Episode Transcript
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This here's a special KJR sports presentationthe twenty twenty three WYAA Geza Credit Union
State three eight basketball Championships, presentedby the WYAA and Sports Radio nine fifty
KJR. Now let's go live courtsidein the Tacoma Dome. Hey, good
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afternoon, Welcome to the Old WoodShed for a boys state championship action.
There's eight seconds left to go inthe first half. We'll give you a
quick recap of what's going on.Here is moutside taking it to the hull
Blake Forest at the buzzer, Missuson the runner, and we go into
the break with the number one mountSide Wildcats leading number seven Richland forty to
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thirty three. Glad you could joinus. Hope you enjoyed Husky basketball today
with Tony casser coone and Jason Hamilton. Dick Faye here with you from Tacoma
along with Joel Boyer. Joe Joel. This has been a really entertaining,
high paced and yet very efficient firsthalf of basketball really from both sides.
Absolutely. I mean the scoring hasbeen forty to thirty three. It's a
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really high scoring first half. StateChampionship Game Day four, the tournament Day
three for both these teams as theywere into the quarterfinal round. But it's
great defense tick. It's not justoffense just kind of shininess. It's great
defense, just really efficient offenses.We'll give you the numbers here just kind
of indicate what Joel's talking about.Mount Size shooting fifty percent from the field
at sixteen of thirty two, fourof fourteen from behind the arc at twenty
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nine percent, so I mean twopoint range, mount Size twelve of eighteen
from two point range. And they'vebeen getting it done kind of old school,
right penetrates. Give me a littlemid range jumper from fifteen. It
hasn't been all the way to theten. They've done a nice job of
hitting some pull ups in the paint. No, you can just tell the
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comfortability of Blake Forrest, Trevor Henning. These guys have played a lot of
basketball together. There's a lot ofconfidence they have. They've been number one
for a long time. This season, I would say they're the number one
team coming into the season, numberone seeded team. There's just comfortability,
Dick, and you can tell thatgetting to the rim isn't it the most
important thing for them. It's gettingopen jumpers and making difficult shots, and
they're making difficult as well as easyones. Well, this is a team
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that has played together for a longlong time. This program at Mount Sigh,
going all the way down to theselect level has been the feeder program
has been as good as any inthe state of Washington, and that has
given so much success for head coachJason Griffith. And Griffith and he's done
a great job since he's been there. You're really kind of trying to build
that program up from the ground up. And you talk about these guys that
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have played together. I mean youmentioned Blake Forrest and Trevor Heading, the
two seniors. They played together sincethe fourth grade, so I mean they
could go out there with their eyesclosed. They know exactly where each other's
gonna be. And there's certain situationsthere. There was one that Hennick was
driving to the rim, driving tothe rim, and you just you just
out of mccormis, iire, justout of a sense of feeling. Yep,
Blake's wide open for three grains areright there. You're just like it's
just a presence of mind and anunselfishness as well to say yes, weavers
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commit Weavers state commit Hennick going therenext year. But knowing that I have
my teammate, my pal, myfourth grade buddy out there wide open,
I trust to make that shot andhe did outside number one. For a
reason, they have not lost thegame to a State of Washington team all
season long. They have two losses, both coming out of state. They're
twenty six and two on the year. Beat Tohoma in the quarterfinals on Thursday,
seventy one to fifty three. Thenthey beat Davis by twelve last night,
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fifty seven to forty five. Theyheld Davis to thirty two percent from
the field. Jason Griffith the headcoach, and they have accomplished something that's
never been accomplished in the four Alevel. I know we haven't had four
A basketball in the state for eons, but it's been a good couple of
decades plus that we've had for Abasketball. And they are the first team
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ever to make five straight final foursin four A and really really impressive.
Gone Zaga Prepp had the record fromtwenty sixteen to twenty nineteen, but now
the fifth straight final four for MountSide and this is their fourth championship game
five years just one and two inthose championship games. They'd love to even
that up right now, and theyare up at halftime forty to thirty three.
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Well, and we're not even goinginto the Richmond Bombers. But there
is efficient. But just getting backto Mount side saying you've been there,
five straight semi finals, five straightfinal fours, been in the championship for
those five years you want to talkabout, Jason Griffith, startis something you
said talking about going back into AAUranks and building up. That is being
built and there's a culture, there'sa foundation set that there becomes an expectation
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when you make it to the championshipgame, the expectation of that's anything or
bust, you know, And that'sthat feeling of when you have these players
that as role players, maybe asfreshman or sophomores on varsity, that aren't
in massive roles, but they getit, come to the dome, they
see what it's supposed to look like, what it feels like to be on
the cord under the big lights,when they turn the lights out for the
intros, things like that, they'relike, they've experienced that, and it
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becomes expectations for you then your rolechange to junior. As a senior,
there's an expectation for you there.These guys are leaving the program much better.
Thany found it absolutely and a bittertaste losing in the semis last year,
not even making it to this stagewhere you're playing on Saturday, and
that's something they're not used to.They only have seven losses in the last
three years, and that's why they'rethe number one team in the state,
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first team ever to win five straightKinko Crowns, first team with three Westcoat
District titles. Now let's move overto the Richland Bombers, because you and
I were mentioning while we were listeningto the end of the Husky basketball post
game that you know, it reallyfeels like Mount Side is controlling this game.
And then we kept looking up andit was a two point game,
it was a four point game,it was a three point game. Richland
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has done a heck of a jobkeeping this game close, and they've been
every bit as efficient as Mount Saidhas. They're shooting fifty two percent from
the field at thirteen of twenty five. I mean, if you're gonna talk
about if erro Stryper, if you'regonnaell them the head coach for Richland that
at halftime, you'd be shooting fiftytwo percent. You'd you'd be controlling things
you want to control, and yetyou're gonna be down by seven. You're
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like, we put up thirty threepoints in the first half and we're down
seven, and our defense has beendoing pretty well for our perspective, or
he would feel it his depense,he's a tighten up a little bit.
And I'm sure they will, They'llbe probably focusing on that. But I'd
say the first thing you want todo, Richard, get that ball into
Lucas Westernfield. Yes, he thesix to ten and he's not just a
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six to ten kind of stick.And they had Riley Soren there who went
played for the Huskies a few yearsago seven to four kind of felt he
was maybe seven four hundred and eightypounds. Maybe Lucas Westernfield is a strong,
powerful man, not just a sixto ten kind of stick. He
he is strong inside and he's beenhaving his way with eight points in the
first half. Honestly, Dick,I'm not sure to get enough touches.
