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Zillah's Nick Collins (50) and Bellevue Christian's Christian Haines (25) battle for a loose ball in Wednesday's game.|   SANDY SUMMERS/ Yakima Herald-Republic

By SCOTT SPRUILL
YAKIMA HERALD-REPUBLIC

Wasn't this supposed to be the Zillah boys team that was just happy to be here? Happy simply to extend the program's record run of state-tournament appearances?

You bet the Leopards were happy to walk into the SunDome on Wednesday morning, but that was nothing compared to how they felt when they left.

Letting the air out of Bellevue Christian's high-scoring offense and not letting their youthful nerves get the best of them, the Leopards gave the Class 1A state tournament an opening-day thriller and upset, 42-41, over the seventh-ranked Vikings.

After putting too many hands on Zillah in the form of 21 fouls, which helped the Leopards score nearly half their points from the foul line, Bellevue Christian's final undoing was its inability to put even one hand on a black jersey.

Daniel Downs' 3-pointer with 16 seconds left pulled the Vikings within one, but they were unable to solve Zillah's game of keep-away, which ran the full length of the floor, and the final seconds ticked off.

"We practice that all the time -- pass and cut, pass and cut," said a smiling Kelly Anderson, one of Zillah's five starting underclassmen. "I never believed we'd run those last 16 seconds off but we did somehow. We had them out of their game and that's just what we wanted."

Bellevue Christian's 41 points was a season low and the Vikings shot 34 percent from the field, including 3 of 19 on 3-pointers.

"We wanted to slow it down and keep it close," explained Zillah's Doug Burge, whose band of juniors earned the program's 12th straight state berth. "It wasn't pretty at times, but we were patient and didn't run up and down the floor with them. When it was 15-14 at halftime, it was frustrating for them not us."

Anderson had just four points through three quarters but was clutch in the final period, hitting 6 of 6 free throws. The biggest of his foul shots came with 28 seconds remaining to give Zillah a 42-38 lead.

"Bellevue's a team averaging in the high 60s, but our coaches told us in these first state games teams usually shoot 30, 40 percent so you have to hit free throws," said Anderson, who finished with a team-high 12 points and four rebounds.

Early in the fourth quarter Zillah had scored only seven field goals and neither team had reached 30 points in the defensive struggle. But an 8-0 flurry for the Leopards, who scored on four straight possessions, opened a 37-29 gap and put BC in 3-point shooting, catch-up mode.

"This is a big, big win for us," said Justin Ross, who scored 11 points -- seven on free throws -- and scored the first two baskets of the late 8-0 run. "We slowed it down and didn't let them run and gun, which they're good at. We did what we had to do."

Downs and John Baranowski, who average near 20 points, were held to 15 and 13, respectively. They were a collective 11-for-28 from the field.

"Those are their two big guns, and they're tough and quick," Anderson noted. "We just tried to make them work for everything and not let them hit two, three shots in a row like they can."

Zillah will take its no-pressure-on-us attitude into Thursday's 4 p.m. quarterfinal against top-ranked and unbeaten Brewster.

"We're excited to just get the opportunity to play Brewster. The pressure's on them, not us," Burge said. "No matter what happens, I told the kids getting a chance to play Brewster is something they'll always remember."

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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
:: Boys tournament
 
Team Capsules
:: Boys tournament

Record Books
:: Boys records
:: Boys champions
:: Boys all-time scoring leaders
 
District Results
:: Boys tournament