State B boys: Almira/Coulee-Hartline comes ‘together as a team,’ rallies past Moses Lake Covenant Christian 63-48
Up until halftime of Thursday’s quarterfinal boys basketball game at the State 1B tournament, the top-seeded Almira/Coulee-Hartline Warriors hadn’t faced a ton of on-court setbacks this season.
Their smallest margin of victory this season was 11 points. They’d only lost once.
Yet there they were in the Arena locker room, trailing No. 7 Moses Lake Covenant Christian by seven points. They had scored just three points in the second quarter.
“From where we were in the locker room at halftime, you just never know how a team’s going to respond,” ACH coach Graham Grindy said.
As it turned out, the Warriors responded rather well.
After making just six field goals in the first half, ACH made 18 of 28 shots in the second, surging past the Lions and into the semifinals with a 63-48 victory.
The Warriors (24-1), two wins away from their first state title since 2012, will face No. 4 DeSales (26-2) at 7:15 p.m. Friday.
“We came together as a team, put together a bunch of good defensive possessions, brought the energy in and started pushing the floor,” sophomore Max Grindy said, “and things fell into place for us.”
Max Grindy was the offensive engine, leading the Warriors with 26 points on 10-of-22 shooting from the field. But he had plenty of help from Nolan Grindy, his eighth-grade brother, who scored 21 points at a more efficient 8-of-14 from the field.
It was a proud moment for Graham Grindy, their father, who watched Max recover during this, his sophomore season, from an ACL injury that erased his entire freshman season.
“He’s figuring out who he is, and I like what he’s figured out,” Graham Grindy said. “For him to do that, as a dad, it’s a dream come true. As a coach, it’s a dream come true. There’s no difference when you get to see your players rise up like that, and then the rest of the team following him. It’s a great win.”
ACH junior Josh Booker hit the third-quarter basket that put the Warriors ahead for good, 33-32. Booker finished with eight points and three rebounds.
Nolan Grindy followed with a three-point play to make it 36-32, and a few possessions later he hit a 3-pointer to give the Warriors what was then their largest lead of the game (40-34).
The Warriors’ defense was just as crucial during the comeback and the closeout: ACH finished with 11 steals, including four by senior guard Carter Pitts. ACH also had a 38-28 rebounding edge.
“A lot of times you talk about keeping the ball out of the post, but if you’re guarding the entry pass and you can tip that entry pass, it doesn’t get into the post,” Graham Grindy said.
“And that’s where it changed for us.”
Junior Johnathan Ferguson led the Lions (20-4) with 24 points, making 10 of 20 shots from the field. Sophomore Max Gulenko added 13 points and seven rebounds.