As Wapato's boys discovered during their dramatic run to the program's first district title in over three decades, momentum and favorable circumstances are not always what they seem.

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Just when an outcome seems certain, it isn't.

The Wolves proved that to Ephrata last Saturday with a half-court buzzer-beater, and upstart Deer Park, in a stinging balancing of events, gave Wapato a dose of it Wednesday.

Flat at the outset and buried in a 17-point deficit, Wapato sprang to life and charged back for a lead with two minutes left in the third quarter. The Wolves' energy was pulsating through the SunDome, their big crowd was electric and the scene was all blue and gold.

But Deer Park, led by a pair of fearless sophomores, dug in and withstood it.

Taking advantage of Wapato's nearly six-minute drought of field goals directly after rallying for the lead, the Stags responded with a 13-2 run and hit enough free throws down the stretch to prevail 64-58 on opening day of the Class 2A state tournament.

"It's almost like we became content with the comeback, like we took a deep breath and said, 'We've done it,'" said Wapato coach Adam Strom. "It felt like we had them on the ropes, but they hit some big, big shots."

Strom's crew trailed 36-19 in the second quarter, but a 10-2 closing run before the break made the deficit manageable. And the Wolves kept coming when the game resumed, a 15-4 surge fueled by Cody Nickoloff pushing them ahead 44-42 with 2:22 left in the third period.

"I didn't want to use a timeout in the third quarter, but I had to calm them down," said Deer Park coach Ken Ryan. "We knew Wapato would make that run so we told the kids to keep their composure and stick with the game plan. I told them, hey, it's our turn for a run."

And that's exactly what Deer Park did.

The Stags scored the last three baskets of the third quarter, and sophomore Zach Mohr cast in two 3-pointers -- the second from 22 feet -- to help push the margin out to 55-46 with 5:05 left to play.

Nearing the program's first state victory in 55 years, Deer Park nearly stumbled by missing five of six free throws in the last two minutes. But Mohr and Uconn Peone, both sophomores, made four in a row in the final 12 seconds to lock it up.

"After making 26 threes in our district games, I don't want to say this was a rude awakening but we needed to put the ball on the floor and attack the basket more. We got a taste of our own medicine."

The Stags (16-7) made seven 3-pointers, including four in Peone's 22-point outing, and shot 45.7 percent from the field. Wapato made six treys on 19 attempts and shot 39.3 percent.

Nickoloff led Wapato with a season-high 17 points, converting two 3-point plays during the third-quarter rally. Efrain Reynoso came off the bench to contribute 13 points and six rebounds.

Scoring leader Rigo Alvarado was held to nine points on 3-for-10 shooting, and Matt Guevara, back from his knee injury, scored three points in 13 minutes.

"Today Deer Park was more physical," Strom said. "They put us in a hole early and kept their composure when we got the lead. We had it going our way, but Deer Park had an answer."

The Wolves (17-6) will have to regroup in a hurry for a 10:30 a.m. loser-out game Thursday against Southwest district champ River Ridge (18-6).

"Our emotions were running so high after district, but that's in the past now and we have to play for today," Strom added. "The kids feel like this was a letdown for the crowd and all the support we've been getting. They have so much love and passion for the game, I'm sure they will bounce back."