Bear Creek boys, girls win bi-district basketball championships
Published 1:42 pm Tuesday, February 21, 2012
For the Bear Creek School boys’ basketball team and head coach Scott Moe, the opportunity to cut the net down every year at Chief Leschi School in Puyallup is getting to be old hat.
On Saturday night, the Grizzlies polished off their record third straight 2B Bi-District Tournament title, and fourth in five years, with a 48-36 win over La Conner.
The Grizzlies (21-2) will now take on Wahkiakum in the one-game Regionals round on February 24, at Mount Vernon High School, at 8 p.m. With a win on Friday, the team will advance to the 2B state tournament in Spokane for the third consecutive season.
“They’re very big, very good, and battle-tested,” Moe said of the Wahkiakum Mules, located in the southwest corner of the state, where Moe drove 350 round-trip miles to scout on Monday. “We’ve been working hard this week and hope to crack their 3-2 zone. It should be a fun one on Friday night … we’re going to play hard, play well, and take it to ’em for 32 minutes.”
BROKEN RECORD
The nip-and-tuck championship game last Saturday against the Braves – who had just one season loss going into the contest – was mostly a one-possession difference until the pivotal fourth quarter.
In the final eight minutes, the Grizzlies broke a 32-year tournament record, holding the Braves to just one point in the period.
“And it was in the fourth quarter of the championship,” said Moe, adding that his Grizzlies were able to contain Braves standout Landy James, holding him to just two points in the second half. “We’re pretty excited about that.”
Bear Creek gave up 10 offensive rebounds in the first half, and the Braves capitalized on second-chance points to keep pace with the Grizzlies, who struggled mightily from the free throw line (6 for 16), and also from downtown (4 for 19).
“We felt that if we shoot the ball per our average, it’s not that close at the end,” Moe said. “But give La Conner some credit… they’re a very solid team.”
For Bear Creek, it was a true team effort as four players scored in double figures, despite totaling only 48 points.
Collin Feight led with 12 points, followed by Luke Blankenbeckler, Erik Domas and Lucas Fernandez with 10 each. Fernandez also added four blocks.
Without a superstar like a Jamie Meyer of years past, it’s that kind of balanced offensive output, when combined with solid team defense, that will help the Grizzlies make a run at a state title this year.
“We’ve got five guys averaging about 10 points a game,” Moe noted. “I told the guys, you may have an off-night shooting, but this team does not have an off-night defensively. That’s what won the game for us.”
LADY GRIZZLIES HOLD OFF TACOMA BAPTIST
The fourth quarter wasn’t pretty, but the Bear Creek girls’ team did just enough to win, holding off Tacoma Baptist to take the Bi-District championship, 34-30.
Trailing by two at halftime, the Grizzlies roared back with 16 points in the third to take a four-point lead, and held the Crusaders to just four points in the final quarter, matching the Grizzlies’ output, to seal the win.
For Bear Creek (16-6), Catherine Fernandez and Kendall Engelstone led with nine points, followed by Nikki Peterson with eight.
The team will now advance to play in the Regionals round against Toutle Lake on Saturday at Mount Vernon High School, at 6 p.m. With a win, the girls will earn a berth to the 2B state tournament at Spokane Arena next weekend.
