State 3A boys: ‘One bad quarter’ dooms Mt. Spokane; Wildcats settle for fifth place with loss to Garfield

TACOMA – The Mt. Spokane boys basketball team had offensive struggles all week at state, and they continued Saturday – at least through the first quarter.

After that, it was business as usual – but the Wildcats just couldn’t overcome the early deficit.

Third-seeded Garfield raced out to a 20-5 lead after the first quarter and outlasted Mt. Spokane 62-51 in the State 3A third-place game at the Tacoma Dome.

Tripp Haywood scored 11 points and Doni Burkett added 10 for Garfield (19-7). Former North Central star Juju Ervin scored seven points with nine rebounds, three blocked shots and four steals for Garfield.

Mt. Spokane (18-11) was led by senior Nalu Vargas with 18 points – all in the second half – and junior Jaden Ghoreishi with 16 points and 10 rebounds.

“We tried our best, but it’s still a blessing that we’re still here, still playing in the Dome,” Ghoreishi said. “Yesterday didn’t turn out the way we wanted, but we gave it our all and just tried our best today. That’s all we could hope for.”

“Nalu Vargas is just a real champion,” Mt. Spokane coach David Wagenblast said. “For him to play 10 games in the Tacoma Dome over his career is real testament to that kid. It’s the most games any Mt. Spokane kid has ever played in the Dome. I couldn’t be more proud.”

Mt. Spokane qualified for its eighth consecutive state tournament and fourth consecutive semifinal appearance.

“It’s really cool that we were in the Final Four for four straight years,” Ghoreishi said. “(The seniors) helped us so much today. They gave it their all.”

“It’s an honor to be playing on the last day,” Wagenblast said. “It’s a testament to how hard these kids work and offseason to prepare themselves to try and compete at the highest level.”

Mt. Spokane was down by 20 points early in the second quarter but bounced back to outscore Garfield in each of the final three quarters. The Wildcats got the deficit to seven points on two occasions in the fourth quarter, but got no closer.

“We just had one bad quarter, and then we literally outscored them the rest of the game,” Wagenblast said.

“Our young guys, they got four games in the dome under their belt. They’ll want to work hard in the offseason to give them a chance to do this in the future.”