Yeah, I'd love to see maybethe ball go inside and a lot more
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inside out forest Mount side of collapseon him and see what they can they
can garner from that, but heis a power inside that. It feels
like Mount said is handling pretty darnwell right now. I don't agree with
you. I mean, you lookat the shot distribution, and it's come
all come from starters from Richland.Not one bench player has even taken a
shot in this game, and infact only there's only been three minutes off
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the pitch. Total. They playedseven players, but it mostly has been
the five. The leading scorer isJosh Woodward at eleven points on three of
five. He's hit one three aswell Land in Northrop, who's played really
well. I kind of like thesophomore Northrop. He always finds his way
in the right place at the righttime. He's just three of seven from
the field. But he's a guyalong with along with Westerfield that you talked
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about that I think if those twoguys can get double figures a piece in
the second half, I think theygot a great chance to keep this a
game and potentially win. Well.Lance Hornfeldt excuse mean Hornwite has been has
had a great tournament. It's evenshooting well. This is a team that's
not scared of the moment. Theyhave three senior starters two sophomores. We
were kind of talking about that's kindof ironic that both teams start three seniors
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and two soft ye. But Icouldn't agree with you more with with Northrop,
he just looks comfortable. He's afamily basketball family, had or brother
playing the tournament before. It's notuncharted territory for these guys. But they
don't want to be down seven.They want to be tied or going in.
But I think it's gonna be fascinatingto see what's gonna change in the
second half, because forty to thirtythree, I don't expect this to be
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an eighty point state championship finished score. So what's gonna give first, Who's
gonna actually step up and and kindof change the defensive strategy. I've got
to believe there's gona have to bea play and b for Richard that they
might have to start going too soonerthan they want to defensively. But when
you start to do that, oftentimesyou start to gamble a little bit,
and when you're going away from playingeight defensively, if you going forty points
in the first half. What doesplaying b look like and what are you
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gonna have to give up to accomplishthat. It seems to me like the
pace of this game is favoring theWildcats. I mean the transition baskets.
They like to run downhill, notthat they're a run and gun type team,
but they're very comfortable with Blake Forest, who can go a mile a
minute from one end to another.And I think Richland if they want to
stay in this I really think thisgame is for Richland to win. It's
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gotta be around sixty points because ifyou get up in the seventies to eighties,
I think that's mount sized game.They seem more comfortable in the full
court. Well, Mount Side hada one game that put up one hundred
points. In a number of gameseighty or more, that's a very comfortable
thing. Like you're talking about,you've gotten to see rich and come out
with a little different, a littledifferent defensive strategies. What my feeling would
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which he goes on, I mean, they're not used to it well,
but you do think you have arim protector and Lucas westernfield that you could
kind of sit in there I wonderif there's gonna be a little bit more
of a guard for maybe like findthe one shooter on mount Side you're not
as scared of, and let Westernfieldjust kind of patrol the rim a little
bit and try to get six feetin out or excuse me, six feet
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in just kind of control that keepkeep those elbow jumpers, keep those guys
who are getting in the middle lane, shoot those ten footers Henning Forest and
company, and try to contest thoseshots there. Force him to either try
to get into the rim or haveto settle outside. But maybe go four
man to man and go just aone man zone to try to control that
pain a little bit better and keepthem adjusting shots because I'm outsize four or
fourteen from three, so they're notafraid to put it up. But really,
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before they've knocked down have been rhythmthrees. I think you can maybe
knock them out of that rhythm alittle bit where they're not getting to catch
and shoot opportunities. You pack itin a little bit, use West mister
Field is a guy around the rim, and then maybe maybe let Mounts.
I think, oh man, I'mI'm two open from three. I've gotta
take this. Yeah, and alot of times those don't get they get
knocked down. And with Westerfield alwayssitting under the paint there he should be
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able to gobble up the defensive rebounds. Yeah, and you think that if
you're gonna force guys to take shots, but maybe aren't the number one,
number two options the shots? Imean four or fourteen Blake Forrest for mount
size three of six, Hendiche TrevorHennig is zero for one. There's only
been Jack Taylor hit one under three. But you're really go four for fourteen,
twenty eight percent, twenty nine percentthere, you're settling for that.
You feel okay with that if you'reonly give them twenty nine percent, as
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long as they're not putting up fortythrees. Uh. But I kind of
feel that maybe a zone look ormaybe a four man to man one man's
zone to try to exist. Iagree, force someone else to take those
shots besides Forrest is headache. Iknow Richland's Manda Man is their game.
I don't I don't know if theycan mando Man for the next two quarters
and win this game. I justI don't know if they can. But
you know, we'll see we'll seewhat the adjustments are coming up. And
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I mean Richland's only shot five threesin the game. They're down seven.
I know they're Bretton Butter's Westerfield inside, but you can only do so much
scoring two points of possession, youknow, if you're shooting, even if
you're shooting around fifty percent coming backfrom seven to down. So maybe some
inside out looks, getting some wideopen threes, Maybe increase that five attempts
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to maybe ten attempts in the secondhalf, and if you can knock down
four or five of those, thenyou're back in it. Well, they're
shooting two of five. I meanyou were saying the only attempt at five
they made to forty percent. Ifyou're shooting out the ch chamions you're giving,
you feel pretty good about that.Yeah, but probably just get off
a few more. And like youjust said, that inside outside look and
Westernfield has a good vision, he'sstrong with the basketball, he's a dominant
presence. Just knowing that Mount Saileonly goes six to six. But and
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that's lap four who doesn't actually reallyguard him on the inside there, so
he's got he's got a distinct sizeadvantage. I think they're probably gonna they
probably have. Mount Saida has aplan B for Westernfield too, about running
the other man to get that outof his hands. But if he's able
to make me find some spot upshooters, make some more opportunities for other
players, you look to see whatthat could do, just to get them
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back into again, get them backeven preferably if you're the rich and bombers,
and then see what could come ofthat in the four, third and
fourth fur I don't believe I've seenone double down on Westerfield now. It
seems like they've just been playing straightup and you know they they haven't been
killed by it. Four of six, I mean you'll take if your mouth
side, you'll take four of sixagain in the second half from Westernfield,
no question about that. It's justnow, like you mentioned, Westerfield needs
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to be up in the fifteen totwenty shot attempts in this game, which
means he's got to take eleven tofourteen shots in the second half because he's
gonna do it. Officially, he'sgonna always be around fifty plus fifty percent
from the field, especially if he'sgetting most of his shots, you know,
six feet and in all right,we got less than four minutes away
from the second half of this one. Starting we're at the woodshed Joel Boyer
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along with Dick Fane here at theTacoma domas the boys four A state championship
game outside up by seven, fortyto thirty three. Back to Tacoma.
