It didn’t start out pretty, but Bothell’s big-time guards came through when they needed to on Tuesday night in the loser-out consolation semifinals of the 4A Kingco Tournament at Juanita High School, leading to a 60-56 win over Newport, ending the Knights’ season.
With the win, Bothell advanced to the consolation finals against Roosevelt, Thursday night at Juanita High School at 8:15 p.m. The Roughriders, after knocking out No. 3 Skyline, beat Redmond in overtime, 45-42, on Tuesday night. If the Cougars win, they will play the No. 3 seed from Wesco in a winner-to-regionals pigtail game on Tuesday, Feb. 21, on the road.
AN UGLY START
The Cougars made a mess of the first quarter, shooting just 25 percent while miscommunicating twice on passes, turning the ball over and getting demolished on the boards, leading to lots of second-chance points for the Knights, who shot 8-of-14 for a quick 20-8 lead.
“I just told them at the end of the first quarter that they weren’t going to have another quarter like that,” said head coach Ron Bollinger. “We kept doing what we were trying to do, get the energy going, hands up.”
The game turned around in a hurry, as the Cougs went on an incredible 18-2 run in the second quarter, shooting 6-of-11 from the field. In addition, the hard-driving guards were able to play to contact and draw fouls, making five free throws in the period while keeping Newport off the line.
With the game remaining a one-possession contest through the third quarter, one of Kingco’s top recruits, Zach LaVine, took over.
He opened up the fourth with a bucket while drawing a foul, and calmly swished a three late in the quarter to preserve his team’s lead.
With pure shooter Kellen Webster out with the flu, LaVine (right) saw a tough zone defense that limited his action in the first half, but the junior, who scored a game-high 25 along with Newport’s Isaac Dotson, created his own looks down the stretch.
“They went to the box-and-one (defense) so I told Zach, ‘you gotta go, take it, go and create something,’” recalled Bollinger. “The whole tempo picked up when he started attacking.”
Up by three and needing one more stop to seal the game, another likely D-I recruit, Perrion Callandret, came up huge for the Cougars.
After the Knights inbounded the ball, Callandret, and his 6-foot-9 wingspan, smothered the guard and was able to come up with a steal and game-winning layin with 4.6 seconds left on the clock.
“We didn’t want them to get a three for sure, and I was just playing good (defense), “ said Callandret, who was initially worried that he’d get called for a foul on the play. “I’d been in that guy the whole game, and I got the opportunity to take a steal… and I just finished it.”
Bollinger added that the game was well-officiated, with some contact being allowed between two physical squads.
“They did a good job and were very consistent, so we were able to make adjustments,” he said. “There might have been a few bumps, but it was on both sides. Those are veteran officials, they’re not going to call it if they haven’t been calling it all game.”
Besides LaVine’s 25, Callandret added 12 for the Cougars and senior Riley Wick made two of this three attempts from downtown for eight total points.
BATTLE OF THE BOARDS
The team seemed to be in agreement that the key to their success against Roosevelt and beyond will be their ability to defend and grab key rebounds, as most teams will have a size advantage to the Cougars in the paint.
“We have to stop their bigs,” said Bollinger on the key to Thursday night’s Roosevelt game. “Tonight… our guards stepped up, now our bigs have to step up. We just have to defend and rebound. If we win the rebounding war with them, we will win the game.”
If the Cougars survive, they still have a tough road ahead to get back to the Tacoma Dome for the first time since 1997, only a couple of seasons after Bollinger, now in his 17th year, took over the team.
With the number of playmakers and shooters the Cougars have, the offense should always be there, but it’s the other half of the game that will make or break Bothell’s season.
“We play a lot of big teams, tall people,” Callandret noted. “We already have the scoring all done, we just gotta rebound and (have) other people step up. Then, we can go far.”