Like all good teams, Zillah’s boys fancy themselves as exactly that, a team.

But Justin Rico had personal issues on Thursday and he was thinking about little else. Time to get in the game, he thought. Time to perform and produce.

As a senior co-captain, Rico showed up Wednesday for the opening round of the Class 1A state basketball tournament and was stunned to find himself less than thrilled. Fact is, he felt awful.

“I had something like a migrane headache and it was terrible. I just couldn’t get myself together,” said the team’s leading scorer. “I’m supposed to be a ‘One to Watch’ here and I go out and score two points. That’s terrible.”

The Leopards still had little trouble dispatching Cedar Park Christian in the opener, and on Thursday they got Rico back. A healthy, focused Rico.

And that was big trouble for Overlake.

The 6-foot forward fired in five 3-pointers in the first half and finished with a game-high 25 points, enabling third-ranked Zillah to bounce Overlake of Redmond 73-53 in Thursday’s second quarterfinal at the Yakima Valley SunDome.

Rico’s flurry of four treys in a span of less than four minutes highlighted a 19-4 run in the second quarter. He also had four assists.

“He’s capable of that on any day,” said Zillah coach Doug Burge. “He had 25 points in the first half of a district game (against Walla Walla Academy) so he can come out with a hot hand.”

“Burge told me yesterday, let’s not have any more games like that,” said Rico, who attempted only four shots on Wednesday and scored his season-low two points on free throws. “Today was 100 percent different from how I felt yesterday.”

With their 19th straight win, the Leopards (24-2) will get a shot at No. 1 Brewster (23-1) Friday in the semifinals at 4 p.m. The Bears waylaid Freeman, 72-30, in Thursday’s first quarterfinal.

“I’m a little surprised we won by as much as we did because I expected Overlake’s size to hurt us,” Burge said. “But once we got going, we played real well in the second and third quarters. We warned the kids about the second day, about how the energy might be low and the shots might be off. But we had good energy, I think the kids were focused on that.”

Making the school’s first trip to state, Overlake (18-6) brought the tournament’s tallest player in 6-8 Aaron Richardson-Osgood, who did collect 13 points and nine rebounds. The Owls also had four other players taller than Zillah’s maximum of 6-2.
But the Leopards have leapers, and quick ones at that.

Zillah shot a crisp 46 percent from the field, committed only four turnovers and matched Overlake rebound for rebound at 33 apiece.

Andy Jones, who admittedly wasn’t at his best Wednesday either, was refocused as well. Another one of Zillah’s senior co-captains, Jones responded with 14 points, six rebounds and six assists.

Zach Sybouts followed up his 22-point game against Cedar Park with 12 points and six rebounds.

A private school that earned its second straight state academic title in boys basketball this season, Overlake was within 18-14 when Zillah went on its Rico-lead surge in the second quarter.

The Owls can earn a trophy if they beat Freeman (15-11) Friday at 12:30 p.m.

Overlake -- Murphy 1-1 0-0 2, Nelson 2-4 2-2 6, Kelly 0-0 0-0 0, Schmiedl 4-9 1-2 11, Madden 2-9 1-2 5, Bechtol 3-8 1-3 7, Richardson-Osgood 6-13 1-2 13, Hire 0-0 0-0 0, Poplawski 2-5 2-2 7, Gardner 0-0 2-2 2, Lueckenotte 0-0 0-0 0, Ludwig 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 20-49 10-15 53.
Zillah -- Mi. Winters 0-3 0-0 0, Ma. Winters 0-0 0-0 0, Gasseling 2-4 1-2 6, Ross 0-0 0-0 0, Friedrich 1-1 0-0 2, Z. Sybouts 6-11 0-0 12, Marquis 3-5 0-0 7, Rico 9-21 2-2 25, Jones 4-11 5-7 14, A. Sybouts 2-3 0-0 5, Collins 0-1 0-0 0, Gay 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 28-61 8-11 73.
Overlake	10	10	15	18	--	53
Zillah	13	22	19	19	--	73
3-point goals--O 3-9 (Schmiedl 2-4, Poplawski 1-4, Madden 0-1), Z 9-27 (Rico 5-14, A. Sybouts 1-1, Gasseling 1-2, Marquis 1-3, Jones 1-4, Mi. Winters 0-3). Rebounds--O 33 (Richardson-Osgood 9), Z 33 (Jones 6, Z. Sybouts 6). Assists--O 8 (Madden 4), Z 20 (Jones 6). Steals--O 3, Z 6 (Gasseling 2). Blocked shots--O 1, Z 1. Fouled out--None. Total fouls--O 10, Z 10. Technical fouls--None. Turnovers--O 14, Z 4.