Pullman, Blaine Set To Rumble

2A boys

Give the people what they want.

Pullman and Blaine fulfilled that obligation Friday during the boys State 2A basketball tournament semifinals at the SunDome.

Both teams enter tonight’s 8:30 championship game with 25-0 records. Top-ranked Blaine buried Vashon Island 65-49 to open semifinal play then watched the No. 2 Greyhounds dismantle Wapato 76-58.

When the teams entered the tournament with 22-0 records Wednesday, talk of a Perfect vs. Perfect matchup was downplayed. But the topic can’t be dismissed now.

“That’s what people want to see,” said Pullman’s speedy senior guard Ryan Harms, whose 16 points against Wapato made him one of four Greyhounds in double figures. “Let’s give it to them.”

“It comes down to the two best teams in the state,” added senior guard Josh Bray, who scored 17. “It’s going to be a great game. This place will be packed, and we’ll have a lot of fun.”

The spotlight will fall on Blaine’s junior guard Luke Ridnour and Pullman’s senior post Brent Cummings.

The two stars are 1-2 in tournament scoring, with Ridnour holding a 93-79 edge. Ridnour also leads all tournament players with 15 steals. Cummings stands No. 1 with 14 blocked shots and he is tied for second with 36 rebounds.

“To me, Ridnour is in a class of his own,” said Pullman coach Ken Swanger. “He’s a guy who can win a game by himself.

“I kind of have an idea what they’ll do (with Cummings), but we hope we can take advantage of his (6-foot-7) height.”

Wapato (21-6), with no starter taller than 6-3, couldn’t hold off Cummings, Anthony Petz and Getch Poole on the boards. The three combined for 34 rebounds as Pullman compiled a 54-35 advantage.

Pullman led Wapato 13-1 before the Wolves knew what hit them. Cummings had a four-point play as the lead grew to 26-5, then the Greyhounds hit a lull.

Wapato, a comeback winner over 1998 state champion Elma in Thursday’s quarterfinals, outscored Pullman 18-5 to close out the first half.

“We were sluggish from using up a lot of energy in the first quarter,” Harms said. “We lost a little bit of an edge, but we got it back.”

They got it back in a hurry, too. The second half opened with a 31-23 score, but Pullman led 49-27 after less than 5 minutes. “I knew we had the capability that we weren’t going to let (Wapato’s rally) get to us,” Bray said.

The Greyhounds led by at least 15 points the rest of the way.

Cummings totaled 20 points, 15 rebounds and five blocked shots. Petz hit 6 of 7 from the field and scored 13 points.

The performance was more in keeping with Pullman’s yearlong style. The Greyhounds averaged 83 points per game before state, but they had scored 64 and 65 in their first two tournament games.

“Tonight, I think we played like we have the entire year,” Swanger said.

The Pullman portion of the crowd cheered “We want Blaine” in the closing seconds of the game.

They, and everyone else, will get what they want tonight.

Pullman 76, Wapato 58

Pullman 17 14 23 22 - 76

Wapato 5 18 14 21 - 58

Pullman (76) - Sheridan 0, Cummings 20, Paulson 0, Baumgartner 0, Bray 17, Harms 16, Myers 0, Rurangirwa 6, Morscheck 2, Weeks 0, Poole 2, Petz 13.

Wapato (58) - Alvarado 4, McCullough 10, Valdez 6, Alvarado 4, Kunigk 0, Wilcox 22, Garza 3, Brandt 5, Duncan 0, Munson 4, Shields 0, Wofford 0.