Cummings Ties Scoring Record With 37 Points As Pullman Advances To Semis

2A boys

Brent Cummings tied the tournament one-game scoring record Thursday, then tipped his hat to his teammates’ offensive production.

“My teammates knew I had the hot hand and they were getting me the ball,” Cummings said after scoring 37 points in Pullman’s 65-53 win over Nooksack Valley in a boys State 2A basketball tournament quarterfinal.

“So, that was their contribution, and I really appreciate it.”

Second-ranked Pullman (24-0) advanced to today’s 8 p.m. semifinal against Wapato (21-5).

Today’s other semifinal at the Sun Dome will match top-ranked Blaine (24-0) against Vashon Island (20-7) at 6 p.m.

Blaine is led by junior guard Luke Ridnour, who scored 37 in a tournament game against Cleveland last year.

As for the chances of meeting Blaine in Saturday’s championship game, Cummings just smiled.

“I’m a superstitious kind of guy,” he said. “I don’t like looking that far ahead.”

In consolation games on Thursday, Forks eliminated Deer Park 84-65 and Woodland eliminated Lakeside 63-58.

Pullman 65, N.Valley 53

Cummings had a steal and a dunk near the end of Pullman’s 25-12 first quarter. The 6-foot-7 senior forward finished the opening quarter with 11 points.

It was the type of quarter to which the Greyhounds are accustomed after averaging 83 points per game this season.

Pullman’s lead grew to 15 points in the second quarter and hovered between 11-13 in the third quarter. But sparkplug Ryan Harms picked up his fourth foul early in the fourth quarter and Pullman’s offense went quiet.

“We needed him on the floor to get the offense going and because of the way he plays defense,” Pullman coach Ken Swanger.

Free throws allowed Nooksack Valley’s Pioneers (18-9) to cut Pullman’s advantage to 49-43 with 7 minutes left in the game. Swanger took a timeout.

“He was saying we needed to execute,” Cummings said. “We were taking sloppy shots and taking them fast.”

Josh Bray responded with his third 3-pointer, with 6:13 left, and Pullman stayed ahead by at least seven the rest of the way.

Pullman 25 12 12 16 - 65

Nooksack Valley 12 12 15 14 - 53

Pullman (65) - Cummings 37, Paulson 2, Bray 16, Harms 8, Rurangirwa 0, Morscheck 0, Weeks 0, Poole 0, Petz 2.

Nooksack Valley (53) - Venn 0, Lewis 0, Scheenstra 2, Weinheimer 0, Holz 6, Stacey 2, Matthiesen 17, Brower 2, Kamphouse 4, Mitchell 20, Skillman 0.

Woodland 63, Lakeside 58

Lakeside (13-13) trailed 39-25 with 2:17 left in the third quarter, but the Eagles nearly caught up.

Guard Mike Rowse, held in check during the first half, scored eight points in a little more than a minute to trim the Beavers’ lead to 45-44 with 4:22 left.

“I turned to my assistant and told him, “I think we have it,”’ said Lakeside coach Kevin Mulligan.

Instead, Woodland (18-8) put on a 7-0 burst then sealed the game with free throws. A technical foul by Pat Clocherty with 1:21 left was especially critical, increasing Lakeside’s deficit from six to nine.

Lakeside could return eight of its 11 roster players, including three starters.

Lakeside 12 6 16 24 - 58

Woodland 11 13 15 24 - 63

Lakeside (58) - Day 3, Rowse 19, Mortlock 2, Clocherty 5, Bjork 24, Maruca 0, Stillar 3, Parker 0, Brown 2.

Woodland (63) - Prado 3, Tricola 21, Canner 19, Ingraham 5, Christensen 11, Drake 0, Grant 4, Patching 0, Boerste 0.

Forks 84, Deer Park 65

The game slipped away from the Stags (17-9) in the second quarter.

Reserve forward Pat Bennett of the Spartans (21-5) worked his way inside for seven quick points to help stretch an eight-point lead to 17, at 41-24.

Forks junior point guard Kasey Ulin scored 14 points in the first quarter and 19 of his 28 in the first half.

Ulin and Kurt Olson, another junior guard, combined for 19-of-32 field-goal shooting. Olson’s 3-pointer with 3;30 left in the third quarter pushed the lead to 20 points.

The Stags lost sophomore point guard Zack Axel right before Olson’s 3-pointer. Axel sprained his ankle after feeding a behind-the-back pass to Jake White for a layup.

Stags sophomore forward Adam Swinyard scored 20 and averaged 24.5 for the tournament.

Deer Park 21 20 18 25 - 84

Forks 17 10 16 22 - 65

Deer Park (65) - Swinyard 20, White 9, Henry 8, Frickey 12, Thompson 2, Axel 2, Epler 0, Westerman 0, Mitchell 4, Thompson 1, Zimmerer 4, Morse 3.

Forks (84) - Ulin 28, LaMance 11, C. Audette 2, Olson 19, Bourn 6, Dickinson 0, Jackson 0, J. Audette 2, Leighton 2, Bennett 14, Gooding 0.