Wv Succumbs In Fourth Quarter Eagles Will Play For Third Place After Mount Vernon Gets Away

West Valley’s boys basketball team came to Seattle hoping to show they belonged in the State 3A high school tournament with the likes of second-ranked Mount Vernon.

For three quarters, and then some, in KeyArena on Friday neither team asked for nor gave any quarter.

Mount Vernon’s 80-61 victory over the Eagles in the semifinals masked the true nature of WV’s effort.

“This year’s team wanted to show they could play over here,” said second-year coach Jamie Nilles. “The score skewed that view, I think.”

Not in the eyes of those in attendance. With 6:38 remaining, the Eagles trailed just 52-50 after taking the game to the taller and lightning quick Bulldogs.

Mount Vernon did not lead until the final 35 seconds of the first half. After Mount Vernon went ahead 36-31 in the third quarter, WV ambushed the Bulldogs with nine straight points and battled back from a five-point deficit on Lance Pecht’s three-point play 1:30 into the final quarter to trail by just a basket.

Then the wheels came off.

Or more precisely, Mount Vernon found its wheels and raced away on a record 34-point fourth quarter.

“We’re right there and I can’t explain it,” said Nilles. “We had three bad possessions defensively, and probably three offensively.

“We picked a bad time for that to happen.”

Mount Vernon scored nine points in a row with guard Troy Devries the catalyst. That spurt fueled a 19-2 sprint in a 3-1/2-minute span that dropped the Eagles into today’s 3 p.m. game for third and sixth places.

They’ll play Rainier Beach (25-4).

Devries, in foul trouble during a tightly officiated game, scored but one point in the first half. In the second he had 22, including three timely 3-point baskets, two of them during Mount Vernon’s late getaway.

“At certain times,” said Nilles, “we did some good things. It’s too bad the final score was not a little closer.”

Against a team with a starting lineup featuring two 6-foot-6 players and another 6-7, the Eagles were every bit a match. John Focht, at 6-3, further established himself as one of the best posts in the tournament.

He played the tall Bulldog trio to a first-quarter standoff as WV took early 8-4 and 18-8 leads and finished with 20 points and 11 rebounds.

The Eagles went up 26-20 late in the second quarter thanks to Luke Gordon, who came out of a tournament-long slump to score a dozen first-half points, 10 in the second quarter.

“We were relaxed,” he said. “Personally, I had been tight the whole tournament and this was the first time I got rolling.”

In the final 2:50 of the half, WV showed some vulnerability, hurrying a couple shots and missing a pair of free throws to allow Mount Vernon to grab its first lead before Gordon rescued the Eagles with an end-of-half 3-pointer and 29-28 lead.

Devries scored his team’s first eight third-quarter points. Yet the Eagles hung tough for 5 more minutes before the Bulldogs got away.

Pecht had an uncharacteristically poor shooting night. He finished with 16 points, but 13 came in the fourth quarter.

Pecht made just 5 of 18 field-goal attempts, and on several of those misses, Mount Vernon turned long rebounds into quick fast-break baskets.

“Because of their size they could get stuff on the baseline by going up and scoring over us,” said Nilles. “But I thought we did fine.”

WV proved in 26 minutes of sterling effort in the State 3A semifinals they deserved to be here.

In the 3A consolation loser-out games Friday, O’Dea beat Lynden 49-40, Everett took care of Washington 56-46, North Thurston edged Blanchet 52-50 and Mount Si defeated Ellensburg 51-42.

Mount Vernon 80, West Valley 61

Mount Vernon 13 15 18 34 80

West Valley 15 14 15 17 61

Mount Vernon (24-2)Troy Devries 5 8-11 21, Tim Reading 2 1-3 5, Josh Reisman 4 2-4 10, Tyler Amaya 6 4-4 16, Kyle Kingshott 6 5-6 17, Scott Skjei 3 2-2 9, Mike Anderson 1 0-0 2, Amarillas 0 0-0 0, Thompson 0 0-0 0, Lee 0 0-0 0, Powell 0 0-0 0, Martin 0 0-0 0.

West Valley (23-3)-Tony Kopp 2 0-0 4, Kris Sly 2 0-0 5, Craig McIntyre 1 2-2 4, Lance Pecht 5 3-4 16, Hamilton 0 0-0 0, Luke Gordon 3 5-5 12, John Focht 7 6-12 20, Hollifield 0 0-1 0, Harris 0 0-0 0, Allen 0 0-0 0, French 0 0-0 0, Bullock 0 0-0 0.

3-point goals - Devries 3, Skjei, Sly, Pecht 3, Gordon. Total fouls - Mount Vernon 21, West Valley 24. Fouled out - Reisman, Skjei. Technicals - Reisman.

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3A BOYS TOURNAMENT

Today’s game

West Valley (23-3) vs. Rainier Beach (25-4) 3 p.m.