Boys 1A: Freeman flips script on Zillah, earns spot in title game

YAKIMA – Finally, after 364 days that seemed like an eternity, the Freeman Scotties vanquished the Zillah Leopards.

Freeman worked its way to a 19-point lead in the third quarter, then held off a closing Zillah rush in the State 1A boys semifinals on Friday, winning 76-67 and advancing to tonight’s championship game at 7 against top seed Lynden Christian.

The trip to the title game is the Scotties’ third straight. Last year, they knocked off King’s – the team that won the 2016 title – in the semifinals. That fact is not lost on the 2018 squad.

It was sweet revenge for Freeman. The prospect of a rematch with Zillah had been on their minds since they were driving home with last year’s runner-up trophy.

“Oh yeah. It started out on the bus ride home last year,” senior Dylan Oja said. “Then every workout this summer. We were always thinking of this year, and Zillah was in the back of our minds the whole time. That was our motivation the whole year to work hard.”

With that still fresh in their collective minds, the Scotties (24-0) started quickly, taking a six-point lead twice in the first quarter.

Do-everything senior Michael Coumont took the game over at the start of the second quarter. He hit three field goals – one a three-point play – and two 3-pointers as the Scotties opened a 36-19 lead with 1:47 remaining. Some injudicious shot selection led to a seven-point run by Zillah that cut Freeman’s lead to 10 at the half.

Coumont finished the half with 22 points. Quin Hopkins had an “I can do that too” three-field-goal burst – right after Coumont’s – that pushed the lead from seven to 14, but the Leopards closed with three quick buckets – one a 3-pointer – to end the half trailing 36-26.

Freeman went on an 11-2 run in the middle of the third quarter, opening the lead up to 51-32. But having seen film of a big Zillah comeback earlier in the year, the eight seniors on the Scotties roster knew it was no time to let up.

“We watched their film against Selah. Zillah was down 25 earlier and they came back and won, so we knew we’ve got to keep our foot on the gas pedal. And don’t let up,” Oja said.

With Coumont on the bench with four fouls, the Leopards crept back in the game. Yet Freeman – sporting warmup shirts printed with “Freeman Strong” and the initials “SS” honoring schoolmate Sam Strahan, who was killed in the September 2017 school shooting – was exactly that.

Antonio Salinas, who was quiet in the first half, had nine points in the final two minutes of the third quarter. In that time, Zillah cut the Freeman lead from 19 to nine. And eventually to six. But no closer.

“We’ve got eight seniors, so we’ve got a lot of experience,” Oja added, noting that the group has been together since kindergarten. “We know we need to have poise down the stretch.”