Right after this, you're listening toWIAA geast the Credit Union State as the
Ald Championships on sports ratio nine tofifty kJ long the basketball first and a
cutting Jack Forbes into the lane,laying it up and in cutting the mount
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Side advantage to five at forty tothirty five. Over the far side,
Forrest flicks up at three, getshis own rebound as it was short,
gets a back out heading now threeball no good. Another offensive rebound by
mount Side, skip pass underneath frombaseline to baseline, and that is kicked
by the big Lucas Westerfield, thesix tenth senior from Richland. You know,
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right there we talked about the halftime, Dick about looking for Richland to
get back in this game. It'snot gonna work if they can't get some
offense or some defensive rebounds to preventsome second chance opportunities for the mount Side
Wildcats. Here's Ford inside Marcus Heidi. Now shot goes up, no rebounded
by Richland. We'll see if thetempo stays fast like it was in the
first half. Richland likes to run, but it definitely favored mount said in
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the first two quarters. And we'regonna see if they can get Westernfield post
it up right here. They gothim down and a hooking fowl is gonna
go on mount Side. They tryingto dump it over the top to Westernfield
and his legs were taken out fromunder him. Good call there, it'll
be Richland basketball underneath with thirty onthe shot and get that looked like an
absolutely a call right out of timeor right out of halftime, saying we're
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gonna go straight inside to you.The first possession was a cut, but
that one we're gonna make sure it'sa point of emphasis to go to Westernfield
inside early. Here's the big six' ten. Westernfield hands him back off
and the ball gets poked free andit's in the hands. I'm outside on
the way. His Forest gives itup, Henning the trailer is height.
He left handed blows the bunny reboundRichland. Here they come the other way,
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no numbers, Woodward hook pass overthe top, north through three,
balling the way. We talked aboutthe sophomore at halftime, off window and
good. Not exactly what he plannedon, but he's had a heck of
a game. He now has tenlanding Northrop to six to four. Sophomore
makes it forty to thirty eight,and you know, whether it's a Swiss
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or wears off the bank is stillcount. That's the right and in the
state championship game, anything going inis good for the Richard bombers. Lad
Ford gets rejected, it goes outof Bound's been a quiet first half for
lat Ford. Just one of sixfrom the field. Does have five points
by virtue of the three free throws, does have three rebounds. However,
for the sophomore, Westernfield second blockof the game. On that lap,
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fod attempt Ford playing catch now longthree on the way. Hennig snuggles it
home from about a step beyond thethree point line, straight away forty three
thirty eight mount side and Richland wasswitching on that defense, that man and
man defense. I got Westernfield stickon Hennig, and Hennig was happy to
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just take one step out beyond thethree point line and put that right up
over the six to ten senior fromRichland, and Richland tries to go high
low and the ball was tipped butlast touched by Richland's Western Field. So
turnover on the Bombers wearing the homewhites, mount side in the blacks trimmed
in red numeral. And even thoughMountain size may be undersized versus the Richland
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Bombers, they've had that all season. They're comfortable with that. Hannig kicks
it to the corner. Three ballon the way. That one's off the
mark from Jack Taylor, but anotheroffensive rebound, third offensive board. They
go right at Westerfield with the dribbledrive on the left hand by Hannig,
no tipped out of bounds. It'llbe Richland basketball. Five to twenty six
left to go in the third quarterof a forty three thirty eight mount sigh
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advantage, and I think Westernfield mighthave gotten a tip on that dick.
It just looked like it came offa little funny off hennigs hand. Is
he off footed off handed that onthe left side. Oh, here's a
nice powerful drive by Josh Woodard,the six foot senior forward driving left into
the lane, finishing with the right. That was pretty fearless watching the last
couple of nights here in the quartersin the semis, he has every confidence
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driving in the lane with the bigtrees. Taylor has it with a right
handed bounce, gives it off latfour Blatt, What a specimen. That
guy is a sophomore. Here's athree by the lefty. Heidi in and
out rattles heartbreak from outside there.They lead by three, four to forty
eight left in the third, andI think Heidi might be the guy that
Richland's gonna leave open outside dickon andlet Westernfield stay inside. Can wonders stay
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hot? No, that was athree ball on the way. Sorry,
it was deep right there, buthe just grazed the rim. Oh and
running the floor nicely is Forrest andhe is paged and he will go to
the free throw line. Forrest isso quick, not tall, but just
lightning quick. And you can tellhe's been working out. I mean,
this is a this is a pointguard that's five eleven. I mean that
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might be a little generous, youknow, might be close to five point
ten. We'll put him at fiveto eleven in the score book, but
just has got guns on him,can jump out of the gym, and
his lateral quickness is explosive well,and I think even even beyond the physicality
of Blake Forest, you can tellhe's fearless. There's just an absolute,
a desire to win, a willto win. Uh, just as fearless
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nature. As he goes in andattacks people, it's not just a dribble.
It is an attack move. Forrestsplits the free throws misses the first,
makes the second four point mount Sidevantage up to a two possession cushion
with four to twenty three left togo in the third, and Forrest versus
Woodward, the two senior point guardsRichland and from Ountside going head to head.
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It's a fun matchup to watch.Westerfield doubled in the post, doesn't
matter. I'm gonna drop step bothof you and finish with the left hand
off the window. Yeah, youcan tell that's something he's worked on a
lot with contact, probably blocking pads, blocking dummies of coaches hitting him.
He's comfortable even with contact, catchingshoot three on the way there. It
is Jack Taylor, the six totwo senior with the three ball, giving
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him outside the five point lead,forty seven, forty two. And you
said it at the halftime, Dick. When they're comfortable catching, it's an
easy shot to put up. Andthey're just a belief, a more and
more and more belief. But themount Side Wildcats, everyone that goes in
it is not going Richland's way whenthey see those threes go down from the
MOUNTA said, Wildcats. Everything forRichland is starting with Woodard and this this
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is a fascinating matchup to watch.I mean, really, Woodard and Forrest,
they kind of look alike. They'rekind of built the lights. I
mean, Woodard is a little taller, but kind of yo, the floppy
curly hair, they're you know,they're really strong, they're really fast end
to end. And we got atime out on the floor, a fun
one here at the woodshet forty seven, forty two, number one outside with
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a five point lead over seven rankRichland. You're listening to the gist of
Credit Union WIAA state basketball for achampionship game on Sports areto on nine fifty
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be sorry. In Self Center,Bellevue, Lynnwood, Federal Way, and
Tacoma Video Only. Back with thedobject Angel, Boyer with You is Richland
twenty twenty three WYAA GISA Credit UnionState four A Basketball Championships presented by the
WYAA Hen Sports Radio nine to fiftyKJR. Jick Fan told Boyer with You
(21:15):
from the Tacomado and the four ABoys State Championship Game Number one, Mount
Zile leads seventh rank Richland forty seven, forty two. It's been a game
throughout. Seven point lead the MountSide had at halftime the biggest of the
game. And boy, looking atthese statistics, there's one thing that just
jumps out at you. Joel Richlandhas got to get some defensive boards.
