Greyhounds hold off surging Monarchs

YAKIMA – Pullman went through extreme ups and downs during the second half of Thursday’s State 2A boys basketball tournament.

Fortunately for Pullman, accuracy at the free-throw line intervened and the Greyhounds recovered from nearly blowing an 18-point third-period lead and made their way past No. 2-ranked Mark Morris 56-45 in a loser-out game at the SunDome.

The Greyhounds (18-8) will face Quincy in today’s 9 a.m. consolation bracket with a spot at stake in the game for fifth and eighth places.

Mark Morris’ departure became one of the day’s big stories. The Monarchs entered the tournament with a 20-3 mark and a recent 16-game winning streak that ended in their district championship. Their stay in the tournament lasted less than 24 hours and they returned to Longview with a three-game losing streak

After methodically building an 18-point lead, Pullman had to hold off a frantic rally with the Monarchs eventually trailing just 47-45. The Greyhounds finally regained their footing and extended the lead to the final margin.

A blizzard of Mark Morris 3-pointers in the final period made things tight. Nic Thacker had two and Sean Atkins one in the space of a minute to cut Pullman’s lead to five. Cameron Carson’s 3-pointer at the 2:16 mark left the Monarchs trailing by two.

But just as suddenly as its free-throw shooting touch had disappeared – Pullman missed nine free throws in the first 6 minutes of the period – it reappeared at a most crucial juncture. Pullman made 10 of 13 in the final 2:29 to advance.

Pullman took just two free throws in the third period, but shot a whopping 33 in the final period, with the 21 made free throws accounting for all of its scoring. Cody Weber made six and AJ Therien added four free throws.

Weber and Jaime Fertakis led Pullman with 11 points each.

“(The Monarchs’) game plan changed. It looked like they wanted to make us win the game at the free-throw line,” Pullman coach Craig Brantner said. “They were getting three (points) to our one for a while there and that wasn’t working.”

Pullman got to its advantageous position by dictating the tempo and limiting offensive second chances for the high-scoring Monarchs. Doing so required keeping a much taller team in check on the boards. The Greyhounds were up to the task, grabbing 21 to Mark Morris’ eight.

“We told the kids before the game we had to win the rebound battle to win game,” Brantner said. “That’s a tough task when you’re giving up 3-4 inches at every spot.”

Burlington-Edison 64, Clarkston 52: The Bantams stayed with the defending runner-up for a half, but high-scoring guard Evan Coulter and rebounding prowess eventually wore Clarkston down.

Clarkston (16-10) will play Wapato at 2 p.m. for the goal of playing in Saturday’s game for fourth and seventh places. A win there would assure the Bantams of their first state trophy since 2004.

Burlington (18-7) outrebounded Clarkston 38-21. Coulter scored 29 points.

Dustin McConnell led Clarkston with 14 points and six assists. Brady Amone added 10.