Bantams shake off rough first half to beat Totems

Trailing by as many as 15 points in the waning minute of the first half, Clarkston mounted a stirring comeback to earn a berth in next weekend’s State 2A boys quarterfinals.

They cut the deficit to nine points by intermission, then continued the rally in the second half for a 62-53 victory over Sammamish, improving to 23-1 and moving on to the eight-team, three-day tourney that begins in Yakima on Friday.

Not as fortunate were Pullman’s girls who, locked in a taut contest with mirror foe River Ridge, were nudged 44-43 in a game that was in doubt until the final buzzer.

Clarkston 62, Sammamish 53: Trevon Allen is the Great Northern League’s most valuable player for a reason.

“He showed it tonight,” Clarkston coach Justin Jones said.

He didn’t need to point it out. Allen was the second-half catalyst, scoring 16 of his game high 22 points and orchestrating the Bantam’s second-half dominance.

“Our motto is ‘blind faith’,” Allen said. “We have blind faith in each other. We have downfalls, but we can come back from that and do anything.”

Two teams with similar uptempo styles and fearless from 3-point range challenged each other.

Seven of the first eight baskets were from beyond the arc as the Totems (20-6) bolted to a 16-9 lead. The lead stretched to 36-21 before Clarkston scored three times in the last 1:15 to enter the locker room behind by single digits, thanks in large part to CJ Johnson who scored 11 of his 16 points by intermission.

In the third period the Bantams outscored the Totems 16-5 to take their first lead in more than two quarters. Allen hit two 3s and scored eight points.

“Early in the game I was missing a couple, but you have to have the mentality that if you miss, keep shooting,” he said. “I did that and they started to fall.”

When it came to crunch time in the final minute of the game, he was at the forefront, hitting a 3-pointer and four free throws to keep Sammamish at bay.

“We got ourselves in a hole in that first half and coming out at halftime our focus was on the defensive end and it showed,” Jones said. “Overall we played well as a team in the second half.”

River Ridge 44, Pullman 43: McKenna Schultz scored all 14 River Ridge fourth-quarter points to rally the Hawks (15-9) and break the Greyhounds’ hearts. Pullman (14-11) led by as many as seven points, 37-30, early in the fourth quarter before Schultz took over. She hit the winner with 2 minutes left. Pullman’s Emily Drake made one of two free throws and had a shot to win fall short with 7 seconds left. Drake scored 23 for the Greyhounds and Schultz finished with 24.