Perfect Ending For Top-Ranked Evergreen

AAA boys

Top-ranked Evergreen completed a perfect season with a 64-59 overtime victory over Cinderella Sammamish to win the boys Class AAA state basketball championship Saturday night at the Kingdome.

Behind 22 points and 12 rebounds by Most Valuable Player Paul Bustrin, the 26-0 Plainsmen became the first AAA boys team to go undefeated since Garfield went 25-0 in 1980.

Evergreen, which failed to get off a shot in the final 6 seconds of regulation with the score tied at 49, hit its first 13 free throws of overtime to keep the Totems (18-12) from becoming the state champion with the worst record ever.

“This is the best; OT, what more can you ask,” said Bustrin, a 6-foot-5 senior.

The Plainsmen’s first trophy in three trips to state overshadowed a 29-point, 10-rebound night by Sammamish 6-6 senior center Chris Walcott. For the Totems, it was their second runner-up trophy - the other coming in 1978, their only other appearance in the state tournament.

The game was the first title game in overtime since Garfield beat Walla Walla 44-42 in 1983 and the closest game since Garfield edged Roosevelt in 1987. It also marked the second title for the Greater St. Helen’s League, the other coming in 1964 when Hudson’s Bay won.

Joining Bustin and Walcott on the alltournament first team were Donald Watts of Lake Washington, Terik Brown and Matt Dyment of Evergreen. The second team included Josh White of Sammamish, Deke Moen of Hudson’s Bay, Jessen Schilaty of Everett, Quincy Wilder of Decatur and Tyce Nasinec of Rogers-Puyallup.

Evergreen 64, Sammamish 59 (OT)

(Championship Game)

Evergreen 17 10 14 8 15 - 64 Sammamish 7 16 19 7 10 - 59

EVERGREEN (64) - K. Nesland 6, Myers 13, Dyment 6, Jones 4, Bustrin 22, Carlson, D. Nesland 13, Cannon.

SAMMAMISH (59) - White 10, Potts 12, Walcott 29, Knaevelsrud, Gross 5, Ackah-Miezah, Wu, Miller, Elvidge, Matson 3, Fuhriman, Boudreau.

Mercer Island 56, Lake Washington 46

(3rd, 6th places)

Terik Brown scored 10 of his 25 points in the third quarter and the third-ranked Islanders (26-4) beat the third-ranked Kangaroos (22-8) in a battle between Kingco rivals.

Mercer Island led 25-21 at halftime and outscored the Kangaroos 19-10 in the third quarter.

The Kangaroos went more than 4 minutes without hitting a field goal near the end of third quarter.

Brown made three 3-pointers, two in the third quarter.

Sailesh Katara added 10 points and 13 rebounds for the Islanders.

Donald Watts scored 14 points for Lake Washington in his final game before moving on to the University of Washington.

M. Island 12 13 19 12 - 56 L. Wash. 11 10 10 15 - 46

MERCER ISLAND (56) - Hill 6, Schreck 9, T. Brown 25, Knoll, Katara 10, Maimon, Helms, Russell, Fallquist 1, B. Brown 5, Mobley.

LAKE WASHINGTON (46) - Keyes 4, Deshazer 5, Sturing 10, Watts 14, Bowser 5, Johnson 4, Morrison, Atwood, Rethke 2, VanWieringen, Storbeck 2.

Kamiakin 55, Hudson’s Bay 47

(4th, 7th places)

Bryan Williamson scored eight of his 17 points during a 15-3 second-half run that lifted the eighth-ranked Braves (24-5) over the Eagles (19-10).

With Kamiakin leading by two points with 3 minutes remaining in the third period, Williamson opened the streak with a basket and then ended it with another 6 minutes later, putting the Braves ahead 44-30.

Hudson’s Bay, from Vancouver, trailed by at least six points for the rest of the game. The Braves, from Kennewick, made 9 of 12 free-throw attempts in the final 2 minutes.

Kamiakin 18 50 12 20 - 55 H. Bay 12 8 8 19 - 47

KAMIAKIN (55) - Robinson 7, McCloud 6, Williamson 17, Turping 7, Carlisle 9, Mitchell 3, Gray, Kuklinski 3, Hazel, Eakin, Wright, Giesa 3.

HUDSON’S BAY (47) - McCoy, George 12, Riden, Stonehouse 13, Moen 22, Nikkila, Meyer, Burdick, Collier, Gee.

Evergreen 83, Rogers, Puy., 81 (OT)

(5th, 8th places)

Jessen Schilaty hit a 25-foot jumper with 13 seconds remaining to send the game into overtime and then made three free throws in the final minute of the extra period to lift the 10th-ranked Seagulls (21-6) over the sixth-ranked Rams.

Everett 19 13 20 17 14 - 83 Rogers 17 18 15 19 12 - 81

EVERETT (83) - Koshelnik 9, Thompson 12, Schilaty 28, Schelle 4, Niva 28, Terrill, McCabe, Lewellen 2.

ROGERS (81) - Winston 28, Earle 1, Nasinec 35, Littleton 11, Palm 2, Schmidt, Muehlenbruch, Johnson,