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Mount Side is rebounding at forty eightpercent of all total rebounds. Mount Size
is getting on the offensive glass thatis far too high. Ripped to the
basketball as a sophomore north rope andhere comes Jack Taylor on the way the
other way from Mountside crossover Gerbil Forrestpull up from fifteen. That's a little
short. Westerfield tried to keep italive, tip back and stolen away by
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Northrom Kenny save it and he can't. It goes into the backcourt, but
no hustling down is Richland shot blockedfrom five feet away by mount Side and
here come the Wildcats the other wayand a foul on Richland. What a
tremendous block shot there. Mount Sidedid a great job hustling back on defense
on a play that I thought wasdead because I thought the ball was going
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out of bounds. Well, Ithink there was three different incredible athletic maneuvers
right there, North through up forRichland saving that ball and throwing it almost
out of bounds, his teammate gatheringgetting down there, and then who other
than five eleven Blake Forrest coming downwith this massive tomahawk block from behind.
It was incredible. He's been theplayer of the tournament so far on nice
speed inside and an easy as youplays layup. Marshall Smith, the six
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to five senior with the finish,and it's now forty nine to forty two.
We're back to where we were athalftime. A seven point wildcat lead.
Mount Side is happy to share theball. They're so unselblished with each
other. An ultimate team that you'reseeing right now. It's not a me.
It's not four lays it up anda little strong off the pass,
(23:03):
but another offensive rebound. They aregetting all the glass on this end of
the floor, Dick. I mean, I just looking at it and looking
at the numbers. I think Richlandhas a height and size advantage at every
single position, but they're just gettingout rebounded. Now. Saia has taken
now fifteen more shots in this gamejust because of those offensive rebounds. And
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then it's one of those things ifyou just put down three of those shots
six points. They're doing more thanthat, but just that six, four,
six, eight points more, that'sgonna win you a state championship.
I mean, if this was afootball game and the time of possession would
be like sixty five thirty five.Absolutely, when you are talking about having
fifteen more shot attempts, that's notfifteen more possessions, but but it is
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because you're keeping the ball at theend to three four shot attempts you're gonna
put down you' they're shooting better thanthat they're shooting over fifty percent from the
floor. I believe. I'm notsure what they are right now with the
at halftime, the over fifty percent. You think fifteen more attempts, they're
gonna seven more possessions that made.I don't know how you're not gonna win
that. Northrop again, they havenot found an answer for the sophomore Landed.
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Northrop has been fantastic into double figures. Now, Jake, we keep
talking about Mount sign as if they'reup by fifteen. They're only up five.
I mean Richland. You feel thingsare going against Richland, and yet
they're still finding a way to staytight, to stay in close and have
a shot at this. Here's Taylorhit one. This one's off the back
of the iron and it was abaseline three ball. That would have been
big. I'd to put him upeight, which would have been the biggest
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of the game. Richland attacking theRams shot blocked in a late call as
going to the lane. Was ChristopherDaniels, the six to two senior guard
coming in off the bench. Hehas not played much, played a couple
minutes in the first half and justchecked back into the game and he'll go
to the free throw line for two. Yeah, he went down pretty hard.
He's grabbing a few extremities, kindof trying to sort himself out.
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See'd be still put together there,grimacing as he gets up. But Senior's
gonna be playing in the state championshipgame and he's gonna be just fine standing
in here for shoot those two freethrows. He's got a football body.
Take a look at him. Therewas a lot of contact, and when
body's at the floor in the statechampionship game with this kind of contact,
with this kind of weight room presenceof these players, it's a hard hit
when they go down. And Danielsmisses the first off the back iron.
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He played one minute in the firsthalf and he's played about one here,
got a good stroke. Second one'sgood. Four point game. You're right,
it feels like more, Joel.I mean the way things are going,
Richmund's down ten in my in mymind, your mental book, they're
down ten. Yeah, And I'msure coach Jason Griffith for the Mountainside Wildcats
(25:45):
is thinking like, no, Ifeel like we're down five. You're killing
me right now. Oh lap forwardcan't find one, rims it in and
out He's had some pretty good looks. He's had some bad luck inside the
paint today, but he will goto the free throw line for two.
The sophomore being looked at by justabout everybody. He's already gotten an offer
from Washington State. Kyle Smith onhim quickly and looking at him as a
(26:08):
sophomore. Just the body, thematurity. He doesn't look like a sophomore.
He doesn't play like a sophomore.He plays like an upperclassman that feels
confident, comfortable. But like wesaid, when you've been to this place
and they were in the semi finalslast year, didn't get the championship game,
but when you've been here before,you have a comfortability to this sophomore,
I think as well beyond his years. Free throw makes it fifty to
(26:32):
forty five with a minute seven leftto go in the third quarter. Mount
Saia has led throughout. There wasa couple early early lead changes in the
first two or three minutes of thegame, but from that point forward it's
been a Mount Side basketball game,and a pull up jump shot is up
and good. Fifty to forty sevennow a three point game, but Mount
(26:55):
Side quickly erases that and it's backto five as Trevor Hennick finishes with the
left hand and Hennick right there.Did a fantastic job attacking Westernfield, but
went to the far side of therim all the way across to reverse that
up to use the rim as aas a shield from the shot blocking Westernfield.
Big screen by a Westernfield Woodard scoopsup in the left hand. No,
(27:18):
but right there the big six'ten senior Westernfield cleans up the garbage
and puts it in. It's backto a three point game. Fifteen seconds
left, final possession of the thirdquarter. Here from outside and seeing some
full court pressure from the Bombers,not really pressing but just trying to put
more pressure on the ball make Kennickhave to think about things a little bit
more. Hanny g uncomfortable but getsall the way to the rim. He
(27:40):
was harassed the whole time in someway. Somehow, he gets to the
window with two seconds left to go, kisses it high off the glass and
gives him Outside a five point lead. Heading into the final eight minutes of
regulation, we head to the fourthare at the teetome moutside fifty four Richland
forty nine, listening to the GIZACredit Union WIAA State basketball championship game on
(28:03):
Sports Radio nine fifty KJR, broughtto you by GISA Credit Union, The
Dairy Farmers of Washington hand button theofficial basketball of the wyaaight on Sports Radio
ninety three point three KJR FM.Well, this is the quarter that you
work year round to get to thefourth quarter of the state championship game.
(28:26):
And Mount Side has got the basketballto start and Trevor heading starting to take
over this basketball game for Mouthside.He's got nineteen points. Is he knocks
down a free throw line jump shot, it's back to seven. There's just
a comfortability. He looks he's lookinglooking pass first type of player, but
when he has that wide up afifteen footer, it's just silky smooth.
Dick Northrop, the sophomore who's beenfabulous, votes one up. Good looking
(28:49):
shot, but it can't go.And there was three Mountside Wildcats that had
all box out right there to reallycontrol the paint to get that defensive rebound.
Only let Richmond get one shot andonly one shot. Nothing more.
Here's Henning again, he's feeling it. Scoop passed, now gets back in
the corner, short corner kick overto Taylor. Here's Henneck again. You
(29:14):
can't find the range short from abouttwenty two feet out right in front of
his bench on the wing. Alittle bit of the heat check maybe felt
like it was a quick shot thathe put up there. Woodard goes right
to the rim, shot rejected byHennig, and you can hear the thousands
of red clad mouth side fans behindus say that is a terrible call.
