Davis defeats CV in State 4A final

TACOMA – The magical ride had an egg-falling-off-the-wall ending Saturday for the Central Valley boys basketball team.

Davis built a 10-point lead with 2 minutes to go and held off the Bears 48-42 in the State 4A championship game Saturday at the Tacoma Dome.

A glance at the final statistics showed the glaring difference – offensive rebounds. While the teams tied with 37 rebounds each, the Pirates had 17 offensive boards to CV’s 11, and that turned into a 17-7 edge in second-chance points.

“They’re a pretty lengthy team and at times there was effort and at times they just had position,” CV senior Gaven Deyarmin said. “They got us a little bit there.”

CV coach Rick Sloan thought it was the most critical statistic.

“Their ability to get second shots was the big difference,” Sloan said.

The Bears’ 19-game winning streak, that began when they were 3-3 after a 0-2 start, was snapped.

Both teams played solid defense with CV (22-4) taking a 19-18 lead into halftime after there were nine lead changes in the first two quarters.

Junior Austin Rehkow made a 3-pointer to give CV its last lead at 26-24 with 3:13 to go in the third quarter.

No. 1-ranked Davis (23-2) closed out the period 7-0.

Rehkow made an 18-foot jumper to pull CV within 37-32 with 3:19 remaining, but Davis used a 7-2 surge for a 44-34 lead with 2 minutes to go.

CV’s final push resulted in a basket and two free throws from Deyarmin and a floating bank shot from sophomore Adam Chamberlain that cut the Pirates’ lead to 44-40 with 44 seconds left.

After two free throws by Davis, senior post Anthony Brommer got loose inside and took a pass from Garrett Sawyer that trimmed the lead to 46-42 with 18 seconds remaining.

Two more free throws by the Pirates finished things off.

It’s been a special season for the football- and basketball-playing Bears. They lost in the State 4A quarterfinals in football.

The success in basketball caught most around Spokane by surprise – except the Bears.

“I think a lot of times, once the dust settles after a loss, you have a chance to reflect,” said Sloan, the football team’s offensive coordinator. “Right now it stings and I’ve got to go talk to my seniors.”

CV committed some uncharacteristic turnovers, finishing with 15.

“There were a couple of possessions, a couple of plays here and there, that would have made a difference,” Deyarmin said. “I don’t know if it was the whole game in general, maybe just a couple of possessions. Little things like that.”

Deyarmin scored a team-high 13 points and had nine rebounds. Rehkow had seven rebounds and Chamberlain and senior Dustin Dach had three assists apiece.

“In a couple of weeks, when everything settles down, we’ll be able to look back and enjoy it,” Deyarmin said. “This is the best season I’ve ever had with a group of guys.”

Sloan appreciated how hard his team played to the end.

“I thought we battled hard. We just couldn’t get any kind of offensive rhythm,” Sloan said. “They’re battlers. They deserved a chance to be there. Hats off to Davis, they made some plays when they had to to win it.”

David Trimble led Davis with 10 points, eight rebounds, six assists and five steals.

Deyarmin and Davis’ Devonte Luckett were named to the all-tournament first team. Jordan Chatman of Union was named the most valuable player, and Tucker Haymond of Garfield and Sefo Liufau of Bellarmine Prep were named to the first team.