Ferris Boys Put Clamps On State Hardware Mount Tahoma Has Gets Its Chances Before Servine Seals Win For Saxons

When Ken Kay missed the shot that would have put Mount Tahoma in the lead with 5 seconds left, Ferris senior Tommy Servine rebounded.

When Servine missed the second free throw with 2.2 seconds left that would have guaranteed the Saxons no worse than overtime, Servine rebounded. ,

Before the Thunderbirds could add to the anxiety with a foul, Servine launched the ball high above the Kingdome court.

While the ball was still on the way up, the buzzer sounded and the Ferris Saxons were on their way to the trophy round of the State 4A boys basketball tournament with a 52-50 win over Mount Tahoma Saturday morning.

The fourth-ranked Saxons (22-6) face No. 3 Franklin (22-6), a 54-41 winner over Gig Harbor, at 11 a.m. today in the game for fifth and eighth places.

“I said we were going to come over here and get some hardware, and that’s what we’re going to do,” Servine said. Servine was determined to get that trophy, scoring 19 points, grabbing six rebounds and dishing three assists. “He was key, just refusing to let the team lose,” Saxons coach Wayne Gilman said.

It took a lot of work to ensure that didn’t happen.

A 9-0 run midway through the fourth quarter put the Saxons up 45-37 and they were still up by five with under a minute to play. A missed shot, two missed free throws and a couple turnovers allowed the Thunderbirds to close within 51-50 and get the ball with under 20 seconds to play.

Mount Tahoma (20-9) missed three shots but still had the ball, leading to Key’s miss.

“Typical of us,” Servine said. “We make it hard for ourselves.”

The Saxons had five 3-pointers, including three by Brad Hodl, to take a 22-20 halftime lead despite shooting 29 percent.

The game stayed tight until Servine hit a 3 to put Ferris ahead 39-37 with 5:24 to play. The Thunderbirds missed three shots and a free throw before Andre Atkins converted off an offensive rebound. Atkins then stole the ball for a layup and Chris Watts converted off another turnover for the 45-37 lead.

“The basic thing that did it for us is we held them (well) below their scoring average,” Gilman said of the T-Birds, who average more than 70 points a game.

Hodl added 13 points after being knocked woozy late in Thursday’s win over Bellarmine Prep and was one of four Saxons with six rebounds.

Ferris struggled again from the line, making 12 of 21 free throws but the T-Birds were 8 for 16 and were 0 for 4 from 3-point range. Ferris finished with eight 3s, four by Servine.

Ferris 52, Mount Tahoma 50

Mount Tahoma 12 8 11 19 - 50

Ferris 11 11 9 21 - 52

MOUNT TAHOMA - Johnson 4 2-5 10, Massingale 1 1-2 3, Thomas 1 0-0 2, Anderson 8 2-4 18, Phillips 0 -0 0, Kelly 1 2-2 4, Banks 0 0-0 0, Key 4 0-1 8, McKernan 0 1-2 1, Wells 2 0-0 4. Totals 21 8-16 50.

FERRIS - Servine 4 7-10 19, Atkins 4 1-2 10, Sleeth 0 0-2 0, Watts 1 1- 2 3, Hodl 4 2-3 13, Mietus 0 0-0 0, Williams 3 1-2 7. Totals 16 12-21 52.

3-point goals - Servine 4, Atkins, Hodl 3. Total fouls - MT 18, Ferris 15. Fouled out - Atkins.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color Photo