(29:34):
But I'm not sure. I couldn'ttell whether it was ball all ball if
they got some arm on it.And to be honest, I'm trying to
see who they got that foul on, because I think Hennig was clean,
but I think they gave it tohim anyway. It looks like he had
just picked up his third foul.Three fouls. Fourth quarter, You're still
okay. There, don't need anecessarily subde It's a senior leader. You
trust. Jason griff Is gonna lookat a senior and say, hey,
(29:56):
you got three. Be smart,don't be dumb, but you're not coming
out. You're saying the game andwider big Tree throws makes the first misses.
The second lat Ford comes down withthe rebound. It is a two
possession game at fifty six fifty.It has been close throughout, but Mount
Side has predominantly held the lead sincethe very early going. He checked three
(30:18):
off my screen. Knock it down, Blake Forest fifty nine fifty time out
Richland. That was an uncharacteristic threeby Mouthside because most of them have come
in rhythm. This was just acome around the screen. I'm gonna pull
from the top of the key abouttwo feet beyond the line. Well,
and that was a that was aswitch that Richld's been running on on guard
(30:41):
to guard picks up top. They'reswitching those picks. But because it was
so far sixty beyond the three pointline, Woodard didn't step up right there.
I think he kind of was thethird man to pick up him.
Didn't realize, wait a minute,I gotta get out and Blake Forrest popping
from about four feet beyond the line. But yes, he did have his
dribble rhythm. They do a lotof catch and shoot without his dribble rhythm
and Blake FORESTAI, Yeah, I'mfeeling it right now. Taking a look
at the stats from this one ballteams just shooting remarkably well. Mount sigh
(31:06):
sixteen of thirty two fifty percent fromthe field. Richland at seventeen of thirty.
They're shooting very very well. Isover over fifty percent from them.
And then the rebounding that we talkedabout. Mount Size's got thirteen offensive rebounds
is just four from Richland. Thathas given them the extra fourteen shot attempts
(31:27):
in this basketball game. I thinkthat's that's the number one stat to look
at here in this situation and whyit's a nine point deficit for Richard Baumbers
is they're just giving up too manysecond chance opportunities where either cashing or not,
they're giving too many up. Wementioned westernfield touches at halftime, he
(31:47):
was five of seven. He issix of eight, so only one at
one basket here and only one shotattempt. He has got to get some
more looks and Mount Size's gonna pickup full court man to man pressure,
not necessary, trying to get stealsand gamble. Just trying to make them
work harder, to use their legsa little bit more, use their mental,
their brain a little bit more.Just have to work harder for Richland
(32:07):
to get back into this game.Marshall Smith working really hard inside on Westernfield,
then pops out to set a trapon Woodard, but a foul is
called on the six to five senior. He's doing a great job. He's
trying to front Westerfield everywhere he goes. He's doing a good job denying the
basketball. Great defense by Smith insidewhen you're asking him to front, and
you're asking on an on ball screento get up there and hedge high,
(32:30):
hedge above that and then retreat andget back. That's a lot you're asking
from a guy that who's then gonnabe going against a six' ten mammoth
in side. There's to dump overthe top. That's what you gotta do
against the front and Westerfield and one. They need more of that if they
want to win this basketball game.Five point fifty eight left fifty nine to
fifty two outside by seven, andlap Ford came across for the help,
(32:52):
but just a little late, andman Westernfield did a nice jugg in that
high off the glass, forcing lapFord to go up and not be able
to get to that block. Wegot some arm instead. I couldn't complete
the three point play right there withthat miss free throw. Let's see if
that Richard Bamber defense can't get anotherattempt or another steal or turnover by the
outside Wildcats. Richland just seven oftwelve from the free throw line in this
(33:13):
game. Here's Hennick driving, getsthe defender off his skis and he pump
fakes him to death and knocks downthe fifteenth footer. And Henneg is a
coach's kid. His dad and momboth coach back in the day at Kentwood
High School they won a state championshipcoach on the women's side. Very savvy
(33:34):
kid, but he looks exactly likeyou'd expect from a coach's kid. Woodard
tries to squirt it inside to acutting Lance Hornsvelt, and he has fouled,
but outside not over the limit.As of yet, only three team
fouls on the Wildcats, no foulson Richland. That's the fourth team foul
now on mouthside. And again thechange in high school basketball this year much
(33:58):
of the college game. If youget five been a quarter than are shooting
two. There's no more the oneand one single bonus if you will.
Here's horn Belt and we got alegal screen, yes we do. On
the big man in a legal screenset to try to free up the driving
Northrop five twelve left in this regulation, mount side by nine and you kind
(34:19):
of feel like this possession right herethe next minute of this game is huge
for Richland. Lat Ford driving inwith the right hand, two strong offensive
rebound shot block by Westernfield, fallloose on the deck. Who's got it?
Comes up in the hands of Woodard. Woodard one on one on Forrest,
draws contact, lays it up,no, and he'll go to the
free throw line for two shots.That was big. You take a look
(34:43):
at what happened in the last tenseconds. Latt Ford was very close to
giving mouth sign eleven point lead,and here we are less than ten seconds
later, and Richland's got a chanceto cut it to seven without the clock
moving. Yeah, and that's justthe savviness of Woodard of able to and
like we said, we have twopoint guards, one on each team who
just find the way to the basketball, find a way to secure that Woodward
(35:05):
first two that drew the foul andblake force but could hang long enough to
get in the tempt at that rim. If be able to cash in with
both made free throws and a timeouttaken by Richland five oh one left,
it's a fall. We'll take oneas well a good one. Join us
stick with us here at the woodshedsixty one fifty four five oho one left
in regulation. You're listening to thefour A State Championship game presented by GISA
(35:30):
Credit Union on Sports Radio nine fiftyKJR. Stick fath Joe Boyer with you
from the old Woodshed at Takoma Dome. You know the first Saturday in March,
you know where we'll be. Willit be at the Tacoma Dome for
the Boys and girls State basketball Championships. Here on nine fifty kjr. Mount
(35:52):
SI trying to win their second championship. They won it in twenty twenty.
They lead by big possession. HereForrest with It kicks it off, Hennig
right wing, drives a little lefthand now circles back around. Check By
Water switches on him. Headache.Mid range has been his shot today.
(36:14):
That little pull up jump shot fromsixteen has been his money shot. And
they lead by nine and he justappears comfortable Dick wherever he is in the
court, he doesn't feel the needto shoot a three. He says,
whatever you're gonna give me is whatI'll take. They're giving him the sixteen
foot or mid range and he's makinghim pay five out by Richland here and
kind of a jacked up three byWoodard. Ooh, and we got a
(36:36):
man down that might be a crampthough he's holding his calf. Is that
Hennig over there? It's Blake Forestgo down. And you know I watched
him coming out of the last timeout. He was really reaching for and
grabbing that toe as if he's stretchingthat calf. Oh, it looks like
they're running out a roller for himright now. That looks like it looks
like a cramp, which is painfulbut good news. Yep. And and
(36:58):
to be honest with training staff fromoutside, they have two different rollers right
now. They're grabbing on they're grabbingon to that foot. I'm guessing this
isn't the first time ye Lake Borishas gone down on the cramp. He
is a tightly wound, strong,muscly young man. You look at him,
it's not surprising. Maybe he's gotthat maybe something he's got to deal
with. But they're they're putting fluidsin him right now, they're rubbing it
out. They're getting this happen rightnow. You expect to see him back.
