Terry’s 27 Lifts State To Victory
University of Arizona basketball coach Lute Olson is now stockpiling his hoops arsenal with Washington’s finest. The end result may prove to be deadly for the University of Washington and Washington State.
For the second straight year, Olson has landed one of this state’s best players in 6-foot-2 Franklin High guard Jason Terry.
Wednesday night at Gonzaga’s Martin Centre, Terry pumped in 27 points as the AA/AAA State team defeated the AA/ AAA City team 139-121 WIBCA All-Star Game.
Terry was the Class AA player of the year and will begin his playing career at Arizona for the 1995-96 season. Last year, Olson landed Federal Way’s Michael Dickerson, who was the Washington Player of the Year. Dickerson grabbed his fair share of playing time for the Wildcats this past season.
What is Lute doing to attract some of Washington’s finest?
“It’s the program and style of play,” Terry said. “They like to run and shoot 3s. Nobody wants to play that slow-down stuff anymore.”
And slowing down is something that Terry doesn’t do a lot of.
He finished with just nine first-half points as the state squad bolted to a 75-46 halftime lead. In the second half, Terry picked up the pace even more as he just ran by the city team. The game was never in doubt on the scoreboard.
The city team was led by Evergreen’s Paul Bustrin, who had 25 points - 22 of which came in the second half. The only Spokane player in the game was Mead’s Jason Smith, who tossed in 14 points.
Smith had the unenviable task of guarding Donald Watts, the Class AAA Player of the Year and 1995 Mr. Basketball for Washington from Lake Washington High.
Watts, who finished with 14 points, is the son of former Seattle SuperSonics guard Donald “Slick” Watts. The younger Watts will attend the University of Washington in the fall.
“I didn’t think Watts was as quick as he was until he drove by me and dunked the ball,” Smith said.
In probably the most ironic moment of the night, Watts blocked a shot attempt by city player Terik Brown of Mercer Island. Brown is the son of former Sonic “Downtown” Fred Brown who once played with Slick Watts. Brown, bound for the University of Oregon, finished the game with nine points.
A 6-5 shooting guard, Watts Jr., who can also play small forward, has had the burden of being expected to do the same things on the court that his father did when he was a Sonic from 1973-79.
“It was tough at first when I began playing because of all the expectations,” Watts said. “But my father told me to expect it.”
AA/AAA State 139, AA/AAA City 121
AA/AAA City Terik Brown (Mercer Island) 9, Paul Bustrin (Evergreen) 25, Jason Perry (O’Dea) 14, Chris Johnson (O’Dea) 0, Mike Nilson (Shorecrest) 7, Dane Looker (Puyallup) 18, Kory Leadon (West Valley/Yakima) 8, Chad Hendrickson (Mt. Tahoma) 5, Tyce Nasinec (Rogers/Puyallup) 12, Jason Smith (Mead) 14, Glen McCloud (Kamiakin) 5, Emil Swain (Kent Meridian) 4. (121).
AA/AAA State Tommy Mitchell (Franklin) 6, Gabe VanGuse (Peninsula) 10, Brandon Rinta (W.F. West) 4, Ian Moog (W.F. West) 10, Matt Guerero (Sedro Woolley) 10, James Madison (Port Angeles) 13, Doug Schulz (Richland) 6, Matt Smith (Colville) 14, Donald Watts (Lake Washington) 14, Jessen Schilaty (Everett) 15, Jason Terry 27, Kyle Stonehouse (Hudson’s Bay) 12. Halftime - State 75, City 46
, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color Photo