State 3A boys: Mt. Spokane beats O’Dea 66-62, sends nine seniors off with third place trophy

TACOMA – It wasn’t the trophy they hoped to be playing for, but third place in the state is still a nice reward for a terrific season.

The Mt. Spokane Wildcats were making their sixth straight state appearance with second-, third- and fifth-place trophies to show – and wanted to go out on a win this year for their nine seniors.

And that’s just what they did.

Bode Gardner scored 18 points with eight rebounds, Ryan Lafferty fought through injury for 12 points and the sixth-seeded Wildcats (22-5) beat fourth-seeded O’Dea (19-11) 66-62 in the State 3A third-place game at Tacoma Dome on Saturday.

“We’re just happy with the way we finished,” Lafferty said. “It’s always a good feeling to win that last game, especially in my high school career. … It was good to get (O’Dea) back too, because they beat us last year in the semifinals.”

Before the game, Lafferty sought treatment on his left thigh that he tweaked in Friday’s semifinal loss to Eastside Catholic. He played with it heavily wrapped.

“So proud of our kids the way they responded,” Mt. Spokane coach David Wagenblast said. “And you know, Lafferty having food poisoning the day before and then getting hurt and played the entire game today – you can’t say enough about that leadership.”

With Lafferty not 100%, Gardner took it upon himself to be more aggressive, scoring all his points in the paint or at the line.

“It was (Lafferty) being hurt and just balling out the last couple games, and just knowing it’s my last game in my high school career,” Gardner said. “I just wanted to go out and give it all I could … so that’s what I did.”

Lafferty and Gardner are two of the team’s nine seniors.

“Those kids got a chance to play in three state semifinals. I just feel bad that I didn’t get it done for them,” Wagenblast said.

“We’re a really special group, the nine of us,” Lafferty said. “I’m just really happy with how we played all season. I’ve been playing with these guys since I was really young.”

“It’s been such a fun season and just a great coaching staff,” Gardner said. “Every game, every practice is just so fun. … We’ve been playing against each other or with each other since kindergarten.”

“Those kids put an absolute stamp on the program,” Wagenblast said. “We’re going to show several examples of film to future kids about how to play together, how to play hard, how to have fun while playing basketball.”

Gardner, at 6-foot-2, has been asked to guard bigger players all season and Saturday was no exception, often matching up against O’Dea 6-7 post Malcolm Clark, who finished with 13 points and 11 rebounds.

“(Gardner) was so tough,” Wagenblast said. “He just brought it today. He finished, and how many offensive rebounds? That kid was really tough. He had quite the season when you have a 6-2 post who dominates.”

Up by 16 late in the third quarter, Mt. Spokane saw O’Dea use the 3-pointer to whittle its deficit down the stretch.

Mt. Spokane called timeout with a one-point lead and 1:09 left . Lafferty drove to the hoop, was fouled and made one free throw. The Wildcats forced a shot clock violation, then O’Dea’s BJ Shannon shoved Jackson Reijonen in the chest, and both were assessed technical fouls.

The Wildcats took the ball in the frontcourt with 17.6 seconds left up by two. McKay Smith (10 points) was fouled and made both free throws to put the lead at four with 11.4 seconds left. Shannon (10 points) took it the length of the court, but his contested layup attempt hit the bottom of the rim and went out of bounds to the Wildcats.

Both coaches played everyone on their roster and 16 players between the teams scored.

“It was a lot of fun,” Lafferty said. “Just getting everyone involved, everyone getting able to play in the last game of the season.”

The Wildcats put together a 6-0 run midway through the first quarter to take a 14-9 lead, spurred by turnover-generated layups by Smith and Lafferty. Lafferty and Gardner had six points apiece and Mt. Spokane led 16-11 after one quarter.

O’Dea started the second quarter with a 9-4 run and tied it at 20, but the Wildcats finished the quarter with an 8-2 run and led 28-22 at the half.

The lead reached double digits early in the third quarter on a corner 3-pointer by Nalu Vargas (10 points). He added another one moments later and the lead grew to 49-34 after Gardner’s three-point play.

But the Irish got a pair of 3s by Doni Burkett and Brian Webster and Mt. Spokane led 54-47 after three quarters.

O’Dea started the fourth quarter on an 11-5 run to get within one midway through.

“We had a good run, and then they responded like we knew they would,” Lafferty said. “They’re really good team. They had a good response, and then it was just a dogfight the rest of the game.”