(37:21):
He's a fighter. He's fearless.But uh, once it starts,
it's hard to get at the stop. Yeah, that's right. We'll have
to see how he handles it movingforward. And it's probably too late to
pound the bananas over there on theh on the bench as well. That'd
been something you had to do awhile ago to get that potassium in there.
Well, I bet pickle juice ormustard. That's usually the question that
you're gonna get asked early on whichone do you hate less? I don't
(37:43):
like either one. Well, Idon't really care if one or the other.
So I see a lot of mustardpackets coming out of trainers pockets and
out of their gear. But I'vebeen to a few state tournaments that we've
brought along mustard and pickle juice andsaid, you pick your poison. We're
gonna have them both ready. That'sright. Don't let don't let it cramp
keep you from winning the state time, exactly right. Forrest is out of
the game right now, still workingon it, drinking water over in the
(38:05):
corner. Four minutes left, andnow the pressure comes Without Forrest, Kenney
has it and a turn it over, the point guard off the floor,
can Richland take advantage of this minuteor so that Forrest will be off the
floor pull up jump shot from fifteenoff the mark tip, rebound up and
in by Lance hortbeld the six tosix sophomore back to a seven point game.
(38:27):
And he shot that first one kindof as a nonchalant going in,
knowing he could follow it all theway in and get a two footter if
he needed to. Fantastic job followingthe shot. So Jake Bonofski into the
game for the first time today.Welcome to the big time, Jake.
I don't think Jake was expected tonecessarily get in. Let's say they already
(38:47):
had it sealed in the in thethe the championship already secured lad Ford from
three off the back iron as ashot clock expired, but another offensive rebound
by mount Side. They will winthis game because of offensive rebounding. If
they hold on to this seven pointlead. They have been phenomenal on the
offensive glass. Goodness gracious, andthis is absolutely the time that that Blake
(39:12):
Forest is still working that cramp out. You think if Richland at with three
thirteen left down seven right now,if we had a time out on the
floor right now, if they're gonnaget this dick, it's gonna have to
be right now, Forest is notthe Mount Saide isn't isn't a phenomenal team
without Force, but with him maybeunbeatable with this situation that we have right
now. Without him, though,there's there's a sliver of doubt right there,
(39:35):
just because he is so dominant withthe ball in his hands, Forrest
continues to pound gatorade over there.He's double he's double fisting the gatorade bottles.
He's literally squirting two of them intohis mouth at the same time,
trying to get as much fluid ashe possibly can so he can get back
into the game. But the momentumshifted slightly with Forrest out of the game,
but that offensive rebound was so big. Richland had an opportunity with the
(40:00):
ball down seven with three point thirteen, and now they're gonna have to earn
the ball back again as Mountside calledthat time out, and they will inbound
far side and Richland had two handson that rebound but just couldn't secure it.
Dude. The tenacity of the outsideWildcats on the offensive blast, it's
impressive. Richland looking to trap wherethey can. But Mountside does such a
(40:22):
good job spreading things out, andthey passed the ball so well. Probably
not a better passing team in thestate. Bullet passed the lad now inside
goes up with it. Fadeaway jumpshot, no good. He hasn't been
able to find the rim at alltoday. Rickland with the rebound. Here's
their opportunity. One on one threeball on the way back iron. That
(40:45):
was a Lance Warnt belt chucked upthree. No one else touched the ball,
and Richland's had a couple of thosepossessions where only one player's touched the
ball in the entire possession. Ithasn't worked well for him. Westerfield the
shot block, but they're gonna callhim on the body. He definitely got
all ball up top, but itlooked like maybe a little body down below,
(41:05):
and that will send Hennig to thefree throw line. Yeah, you
saw some great horses right there.Woodard, who wasn't even a part of
the play. He walks over topick Hennick about the floor. There's just
a mutual respect. You can seea lot of these guys. They know
each other in the au circle.They play each other in years past.
In Summer's past, and there's alot of respect for a lot of these
guys. They're competing in super hardfor the state title. So Blake Forrest
is back into the ball game,still stretching it, still stretching those stretching
(41:30):
that right calf. I'm pretty surehe's faster than us combined though, even
with a dinged up calf. Sohim being in the game just settles everything
down from the mountside. Wildcats freethrows split. I'd go right at him
to test it, and that's whatWater's gonna do. A crossover dribble.
It's good job by Forrest staying infront. Water drives in, draws contact,
(41:50):
no rebound by Ford from outside,and that's absolutely kind of all.
When the cornerback gets injured and theyput someone in right there, we're gonna
throw at that receiver to test him. Right half court. Tried turnover.
Here's Richling with it down eight andthey throw it right away. Lake Forrest
has got it. Forrest both fastinside and the lamp is good. By
Taylor. It's a ten point lead. The Wildcats could smell their second state
(42:15):
championship. One fifty two left togo, twenty second time out. We'll
keep things right here. But boy, what a turn of events. There
could have been a six point gameinstead one turnover, he gets another one
and a great pass by Blake Forestinside of the layup to Taylor. And
you know when Forrest was going oneon one right there against in the second
(42:37):
and the possession right before that againstWoodard, he actually kind of hopped on
one leg twice because you can tellhe's not confident pushing off that there right
now, got the massage gun outin this timeout, they're putting more fluids
in him. They're running a rightover the right, over his calf.
But he still has the quickness,the ability right there to step up in
the big moment, the big play, make that steal, the great pass
(42:58):
assist. You can just tell it'sa big heart of this. This senior
right here saying I want to seechampionship my last year OUTUM one two left.
Yeah, he's not comfortable still comingout of this time out. He's
gimping around, but he's gonna makea go of it and not come out.
And if you're Jason Griffin, you'regonna trust your senior the whole way
through. Here's Whatter throws up anotherthree and he's foul. My goodness,
(43:29):
free ball from the wing and Woodardwill go to the free throw line.
Well, really, the way toget back into this is to be able
to get to that free throw linescore with that clock's not running. It's
your best friend right now is gettingthat clock to stop. But give you
a chance to still score. Hey, this is the first Woodard's been over
(43:50):
seventy five from the free throw linethis tournament. He's comfortable here at the
line, and you know he's kickinghimself not being able to make that three
second one rattles and falls Richland onthe day. Now ten of sixteen from
the free throw line. Not whatcoach Stroyford wanted to see. And the
(44:12):
third one goes down. So twoof three and now at full court press,
full court, man and man pressureby the Bombers. They're picking up
all the way, gonna make thewildcatch work for everything they've got bringing up
the court. Here's fourd with itover to Taylor hand off Hennick. Ninety
seconds to play in the state championshipgame, an eight point mount side lead.
