State 2A/1A: West Valley boys eliminated from State 2A Tournament by R.A. Long 56-39

YAKIMA – The shooting struggles that plagued the West Valley boys basketball team many a game this season happened again Wednesday afternoon and will keep retiring coach Jay Humphrey from extending his career.

The Eagles shot less than 36% for the game and fell to R.A. Long 56-39 in loser-out action at the State 2A tournament in the Yakima Valley SunDome.

“It’s been a bugaboo for us all year, putting the dang thang in the hoop, and we struggled with that again,” said Humphrey, who capped a 38-year coaching career. “Darn it, we have games not just quarters, but games when we can’t make a basket and unfortunately that happened again today.”

West Valley owned a 13-11 lead after the first quarter, but saw that edge quickly erased and the Lumberjacks took a 27-20 lead into halftime.

The Eagles couldn’t chip away at the deficit in the third quarter, despite junior Grady Walker scoring 10 of his game-high 15 points in the quarter.

West Valley made one last push with Noah Gadd-Lewis’ 3-pointer helping the Eagles pull to within three early in the fourth quarter. R.A. Long’s Jacob Gabbard, however, answered with a 3-pointer to give the Lumberjacks a 42-36 lead. They finished with a 17-3 run.

Ben Fried added 11 points for the Eagles.

The Eagles’ defense held R.A. Long star Calvin Holden to 14 points – he entered with a 31-point-per-game average – but the school’s all-time scoring leader added eight assists and eight rebounds.

Jaxon Cook had 14 points and TraMayne Jenkins added 13 for R.A. Long (21-5). The Lumberjacks play No. 7 Prosser at 2 p.m. Thursday in a quarterfinal.

Humphrey leaves with a 293-261 career record, 205-111 at West Valley, which finished this season 20-4.

“When you’re around basketball, you know there’s a kid here or there’s a team here or there, and you’re like, ‘Man, it’s time to get rid of these guys,’ ” Humphrey said. “But these guys have been low-maintenance and no issues, and everything has been great so it makes this a lot tougher. I just told them I would hang around with them for two more months, it’s been that good.”

1A girls

Deer Park 53, Zillah 32: The sixth-seeded Stags provided a one-two punch that was too much for No. 11 Zillah.

Brooklyn Coe scored 15 of her game-high 19 points in the first half and senior post Darian Herring did the rest with 12 of her 16 points after halftime to cap off a triple-double effort that helped send the Stags into Thursday’s quarterfinals.

Deer Park plays No. 5 King’s in another 9 a.m. contest.

Herring matched the 1A tournament record with 10 blocked shots, forcing the Leopards to pull up rather than face her 6-foot frame. She also added 13 rebounds.

“She’s big, but she’s mobile, so she can go get things and they’re left shooting 12-footers, which is a win for us,” Deer Park coach KC Ahrens said.

The Stags needed Herring and the defensive effort as their offense was slow to get going. Deer Park had just 11 first-half points outside of Coe’s outburst.

“For the most part, we’ve dictated tempo with our defense,” Ahrens said. “The defense carried us until we got over the big stage. It was the first time for some of the girls.”

Freeman 44, Bellevue Christian 21: The ninth-seeded Scotties held the Vikings to 18% shooting and 11 points through the first three quarters and rolled into the quarterfinals.

Freeman (21-5) will play second-seeded and defending champion Lynden Christian (23-3) at 2 p.m. Thursday.

Jaycee Goldsmith scored a game-high 11 points, hauled in eight rebounds and blocked five shots for the Scotties, who hammered Hoquiam 47-19 last Friday in regional play.

Stephanie Chadduck chipped in 10 points for Freeman, which forced 23 turnovers, including 11 steals.

Addi Taylor’s seven points and Rocklyn Osborn’s 11 rebounds led Bellevue Christian, which finished the season 21-4.

Overlake 50, Lakeside 46 (2OT): The eighth-seeded Owls overcame a 14-point deficit and then outlasted the Eagles in double overtime to advance to Thursday’s quarterfinals where they’ll face No. 7 Baline at 9 p.m.

Jack Wiley had 17 points on 8-for-9 shooting to lead the way for Overlake (16-8). Jake Shuey totaled 13 points and 15 rebounds and Alec Odell chipped in 10 points and 11 rebounds.

Kole Hunsaker had 17 points and seven rebounds for Lakeside (14-10), which led by 14 midway through the second quarter. Adam Edwards tacked on 16 points for the Eagles.

The Owls cut the lead to eight by halftime and to five heading into the fourth quarter.