State 2A/1A: Pullman boys continue perfect season with win over Enumclaw; Deer Park girls lose heart-breaker at buzzer

YAKIMA – The bad fortunes of top seeds on the State 2A boys court in the Yakima Valley SunDome finally ended Thursday morning.

No. 1-seeded and undefeated Pullman pulled away from No. 10 Enumclaw – the same team which defeated second-seeded Anacortes in a loser-out game Wednesday morning – for a 54-40 victory and a spot in the semifinals.

The Greyhounds (24-0) will meet No. 4 Mark Morris, a 60-51 winner against Tumwater, in Friday’s first semifinal at 3:45 p.m.

“Definitely staying focused the whole game,” Pullman senior standout Jaedyn Brown said of the pregame message. “We knew we had a job to do from the start. It was good to get the first one out of the way and hopefully, we can get two more wins.”

Brown scored a game-high 23 points and added eight rebounds for the Greyhounds, who are looking to return to the championship after falling to Lynden in last year’s final.

The Hornets stuck around the entire first half with Carter DeRosier hitting 5 of 8 3-pointers before halftime to pull Enumclaw within 30-26 .

DeRosier hit his first 3-pointer in the third quarter, but Pullman started to close out on shooters better the rest of the way. The Hornets were just 1 of 12 from long range after halftime.

“We rose to the challenge. Any time you give up 40 points in a state game, that’s pretty good defense,” Greyhounds coach Craig Brantner said. “We gave up too many 3s in the first half, and then we settled down and got out on them a little bit better.”

Champ Powaukee scored 15 points for Pullman, and 6-foot-10 junior Austin Hunt added eight rebounds, blocked two shots and altered several others.

“Watching the games (Wednesday), our kids got a good feeling of what it was going to be like,” Brantner said. “They didn’t play like it was their first game. They came with physicality and played hard and didn’t let little things bother them.”

No. 3 Renton and fifth-seeded Sehome – in addition to Anacortes – were ousted from the field Wednesday.

1A boys

Toppenish 73, Freeman 64 (OT): A fourth-quarter rally by the fourth-seeded Scotties went for naught when No. 6 Toppenish had a 3-pointer from an unlikely source in the final minute to send the game into overtime and take over in the extra session.

Senior Boen Phelps fought off foul trouble – including a technical in the second quarter – to score a team-high 25 points for the Scotties.

Phelps helped Freeman overcome a five-point deficit in the final minutes of regulation to take a 62-59 lead in the final minute.

But Toppenish’s Santana Luna, who was scoreless the first 39 minutes , sank a 3-pointer with 35 seconds remaining to knot the score.

Freeman missed a 3-point attempt and the game went to overtime, where the Wildcats outscored Freeman 11-2.

Gabe Schulhauser added 19 points for Freeman but fouled out, as did Phelps.

Toppenish senior Josh Perez scored a season-high 35 points and passed his brother Isaac to become the school’s all-time leading scorer.

Freeman (21-3) will play second-seeded Zillah in a loser-out contest at 12:15 p.m. Friday.

The Wildcats (20-6) advance to the semifinals to face No. 1 Lynden Christian at 7:15.

1A girls

King’s 35, Deer Park 34: The Stags were seconds – fractions of a second, in fact – from a berth in the semifinals.

A would-be buzzer-beater by Deer Park 6-foot senior Darian Herring was ruled to have been released after the final horn, subduing the Stags’ celebration and sending the Knights into a frenzy and Friday’s semifinals.

“Heartbreaking,” Deer Park coach KC Ahrens said. “At the end there, I’d like to think it was good. I was holding out hope.”

Herring went on a 7-0 run in the final 3 minutes to give the Stags a 34-33 lead.

King’s, which seemed to have benefited from a resetting of the shot clock with no discernible possession, worked the ball around and Kaleo Anderson was fouled in the key with 5.3 seconds remaining.

The freshman sank both free throws to cap her team-high 14-point performance, give the Knights the lead and set up the dramatic finish.

Herring, who had a triple-double in Wednesday’s first round, finished with 16 points, 12 rebounds and four blocked shots.

Deer Park (21-4) will play No. 7 Cashmere (16-6) in a loser-out, winner-to-the-trophy-round contest at 9 a.m. Friday. The Knights (23-3) meet top-seeded Nooksack Valley (25-1) in a 3:45 p.m. semifinal.

Lynden Christian 35, Freeman 34 (OT): Demi Dykstra fed Grace Hintz on a backdoor cut with 28 seconds remaining to lift the second-seeded and defending champion Lyncs to the overtime victory in a game in which both teams struggled to gain control.

The Scotties had a chance to win the game with 2 seconds left in regulation, but Taylee Phillips missed a pair of free throws.

Dykstra and Hintz each scored 13 points for the Lyncs (24-3), who moved into a semifinal matchup with third-seeded Wapato at 5:30 p.m.

Freeman (20-6), led by Stephanie Chadduck’s 11 points, faces No. 4 Montesano at 10 a.m. Friday for a spot in Saturday’s trophy round.

Jaycee Goldsmith added 10 points and Taylor Denenny had 13 rebounds for the Scotties.