(44:36):
You got a feeling that a buckethere would just about end it.
Hannick with it bullet pass inside,there's Taylor for the layup, back to
a ten point game. Hennig's visionis impressive, Dick, He's going in
there, he's gonna shoot it,but he's always looking to pass until the
last second finds his teammate Taylor foran easy laying and another jacked up three,
(44:58):
another possession where Richland didn't work theball around at all. Mount Seizeman
so much more efficient with the basketballhere in this fourth quarter than Richland has,
and now Mountsi can take some timeoff the clock, you would anticipate
the fouls starting to come fast andfurious here by Richland with one six left
and there is one right there.They're gonna try to extend this game as
long as they possibly can. Andwith Blake Forrest still gepping around here,
(45:22):
he's not necessarily coming to the ballas hard as he did the first three
quarters. But when you have asecondary ball handler in Trevor Hennick, you're
gonna be just fine. They're gonnakeep that ball, most likely in Hennig's
hands as much as they can,just meaning that he's gonna be able to
go to the free throw line putsome free throws down. That foul is
gonna be called him put Forrest,Oh no more to give so one O
(45:43):
two now with the second foul inthe last three seconds here and they'll foul
again here rapidly, they're gonna tryto get it out of Forrest's hands.
Don't want to foul him. Here'swhere you want to foul, probably is
lat Ford and they haven't done itnow. You don't want to foul hennig
here's forward with it, lose hishandle of it, it gets it back
(46:04):
hand back up top and they're justgonna play this possession out outside, playing
keep away. Well, don't foulnow, you've already got it down to
nine on the shot log. Don'tfoul now, Oh my goodness. And
they foul at mid court. You'reexactly right. I don't understand that.
I mean you fouled twice to getyou up to near the limit, and
then you don't foul to get overthe limit and send him to the line
instead, you let him burn twentyseconds off the clock. Well, and
(46:28):
coach Streyford right there for the RichmondBaumbers had that frustrated look on his face,
asking the same question we have.But he's got five subs are gonna
come in right now. He's gonnaconcede defeat in this one. Let his
seniors have that curtain call coming out, how hard they work to get here.
Have five new subs coming in emptyinghis bench for Richard Bambers, Braden
Pratt in the game, Brayln Edwards, Josiah Scocko is in the game as
(46:52):
well, Silent keysl Kowhani Jack's orderedin the game as well. And at
seventy to fifty eight after the freethrows and the final score is gonna look
a little deeper than what the gameactually was. And here's a steal by
Hennick. He's gonna go ooh andtackled from behind. That's gotta be a
(47:13):
flagrant foul and a good job byHennig to walk away from the situation because
Hennig is ticked off and he's gota right to be. He was tackled
from behind. He very easily couldhave focused his attention on the guy that
tackled him, and instead he walkedaway from the situation. He was ticked.
(47:35):
He had a right to be ticked, but he did the right thing
absolutely and the rush came struggled gamejust humming in there right away. Letting
him know this is absolutely intential foul. Two free throws. All the players
are cleared back at half court,and you're right, Hennick had every reason
to be frustrated by that. Butthe thing that he's realizing, he looked
at his crowd. He starts gettinghis student section cheered up and getting going
for him. Then a twelve pointlead, he hits both free throws.
(47:55):
There, subs are coming in nowfrom Mountain Side. This is a given.
Now mount Side is gonna win thisstate title. I tell you what,
most high school kids, including theone that's talking right now, they
don't react to if I got hitfrom behind the way he got hit going
in. I mean that that wasa running back going into the end zone
(48:16):
at the twenty five yard line anda guy coming from behind him and tackles
safety coming from behind him and tacklinghim absolutely, And you know it wasn't
malicious. It's a situation of notwanting to let Hanny get a dunk.
But it was frustration. Yeah,absolutely, yes, it was for sure.
And that's a senior who made thatfoul, didn't want to let him
get it off. But you knowwhat great job by handing to let cooler
heads even know he's frustrated. It'sokay to share that frustration, but give
(48:39):
that and walk away and let thathappen. Seven seconds left. Mount Side
with it. They're dribbling the clockout now with three, with two,
with one, and that will doit. The mount Side Wildcats have won
their second state championship this decade,following up a twenty twenty title with one
here in twenty two, twenty four. Your final score number one. Mountside
(49:02):
stays at the top of the mountainand will hold up the gold ball.
They beat Richland seventy two to fiftyeight, and well deserved. Richland a
great team, but the better teamwon today. Absolutely. And you talk
about early on, you said themount Sie Wildcats have not lost a team
from the state of Washington all year. They had two out of state losses.
They played in the Christmas Tournament,and they finished that off tonight by
(49:25):
completing the sweep of every Washington stateteam they face this year. Congrass those
mounts Side Wildcats, very deserving.Jason Griffiths and his staff. The team
that has made a record five straightfinal fours never been done before in for
a basketball while. We've had itbasically this century since two thousand ish,
and their fourth championship game in fiveyears. They are now two and two
(49:51):
in those championship game appearances one andin twenty twenty. After losing in twenty
nineteen, they then won in twentytwenty two and now win it two years
later, or excuse me, lostit in twenty twenty two and now win
it two years later in twenty twentyfour. We'll take a quick time out.
We'll come back talk to the headcoach of the champion Mount Side Wildcats,
(50:13):
Jason Griffith. Give you all thepostgame numbers from this one as well
your final score. Mountside wins thetwenty twenty four four A state championship over
Richland seventy two to fifty eight.You're listening to the WIAA Giza Credit Union
State Championship game on Sports Radio ninefifty KJR. We'll have them Mountside fans,
(50:37):
a couple thousand of them right behindus here in the old wood sheds,
celebrating their second state championship, butthe first ever that these students have
ever experienced, absolutely because they arethe seniors were eighth graders the last time
that Mount Sigh won a state championship, so the first one for this crop
(50:59):
of Mountain Side Wildcats. But thenumber one program in the state of Washington
without question is mount Side. Fivestraight final fours now two championships, just
unbelievable what they've done over there inthe north men's Snowpualme area. And they're
the current standard that you want tobe at. There's another stands we talked
about. Gonzaga Prep had had foursemifinals in a row or four final fours
(51:21):
in a row. We've had someteams in the past, some fairest teams
in the past. We've got someGarfield team just have so much consistency Reniard
Beach. But this is the currentstandard that you want your team to be
at if you're a high school coach. Mount Side Wildcats fantastic fellas. It's
fun to see them take that goalball and run out, leave the court,
go to their student section and singtheir fight song with their cheerleaders,
(51:42):
their whole student section. That wasa cool moment. That's what high school
sports is all about, Dick.And sometimes you need the senior leader just
to say we're not gonna lose yepand Trevor Hennick late stage of the third
quarter, early stage of the fourthjust said we're not gonna lose, and
he just took over. And youknow what, you could have said,
Blake Forest or Trevor Hennig against sincebecause you have two guys that both said
(52:06):
we're not gonna lose, and we'regonna talk to Trevor here in just a
moment, he's getting his picture taken. Jason Griffith, the head coach Blake
Forrest, will have him all on. Let's take a look at the numbers
from this one. We mentioned Hennigtwenty eight points in this game. How
about eleven of sixteen from the field, though, boy, five of six
from the free throw line. Whatan efficient performance, nine rebounds, four
(52:28):
assists in thirty one minutes. Yousaid it, it's efficiency. It's just
unbelievable at any level college, pros, high school. That is puer efficiency.
