Eagles hold back River’s run

TACOMA – West Valley coach Jamie Nilles saw Tyler Nixon’s shot in his head before it left Nixon’s hand.

With 5 minutes, 20 seconds remaining in WV’s first-round State 3A boys basketball tournament matchup with White River in the Tacoma Dome, the Hornets’ Nixon – a two-time Seamount Pierce Division MVP -– shot a dagger of a 3-pointer to cut WV’s lead to 39-38.

The shot nearly evaporated what was once a 12-point Eagles lead.

“I knew (Nixon would hit the 3-pointer) the pass before he got it, because we ran and jumped at the wrong guy and it was – boom! – one more pass,” Nilles said. “I saw it develop because we made a defensive error. He’s a good player and will make you pay on that.”

That’s when Nilles thought he would be in for a close game. But Nilles didn’t envision what would happen on his end of the court, just two possessions later.

Greg Bradley responded to Nixon with a 3-pointer to boost WV’s advantage to 42-38. Bradley’s 3-pointer, his only points of the game, ignited an 11-0 Eagles run over the next 2 minutes as they disposed of White River 55-46 to move on to tonight’s quarterfinals. The run was capped by E.J. Richardson’s dunk on a fast break.

“We have more respect for guys wanting to step up and take the big shot,” said Nilles, who coached Nixon and 7-foot-2 White River center Will Foster on a select team this summer. “So, I think everyone that is out on the floor knows, ‘Hey, if it comes down to me and I need the shot, I’m going to take it.’ Now if it goes, good for us. If it doesn’t, we can live and die with that, but you can’t have kids out there that are afraid to shoot or afraid to make the big play. You’re only a goat if you don’t take the shot.”

Nilles seemed to get clutch shot after clutch shot from a variety of different players at different stages of the game. Three different players scored in double figures for WV. Tyler Hobbs scored 14 points, followed by Richardson (13) and Rashad Toussaint (12).

The Eagles ran all over the half-court-oriented Hornets in the first half, jumping out to an 18-9 lead after one quarter. They received two 3-pointers from Danny McIntyre and one from Toussaint. Though wearied by WV’s dizzying pace, the Hornets were able to creep within 10 points by halftime, thanks to the inside play of Foster and John Rice. The Hornets cut WV’s lead to 28-21 by the half, after it once looked as if the Eagles might run away.

“Their zone bothered us a little bit,” Nilles said. “We were just too concerned about making the proper pass, but we are better at penetrating and causing a little trouble. But we just didn’t get into that flow of our offense for a little bit.”

White River’s Justin Gran netted a 3-pointer with 7:06 left in the fourth quarter, slicing WV’s lead to 36-33. But every time White River attempted to make a run, an Eagles player responded.

After Gran’s 3-pointer, Hobbs sank a free throw. Nixon responded with a layup under the hoop to cut the lead to two points with 5:50 remaining. Again, WV had an answer as Richardson made both free-throw attempts to push the lead back to four points.

Eventually, White River – a team known for it’s depth – lost pace.

“The season has been, E.J. will have a good game and then Bradley will shoot great the next game,” Nilles said. “Tyler Hobbs is probably our most consistent guy, doing a lot of little things for us. Obviously, Danny McIntyre and Rashad Toussaint shot well from the arc tonight, and if they’re going to play zone all night you have to have some guys who can knock some shots down. We have a lot of guys who (average) 7, 8, 9 points a game.”

Nilles might not have envisioned an 11-0 run after Nixon’s 3-pointer, but he had enough trust in his team that he did not panic, deciding not to call a timeout after the shot.

“They might only be juniors, but they have been seasoned enough,” Nilles said. “We were just kind of in the flow of it. Sometimes you just have to have faith in your players that they will make plays – and they did.”

The Eagles will meet Columbia River of Vancouver at 8:30 tonight in the quarterfinals.