::
Boys tournament
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::
Boys records
:: Boys champions
:: Boys
all-time scoring leaders
District Results
::
Boys tournament |
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