Oh, brother

Jarod Gunning has tried throughout his high school career to talk his younger brother Joey onto the football field.

Thursday evening – on a basketball court, of all places – it became apparent why when Joey hauled in a couple of long outlet passes from Jarod and turned them into a pair of important late-game baskets that helped Davenport turn aside Napavine 48-38 in the quarterfinals of the State 2B boys basketball tournament at the Arena.

The two Gunning-to-Gunning scoring strikes, one of which resulted in a three-point play, came with the Gorillas nursing a 35-32 lead midway through the fourth quarter and seemed to bum out the Tigers, who were outscored 14-6 over the last 51/2 minutes of the game.

“We’ve been doing that for the last couple of years, now,” said Jarod, a senior and the Gorillas’ leading scorer. “That’s what he does – gets down the court in a hurry. And at 6-foot-4, he’s a pretty easy target, with good hands.

“I think he’d make a good receiver, but I can’t talk him into playing football.”

Upon hearing his brother’s comments, Joey, a sophomore, shrugged.

“Don’t want to risk getting hurt for basketball,” he said.

That kind of reasoning probably works for Gorillas head coach Tim Zeiler, considering how much the younger Gunning has contributed – while laboring in the considerable shadow of his older brother, nonetheless – during his first two varsity seasons.

He was a key player in last year’s run to the title game of the State 2B tournament, where Davenport lost to unbeaten Bi-County League rival Northwest Christian. And he averaged almost 12 points during the regular season this winter, in helping the Gorillas back to state.

But the 11 points he contributed on Thursday were huge, too – mainly because of the way Jarod was struggling against Napavine’s pressure defense.

At one point the older Gunning, a 6-2 combo guard, turned the ball over on three straight possessions and was called to the bench by Zeiler.

“They have to do that sometimes to settle me down,” said Jarod, who averaged 25.5 points during the regular season, but was held to just 11 by the Tigers, who also rushed him into five turnovers. “I get too much ahead of myself and start making stupid passes and stupid mistakes like I did tonight.”

Still, he found a way to become more involved – and more productive – down the stretch when he set his brother up for a couple of easy buckets that helped settled down his team.

Zeiler said after the game that he had mixed feelings about the way his team performed.

“I was a little happy, but also a little mad,” he said. “We didn’t play very well tonight, but these kids are very poised and don’t get flustered – which is one of the benefits we have with this group.”