Wilson lifts Yaks past Red Devils for Classic title
Monday, December 1, 2008 11:56 AM PST
By Rick McCorkle
Printable version
E-mail this articleIn the game of horse, a made bank shot doesn’t count unless the shooter calls it before the shot is taken.
But Sunday’s championship game of the Red Devil Classic at Truman Myklebust Gym wasn’t a game of horse played in the driveway, and the bank shot from Yakima Valley’s Dennis Wilson counted in the closing seconds as the Yaks held off Lower Columbia 83-81.
In Sunday’s other games, Spokane topped Southwestern Oregon 83-66, and Clackamas pounded Everett 107-79.
"We’re a better team than they are," LCC coach Jim Roffler said of the Yaks. "They’re a little more seasoned because they also played in the championship game of another tournament last weekend. They’ve played six games to our four this season, and that helps."
LCC (3-1) also made more than its share of mistakes. Yakima Valley converted 30 Red Devils’ turnovers into 26 points, and was able to snag 16 offensive rebounds. The Yaks also put up 20 more shots than LCC (73-53).
"You’re not going to win many games with 30 turnovers," Roffler bemoaned while looking at the postgame report. "We’re not a seasoned team yet, and it’s hard when you have two freshmen at the point. I don’t think most of our turnovers were forced, but were mistakes on our part."
LCC’s point guard tandem of Tim Roffler and Jeray Key had their problems against the Yakima defense. Key scored 13 points, but had one assist and three turnovers. Roffler, who had two points, also chipped in an assist and six turnovers.
The Devils tied the game at 77-77 when Clint Burgoyne knifed through the Yakima defense for a layup with 2:18 left. After the Yaks missed a layup, LCC was headed to its end of the floor when Roffler was stripped of the ball by a Yakima defender.
The Yaks were unable to convert a jumper moments later that was snagged by LCC’s Alex King. At the other end, Marice Tolliver grabbed the three-quarter court throw from King, but was unable to gain control of the ball as he missed a dunk attempt.
Moments later, LeMar Anglin netted a layup as the visitors grabbed a 79-77 lead with 1:20 remaining. Burgoyne added a pair of freebies five seconds later that tied the game, but he fouled Yakima’s Rico Wilkins under the Yaks’ basket with 48 seconds left.
Wilkins made both free throws for an 81-79 lead, but Key tied the game 23 seconds later with a pair of freebies when he was fouled by Wilson on a layup attempt.
The Yaks took a timeout to diagram a final shot, and after several perimeter passes to find an open shooter, Wilson hit a bank shot from the free throw line with 2.7 seconds left.
Roffler called a timeout to regroup his troops, but the inbounds pass intended for King at halfcourt was tipped to a Yakima player, who dribbled toward his basket as time expired.
"That was quite a turnaround at the end," Roffler said. "Marice has a breakaway but can’t come up with the ball, and their guy knocks the ball away and they get it back. That bank shot was also a back-breaker, but there’s a little luck involved in the game."
LCC grabbed a 21-12 lead midway through the first half following a 10-2 run that was culminated by a layup from Key. Yakima Valley pecked away at its deficit and took a 25-23 lead on a Wilkins jumper with 5:10 left. The Yaks later parlayed seven unanswered points into a 34-27 advantage with 2:45 left, but a 3-ball from Kekoa Carvalho and consecutive layups from King and Tolliver cut LCC’s deficit to 36-34 at the break.
The Yaks built their largest lead at 51-43 when Wilkins drilled a trey in the first five minutes of the second half, but the Devils refused to fade. LCC scored 15 of the next 21 points, culminating with a Key layup following a missed free throw from Jerald Ardoin for a 58-57 lead with 11:10 left.
LCC later led 68-65 when Burgoyne converted a Yakima Valley turnover into a layup with 7:57 left, but the Yaks remained tough and later led 77-75 with 2:44 to go following two freebies from Jody Johnson.
Johnson, who finished with 17 points and 12 rebounds, was named to the All-Tournament team. Wilkins, who had a team-high 19 points for the Yaks, was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player.
King, who netted a game-high 23 points and grabbed seven rebounds, was also named to the All-Tournament team along with Burgoyne, who had 18 points and six assists.
"We showed a lot of heart and did a lot of things right to only lose by two points," Roffler added. "I’m proud of our effort, and we certainly played to the wire and showed we want to battle and win. You’ll always learn more from your losses than your victories."
Ryan Freeman was a rebound away from a double-double for LCC with 10 points and nine caroms, and Tolliver grabbed nine rebounds.
Everett’s Chris Grounds and Chehales Tapscott of Clackamas were also named to the All-Tournament team. Grounds added his name to the tournament record book when he made a record 10-of-14 3-point attempts for 43 points along with 10 assists in the Trojans’ 92-83 victory over Grays Harbor on Saturday.
The Red Devils entertain Chemeketa on Friday.
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