Hunter Shoulders Load

Day session

Patrick Hunter’s doctor picked a perfect time to leave town.

The physician told Hunter to give his injured left shoulder a rest and abstain from playing basketball.

Yet before Pateros left for the 53rd boys State B basketball tournament, Hunter called the office for medical clearance to play. His doctor was on vacation.

Hunter made his own diagnosis and decided to step on the court, if just for 1 minute.

That 60 seconds developed into much more Friday, as Hunter scored 12 of his 14 points in the second half to rally his Billygoats (21-6) to a 63-58 loser-out win over seventh-ranked Almira/CouleeHartline (21-8) at the Coliseum.

Hunter guided an 11-0 run in the third quarter that wiped out ACH’s 39-30 lead.

Pateros, making its first appearance at state, will play for fourth place at 1 p.m. today against Snohomish County Christian.

Hunter is chancing his athletic career by playing, but he’s willing to take the gamble.

“If they get me in there and I’m doing well, they can’t pull me,” said Hunter, who led the Billygoats in scoring during his freshman and sophomore seasons.

“I’m kind of going on what he says,” said Pateros coach Mike Hull. “He’s played his whole career for something like this.”

Hunter, the Pateros quarterback, hurt his shoulder during the B-8 football finals at the Kingbowl. He played two basketball games before (tentatively) calling it a season.

Hunter played Thursday against Dayton. Although the Billygoats didn’t win, they made a comeback with Hunter in the lineup.

“My shoulder was a little sore this morning, but I was doing things (Thursday) that I wasn’t used to doing,” Hunter said.

On Friday, Hull brought in Hunter during the first quarter. Pateros junior Garrett Zwar, however, carried most of the load, scoring 12 in the first half.

“We focused on Zwar,” said ACH coach Jim Wacker. “He goes to his right, so we tried to double down and take that away from him.”

ACH held Zwar to six points in the second half, but Hunter took charge. When ACH took a 39-30 lead, Hunter had two baskets during an 11-0 run.

“We rotated enough kids to finally find the kids to get the job done,” Hull said.

Pateros junior John Neuneker surprised ACH with three 3-pointers in the final 11 minutes.

“He wasn’t the one that we thought would get it done,” Wacker said.

Hunter’s basket with 1:11 left in the third quarter gave Pateros the lead for good.

Warriors junior Matt Elder kept ACH close with five 3-pointers in the final 8:15. Elder had seven for the game, which tied the tournament record set by Todd Dalsted of Onalaska in 1988.

Pateros had missed 9 of 11 free throws when senior Robert Alvarez stepped to the line with 45 seconds left and his team ahead 60-58.

Alvarez made two free throws, and another with 8 seconds left, to put the trimmings on the win.

Wacker praised Pateros’ scrappiness and Hunter’s dedication.

“Sacrifices sometimes are made, I’ll tell you what,” Wacker said.