Grandview's Greyhounds are on the right track

By SCOTT SPRUILL
YAKIMA HERALD-REPUBLIC

At the time, the results looked uncomfortably close to a team unraveling. Nobody wants to lose the momentum of an unbeaten season, much less have to deal with an untimely 0-2 skid.

But Grandview's boys, once top-ranked in Class 2A and winners of 21 straight, survived its reality check by revisiting its versatility.

These sleek Greyhounds needed to be pit bulls again.

Battling back with a pair of loser-out victories -- both decided by a basket -- second-ranked Grandview brings a freshened-up blue-collar mentality into today's state quarterfinal against No. 3 Burlington-Edison at 9 a.m.

"With those two losses, when we weren't scoring as much as we were accustomed to, it did take a toll on our psyche," admitted coach Roy Garcia. "But it's not like we had to go back and overhaul everything to fix it. We just had to take better care of the ball and use better shot selection."

And instead of erupting with huge scoring runs, which often led to runaways in CWAC play, the Greyhounds had to remember how to slow the game down and protect possessions more.

"In the playoffs, these are the kind of games you're going to face," Garcia told his players. "We don't have to go out and try to score 70, 80 points to win. If we have to grind it out -- use some clock, work both side of the floor and not take the first shot -- we can do that."

The Greyhounds lost double-digit leads in both loser-out games against Wapato and Clarkston, but the grit was there when times were tough -- just as they surely will be this week. In that regard, Grandview's confidence is back.

And a confident group of five seniors -- Adrian Vela, Daniel Nielsen, Adrian Reyes, Tony Vela and Christian Schrank -- can be a dangerous thing. So can a program that is 13-for-13 in earning state hardware since 1988.

That's good support for facing a minefield bracket.

Today's sunrise special pitting Grandview (23-2) against third-ranked Burlington-Edison (21-3), which is 4-0 in the postseason, is a tall enough task. Survive that and waiting in Friday's 3:45 p.m. semifinal could be top-ranked Clover Park (24-3).

"It was a tough road to get here, but I like how we battled through those loser-out games," Garcia noted. "Now I want them to relax a little, enjoy it and play their hearts out. Play Grandview basketball."