Clallam Bay Keeps Rolling Michelena Tosses In 28 Points As Bruins March Into Semifinal Matchup Against St. George’s

It’s not unusual for Clallam Bay basketball coach John Wilson to arrive at school well before the first class and find Fran Michelena waiting for him.

“I can’t keep him out of the gym,” Wilson said. “He wants a key.”

Give it to him. At the rate he’s going, he’ll have the key to the city. Michelena has gone from dawn drills to prime time.

The 6-foot-3 junior guard poured in 28 points and his teammates filled their roles perfectly as the Bruins advanced to the semifinals of the 54th boys State B high school basketball tournament with a 69-65 quarterfinal victory over Kittitas at the Arena Thursday night.

The Bruins (23-4) play St. George’s (26-2) tonight at 9:30 in the second semifinal. The Dragons rallied to a 59-57 victory over North Beach to run their winning streak to 22 games.

Michelena drained four 3-pointers and scored 10 points in the fourth quarter to tag the Bruins as the year’s Cinderella team and put them on the verge of making school history. Clallam Bay’s lone trophy in nine previous trips to state was a fifth in 1982, meaning they lost the only other time they reached the quarterfinals. One more win would give the Bruins a top-three finish.

Caleb Callihoo drained a 3-pointer from the right wing, Robert Whiteside rebounded his own miss before making two foul shots and Michelena swished a 3 from the left wing as Clallam Bay ran off eight points to take the lead for good at 41-37 just 2:26 into the third quarter.

Michelena’s fourth 3, from the same spot, pushed the lead to seven early in the fourth quarter and his shot from the right baseline with 4:29 left gave the Bruins their biggest lead at 62-54. When the Coyotes closed with 64-61, Michelena converted a three-point play with 1:51 to go.

Kittitas reserve Travis Flippins drove the lane twice to pull the Coyotes within 67-65 with 1:25 to play and they got the ball off a turnover but they never connected again.

That sent Michelena racing across the court and into the stands to hug his parents and any Bruin fan who wanted a piece of him.

It seemed like a natural reaction for someone who, according to his coach, would dribble a basketball nine miles to school or three miles to work at a tree farm in the summer.

“That kid has worked harder than any kid I’ve ever played with or seen,” said Wilson, who was a sophomore when the Bruins won their trophy and was a senior when they last made the trip to Spokane.

Michelena credited his passion for basketball to Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls and his shooting touch to television as he watched religiously as the Bulls won their three NBA championships.

“I haven’t been confident for so long time, I had a bad district,” he said while pacing the lockerroom, “but when you get started and get confident it’s hard to stop.”

Then, in his one moment of calm, he added, “It’s luck. If you’re on, you’re on; if you’re off, you’re off.”

Wilson said a big key was the defense Thomas Sawyer played, holding Jim Hill to 11.

“I told them before the game they have to stop either (Kelly) Smith or Hill,” he said.

Smith went for 24.

“I wish I held my guy,” Michelena said of his defensive assignment, “but I matched him.”

St. George’s, trailing 55-49 with 2:02 to play, scored the next 10 points, seven by Dylan Averett, to beat North Bay. Averett, who finished with 21 points, swished a wide-open 3 with 54 seconds to play to put the Dragons ahead.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color Photo