[ t o u r n e y t o w n . c o m -- 2010 Class 1A boys state tournament ]

Meridian -- T. Slesk 0-0 0-0 0, Madeira 0-0 0-0 0, Wasilewski 1-3 0-0 2, Z. Slesk 6-13 1-2 17, Sebens 1-16 3-4 6, Tripp 1-4 1-2 3, Hayes 3-4 1-4 7. Totals 12-40 6-12 35.

Cascade Christian -- King 1-5 0-0 2, Washburn 2-8 1-2 7, Tuttle 3-8 0-0 7, Felczak 1-3 0-0 3, Walters 1-2 0-0 2, Shackett 8-19 5-8 22, Tveter 1-7 0-2 2. Totals 17-52 6-12 45.

Meridian

Cascade Christian

3-point goals--M 5-20 (Z. Slesk 4-9, Sebens 1-11), CC 5-20 (Washburn 2-6, Felczak 1-1, Shackett 1-4, Tuttle 1-5, Walters 0-1, King 0-3). Rebounds--M 34 (Hayes 10), CC 38 (Shackett 7, Tveter 7). Assists--M 5 (Z. Slesk 2, Tripp 2), CC 7 (King 2, Tveter 2). Steals--M 3, CC 11 (Shackett 7). Blocked shots--M 2, CC 1. Fouled out--Z. Slesk. Total fouls--M 14, CC 14. Technical fouls--None. Turnovers--M 14, CC 9.

For the Cascade Christian Cougars, the Class 1A title game nearly went from the sublime to the ridiculous.

After providing one of the most dominating first-half performances in recent championship memory, the Cougars found themselves in danger of being remembered instead as the team that blew one of the biggest leads ever in a Class 1A championship game.

But after watching Meridian trim his team's 21-point halftime lead cut to just five going into the final three minutes, Cougar junior Cody Shackett did precisely what the tournament MVP is supposed to do: He scored back-to-back baskets, capping his 22-point night as Cascade Christian held on for the 45-35 victory.

(Watch the celebration.)

"We all got a little nervous there," Shackett said, referring to Meridian's 27-11 scoring run over the third quarter and halfway through the fourth. "But we knew we weren't taking bad shots. They just weren't falling. We knew eventually our shots would start falling again."

In the first half, though, everything went right for the Cougars. Despite giving up better than three inches per man to the towering Trojans, Cascade Christian (24-3) outrebounded them 23-15 over the first two quarters. Their aggressive man-to-man, pressing defense helped hold Meridian (19-8) to 3-for-20 shooting, and Shackett turned his six steals into layups again and again.

"We were very active defensively," Cascade Christian coach Jerry Williams said. "We tipped a lot of balls and got a lot of steals out of that."

"We knew if we got our hands in the passing lanes we could get a lot of steals," Shackett added. "And that's what we did in the first half."

The difference in the second half, interestingly enough, was the shortest man in Meridian's lineup. Senior guard Zach Slesk, all of 5-foot-9, scored eight points during the Trojans' 17-6 Trojan run over the first six minutes of the third quarter. But then he picked up his fourth foul, and that would prove costly. Although Slesk didn't sit for long, he had no choice but to cut back just a bit on his defensive aggressiveness. And when the Cougars hit back-to-back baskets early in the fourth quarter, the latter a Shackett 3-pointer, the lead was back up to 12.

"He's been great all tournament," Williams said of Shackett, whose championship-game line read 22 points, seven rebounds, seven steals and an assist. "He's a real heady player. I'm thankful I have another year with him."