Ferris Advances To Semis Late 3-Pointer Lifts Saxons To 43-41 Quarterfinal Win

Late Night with Justin Bursch is not for the faint of heart.

Bursch came off the bench to knock down a 3-point basket from the left corner with 13 seconds left to lift third-ranked Ferris to an improbable 43-41 win over No. 7 Port Angeles Thursday night in the Kingdome.

The win propelled the Saxons into the semifinals of the boys State AAA basketball tournament against top-ranked Mount Vernon.

Mount Vernon ran its record to 27-0 with a 66-54 win over Auburn. The semifinal game is at 9:30 tonight.

“I was just thinking about how bad I wanted to go in,” said Bursch who spent almost a full quarter on the bench. “I hadn’t been having a good tournament so far. I’ve been struggling with my shot. I got a good look at the basket. I’m just glad it went in.”

The afternoon was completely different for Shadle Park.

Shadle Park ran into too many Division I players - Dan Dickau, who has signed with Washington, and junior Zach Gourde, who will sign with someone - and was overwhelmed by Prairie, although the Falcons outscored the Highlanders 15-2 in the last 2:19.

“Into the third quarter, we had some opportunities,” Shadle Park coach Darcy Weisner said. “We wanted to play them close into the fourth quarter and spread them out … but they took control of the tempo and they did the same thing to us.

“It was kind of a chess match, and they had the queen.”

Well, make that two kings. Dickau, a 6-foot-2 guard, had 27 points, hitting 13 of 14 free throws, and eight assists. The 6-6 Gourde had 24 points and 11 rebounds.

The Highlanders get their third crack at Richland, which fell to Mercer Island 52-42. The winner of today’s 1 p.m. game plays for fourth place Saturday.

Ferris 43, Port Angeles 41

The Saxons (24-2) had struggled since opening the game with a stunning 11-0 run but trailed by as many as 11 late in the third quarter. At that point, Bursch took a seat and sophomore Brad Hodl helped spark a rally that saw Ferris regain the lead with 2:22 to play.

Bursch didn’t enter the game until Jeremy Lucke, who led Ferris with 15 points, fouled out with 31 seconds left and the Saxons down one. Another foul put Roughriders star Jon Madison at the foul line with 28 seconds left. Madison, who scored 17 points, missed the free throw and the Saxons calmly worked the ball free until Bursch broke open in the corner.

“It was a real great comeback for our team,” Ferris coach Wayne Gilman said.

Trailing 13-9 with 2:35 to go in the first quarter, the Roughriders went on a 13-2 run and then closed the half with a 6-0 surge to lead 30-19.

After the slow start, the Roughriders (24-1) found holes in the Saxons’ match-up zone other teams rarely, if ever, discovered.

Ferris 13 6 9 15 - 43

Port Angeles 13 17 6 5 - 41

FERRIS Bursch 1 0-0 3, Servine 5 0-1 11, Atkins 0 0-0 0, Lucke 6 0- 0 15, Soter 0 0-0 0, Watts 0 0-0 0, Hodl 2 2-4 8, Gordon 0 0-2 0, Weatherred 3 0-0 6. Totals 17 2-7 43.

PORT ANGELES Smilay 1 3-3 5, Ochs 0 2-2 2, Burke 3 0-1 8, Dewey 0 0-0 0, Rickel 2 0-0 4, Madison 6 5-9 17, Haney 2 1-2 5. Totals 14 11-17 41.

3-point goals - Bursch, Servine, Lucke 3, Hodl 2, Burke 2. Total fouls - Ferris 17, PA 13. Foueld out - Lucke.

Prairie 70, Shadle Park 50

The Highlanders (20-8) had to be flawless against the sixth-ranked Falcons (22-2) and they weren’t - too many fouls on defense (26) and too many misses on offense (18-58).

But for a while they had the Falcons grounded.

Prairie led 40-33 entering the fourth quarter when Dickau sandwiched two free throws between a pair of 3-pointers to boost the margin to 12. Shadle mounted a comeback, but when Nate Dunham sprained an ankle on a layup that closed the gap to 48-42 with 4:53 to go, it stalled.

“We didn’t shoot as well as we needed to in the second half,” Weisner said. “The big guy did a real good job plugging up the middle. (Tom) Mohr did a good job battling him, but he’s a tough load.

”(Dickau) could break you down pretty easy. He’s intelligent and strong. He’s legit.”

Prairie 13 10 17 30 - 70

Shadle Park 14 11 8 17 - 50

PRAIRIE Edwards 0 0-0 0, Dickau 6 13-14 27, Palin 0 0-2 0, Rosales 2 5-7 11, Brown 0 0-0 0, Blancas 3 1-2 8, Basch 0 0-1 0, Soeland 0 0-0 0, Gourde 8 7-9 24. Totals 19 26-35 70.

SHADLE PARK Wynne 0 0-0 0, Ryan 1 0-0 2, Beal 0 0-0 0,Dunham 3 1-1 9, Jones 1 0-0 2, Meyers 6 1-1 17, Anderson 5 3-5 15, Mohr 0 0-0 0, Hann 2 1-2 5, Glanzer 0 0-0 0, Hipps 0 0-1 0. Totals 18 6-10 50.

3-point goals - Dickau 2, Rosales 2, Blancas, Gourde, Dunham 2, Meyers 4, Anderson 2. Total fouls - Prairie 16, SP 26. Fouled out - Mohr. Technical foul - Dickau. , DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Photo