Powerful Pateros Picks Up Billygoats’ First State B Title

Garrett Zwar, scoring machine, proved just as valuable as a decoy Saturday as Pateros won its first state basketball championship.

Zwar, a 6-foot-4 post, scored 15 of his 21 points in the first quarter then allowed his mere presence to open the door for teammates Pat Hunter and Adam James during the Billygoats’ 77-51 win over St. George’s at the Arena.

The three seniors combined for 57 points to complete a successful run through the 54th boys State B high school basketball tournament.

Pateros (29-1), making just its second appearance at state, added to the State B-8 football title it won in December. In doing so the Billygoats followed Almira/Coulee- Hartline (1991), Tekoa-Oakesdale (‘93) and Dayton (‘95) as double champions.

St. George’s (27-3), which had never finished higher than fourth place at state, saw a 23-game win streak reach its end.

The Dragons had a few flurries but never came closer than three points after Zwar’s three quick baskets to end the first quarter led to a 15-10 lead.

“Basically, we need to remember where we’ve been the last two years and where we’ve come,” said Dragons coach Jennifer Mountain. “Because I’ll tell you, these kids have come a long way. But we obviously didn’t show that tonight. We didn’t play very well and they played great.”

St. George’s, unable to match up with Zwar in the first quarter, switched to a zone defense to shut him down for more than 13 minutes. The tactic proved effective until Hunter and James exploited the extra concentration given to the Billygoats post.

The Dragons strung together a 10-0 streak during the final 3 minutes of the first half to trim a 28-14 lead, but their efforts hit a wall when point guard Meng Tseng encountered foul trouble. Tseng, a major reason St. George’s reached its first final, fouled out midway through the fourth quarter.

With Tseng sidelined, Pateros turned up the heat to unleash a 30-point fourth quarter. Hunter, held scoreless in the first half, scored 11 in the fourth as did James, who finished with 19.

The seniors showed their confidence with golden shooting touches. Zwar made 10 of 12 from the floor, while Hunter (7 of 8) and James (8 of 10) helped the Billygoats shoot 81 percent from the free-throw line.

“These kids have done everything the coaches have asked from Day One,” said Pateros coach Mike Hull. “They knew exactly what they wanted. But I’ll tell you this, this is one long, tough road and these kids have paid the price.”

Hunter’s second-half charge was remarkable, given that he committed his third foul midway through the second quarter, moments after his shoulder separated for the upteenth time this season. With the crowd groaning, the Pateros trainer popped in the shoulder and Hunter was soon back in the game.

“They’re not the biggest team, so we knew they were going to try to utilize their speed,” Hunter said. “But we also knew that we had more speed than they did.”

Dylan Averett and Jason Ala led the Dragons offense by combining for 35 points. The two are seniors, as is the entire Dragons starting lineup.

Both teams reach the championship game through a pair of close games.

Pateros 77, St. George’s 51

Key to the game: The Billygoats (29-1) fed 6-4 post Garrett Zwar for 15 first-quarter points and withstood a St. George’s comeback to ultimately end the 23-game win streak of the Dragons (27-3).

Other highlights: Zwar hit 7 of 8 from the floor in the first half… . The Billygoats built a comfortable first-half lead with three 6-0 runs… . St. George’s trailed 28-14 with 3 minutes left in the first half when Dylan Averett and Jason Ala guided a 10-0 run… . After an initial outburst, the Dragons often triple-teamed Zwar and held him scoreless for 13:25. When Zwar, Adam James and Pat Hunter broke loose late in the third quarter, however, Pateros increased a 41-36 lead to 51-36 and punctuated the win with a 30- point fourth quarter… . Dragons point guard Meng Tseng was limited after picking up his fourth foul just 2:31 into the second half.

Pateros 15 15 17 30 - 77

St. George’s 10 14 12 15 - 51

PATEROS Barth 9, Crawley 2, Zahn 2, Hunter 17, Zwar 21, Neuneker 6, James 19, Michael 0, Sadowsky 0, Hillegas 0, Precht 1.

ST. GEORGE’S Spencer 0, Tseng 4, Kennedy 3, Sadler 0, Kuney 2, Charbonneau 2, Laugen 5, Ala 16, Averett 19, RouthCorker 0, DePonty 0, Col 0.

, DataTimes