West Valley boys lose 54-46

TACOMA – The Columbia River Chieftains picked apart West Valley in the fourth quarter on their way to a 54-46 win in the second round of the State 3A basketball tournament at the Tacoma Dome.

The Eagles (21-4) move into the consolation bracket to face Clover Park at 3:30 p.m. Columbia River (18-6) advances to play reigning 3A champion O’Dea in the semifinals.

E.J. Richardson’s layup with 6:55 remaining in the game pulled the Eagles within one point, 36-35. Richardson was fouled but missed the free throw.

Columbia River’s Sean Price sank two ensuing free throws to put the Chieftans up by three points. It was a large enough lead that after a West Valley turnover the Chieftans went into their stall offense.

One minute, 10 seconds ticked off the clock on the Chieftans’ next possession before Price pulled up in a packed key for a soft 5-foot jumper. Arton Toussaint’s shot was blocked on the other end and Columbia River went to the stall offense again, with 5:10 remaining. Again they let a minute run off the clock before Price found Chris Bolton wide open underneath the hoop for an easy layin.

Suddenly, a one-point deficit turned into a seven-point deficit and the Eagles could not keep pace.

“It came down to who had heart and who wanted it the most,” Richardson said. “I guess we just didn’t want it as much.”

But it wasn’t the stall offense that pained West Valley coach Jamie Nilles, it was his team’s icy shooting.

“It was more painful to see us stuck on 37 (points) and 8 forever,” Nilles said.

The Eagles had their chances to attempt another comeback but did not score for three minutes until Landon Page hit a 3-pointer with 58 seconds left to cut the Columbia River lead to 51-40. During that span West Valley missed four 3-point attempts and a one-and-one free-throw attempt.

“We live by the 3 and die by the 3,” Richardson said.

West Valley gave up significant size. Their tallest players, Hobbs (6-foot-4) and Richardson (6-6) were outmatched by the Chieftans Zack Moritz (6-10) and Aaron Guinn (6-6). The Chieftans only out-rebounded the Eagles by four, but came up with several clutch rebounds when the game got close.

Forward Tyler Hobbs’ ability to shoot outside did cause some matchup problems. He was the only West Valley player to score in double figures with a game-high 23. His 3-pointer to close the first half cut the Columbia River lead to 25-20.

“Their guards are good, they are strong with the ball,” Nilles said.

“It’s one of those things that if they have a four- or six-point lead late in the game, it will be a tough thing to overcome that and turn it the other way. They shoot free throws well enough that you can’t catch up.”