It’s Dayton, Wishkah! Dayton Uses ‘Will Power’ To Win First Basketball Title

Dayton and the Coliseum went out together.

Dayton, making the switch to Class A next year, overwhelmed Toutle Lake 68-46 Saturday to win the championship of the 53rd boys State B basketball tournament.

Dayton’s best finish at state had been as runner-up.

The Bulldogs (28-1) relished their role as the final B team to win a game at the Coliseum. The structure, used as the site of every State B tournament since 1958, faces the wrecking ball next month as a new arena prepares to open its doors.

“We wanted to win the last one in the ‘barn,”’ said senior Will Hutchens, Dayton’s hero of the night, as he has been most of the season.

Hutchens scored 10 of his 27 points during a 14-0 third-quarter run that put the Ducks (25-2) down for the count. The spree included back-to-back 3-pointers.

“I think the biggest thing was when Will started hitting the 3-pointers,” said Dayton coach Jay Webber, who also played for a state championship team at Coulee-Hartline. “The kids just started to sense that they could get the win.”

The “kids” were much the same group that won the State B-11 football title in December. The victim then was also Toutle Lake.

The Dayton crowd reminded the Ducks of that fact with a late-game cheer of “Deja vu.”

“I think it says a lot about our athletic ability, our poise and our character,” said Matt Talbott, the Bulldogs’ quarterback and guard. “All of these guys know how to play, and they know how to win.”

“To win football and basketball in the same year, and then track the year before that, and then you leave to go to A - that’s the way it should be,” said Dayton guard Ryan Rundell.

The teams played evenly until midway through the second quarter, when the Bulldogs broke from a 20-all tie with a run that reached 11-1 by early in the third quarter.

Although the Ducks rallied within six points, the Dayton defense closed off most of their offensive options. The exception was senior Nick Andrew, who scored 24 and made 10 of 11 free throws.

Hutchens, guarding senior Greg Kilponen, held the forward to six points. Kilponen had scored 55 points in three wins.

A bigger factor was the ankle injury that Toutle Lake guard Kevin Grabenhorst suffered during Friday’s semifinals. Grabenhorst, whose speed had helped the Ducks average 75 points per tourney game, was held to six points and couldn’t apply the defensive pressure that had been his trademark.

“It was a factor, but, hey, you have to go play,” said Toutle Lake coach Eric Swanson. “The other guys have to step it up, and they didn’t tonight.”

Toutle Lake nevertheless took home the second-place trophy, its best finish. The Ducks had been third place twice.

Hutchens, who led the tournament in scoring as a junior, had been relatively quiet during three wins (17 ppg). This time he looked to score from the start, hitting Dayton’s first two baskets and reaching 11 points by halftime.

“I just felt like I needed to lead the team,” said Hutchens, who made 11 of 23 field goals and had 11 rebounds, four assists and seven steals.

Dayton received an emotional lift when 6-foot-3 regular starter Jeff Skeeter, who twisted an ankle on Friday, entered at the 3-minute mark. Skeeter immediately scored.

“He was very questionable coming into tonight, but he just dug down and gathered it up,” Webber said.

Dayton’s defense contested most Toutle Lake passes. The Ducks, off to a 15-12 lead, scored just six in the second quarter.

“We feel we’re quicker than anyone we play, so we try to use our quickness to our advantage,” Rundell said.

“Everything we threw at them, I thought they had an answer,” Swanson said.

Hutchens finished his State B career with 170 points and 64 rebounds. Toutle’s three big guns, who played here the last three years, joined the century scoring club: Andrew with 171, Kilponen 142 and Grabenhorst 114..

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