With that shooting percentage, the rebounds, the assists, He's not just
a score. He is a fullteam player, a team leader, the
one you can count on. Fantasticgame right there for Trevor Hennig, and
(52:49):
the job they did in from twopoint range today was absolutely fantastic. I
mean they were only seven of twentythree from three point range, but overall
in this game twenty seven of sixty. So you're looking at you know,
twenty of thirty seven from two pointrange and tredit varh Henning is going to
join us right now, and Trevor, congratulations, man. I mean,
(53:15):
we just we just talked a momentago about sometimes you just didn't need a
senior to say we're not gonna losethis basketball game. And with a couple
of minutes left to go in thethird quarter, it was very questionable who
was gonna win this game, andyou just said, no, this is
gonna be our game. We workedtoo hard not to get this win.
I mean, I gave all mycredits to my teammates. Man. Jack
Taylor had a huge, freaking night. He stepped up big time. Blake
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hits some tough shots. I mean, I mean, we've been manifesting this
forever. We sorry this summer,we kind of came together and we're like,
what do we want to accomplish?And every single one of us set
of state championship. So we setour minds to it and we believe we
can hang with anyone. And youguys have been to a lot of final
fours, but you didn't make achampionship game last year. What kind of
(53:57):
fuel did that put into this yearfor you guys? For sure? Everything.
I mean anytime you lose on usstage like this, it's it's huge.
And you know, just using thatas extra motivation was was big time.
Absolutely, And you take a lookat I mean, you guys were
eighth graders when they want it right, so you're like, you're sitting here
in the stands as eighth graders sayingwe want to win this thing, and
freshman year, no sophomore year,no junior year, No, you get
(54:17):
so close. I mean, doesit mean even more than it took you
this long to get that goal ball? I mean, for sure. I
mean he's been my best friend sincekindergarten. I mean we've been believing ourselves
for you know, since the firstgrade. So we we knew we could
do it if we stuck together andtrust in ourselves. And the defense made
it hard for you to night.They kind of allowed you to hit that
sixteen eighteen footer, but talk aboutthe confidence you have not a three pointer,
(54:42):
but just taking what the defense hasgiven you. For sure, I
mean anytime I can you know,get some one of my pull ups.
I work on that a lot.So Risen is a great team. You
know, they did a really goodjob today. But yeah, it was
awesome, great stuff. Hey,go grab your go grab your buddy over
there, go grab Blake. Wewant to go talk to Blake. Congratulations
to m a great job, Thankyou, Trevor Hennick twenty eight points in
(55:02):
this one tonight, Blake Forrest isgonna come over here. Blake with a
fabulous game as well. Seventeen points, six rebounds as Blake Forrest joins us
here and you know, Blake,we were just talking to Trevor about how
late stage of the game, especiallywhen you were out with those cramps.
I mean he just said, no, this is our game. I mean,
you guys have been together for solong, and that's not a surprise.
(55:23):
I'm sure that he was able todo that. Yeah, he was
definitely motivating me to keep playing.Obviously I didn't want to come out,
but it's kind of hard to runwhen your legs like literally falling apart.
But you know, I tried todo everything my power to stay in and
obviously I came back in and didfine. So well, we know,
it wasn't just two gatory balls you'reshoot in your mouth at one time.
You know you're you're getting them bothin there. Is that something you've had
before, You've dealt with a littlebit, not really to be honest,
(55:43):
but the two games before it justhurts your body, brings you down.
So yeah, just having that,it was those two bros just trying to
get back in the game in well, you were you were phenomenal today.
I mean just the piece of playseemed like it really favored you guys.
I know Richmond likes to run upand down, but you felt very,
very comfortable playing that style. Imean, you can win games anyway.
You can win games in the fifties, you can win games in the nighties.
(56:06):
That definitely we'd like to push theball. I mean that's when we
get out and run and build themomentum. But defensively we focus on that
too because then the dome it's hardto score. So we got to focus
on defense too. So last gamewe won, but holding them to forty
points. In this game we washigh scoring because we were getting out and
running. They ran with us.So obviously it's just both kind of both
styles of play. We obviously havedone well with well and it was kind
of fun. We were talking abouttwo senior point guards, yourself and Woodard
(56:29):
on the other side. You guysgoing to each other, they've seen a
lot of mutual respect. Is thatsomething you guys have seen each other before,
played each other against each other fora while. We played each other
last year in the quarterfinals, Ibelieve. So he's obviously a great player.
I watched him in the game before, so I knew I was gonna
guard him. He obviously played verywell tonight, and yet I have a
lot of respect for him. Wewere talking to Tarvor just a second ago
about you guys were in eighth gradeup there watching the seniors trying to win
(56:52):
it, and they wanted in twentytwenty, right before, right before the
COVID shutdown, and now here youare took it all the way to your
senior year. But how much didthat experience you gained freshman, sophomore,
junior year make it easier for youto win this tonight? Oh yeah?
Just playing it throughout the years anddefinitely watching the guys before me and the
leaders we've had before helped us.Me and Trevor become even leaders for the
(57:12):
guys now. So I think itwas just helping the guys, younger guys,
help give them experience and just bringhome that title. Hey, thanks,
man, appreciate it. We'll putyour coach on great stuff, you
bet, Blake Forrest a phenomenal job, the two senior leaders and now gosh,
we get to cook. Talk tothe head coach. Yeah, put
those sweaty headphones on their coach.Oh, man, I bet Jason's got
(57:32):
a little sweat as well. Jason, second state championship. Congratulations coach.
How's it feel? Oh, itfeels amazing. You know. It's you
know, our program we start workingMarch fifteenth, you know. So we
talked about it before the game.Usually we have a big board and then
we put nothing up today. AndI said, fellas, you guys are
prepared. You're prepared for this moment. We've been doing it for eleven and
(57:53):
a half months. And that's whatgreat programs do. And our kids they
got hyped and they knew they wereready. We were just talking before the
game and saying, that's five now, five final fours in a row.
You guys now have that record forWashington State. For whatever that's worth Yeah,
but I know that marshalltig you're gonnastart talking about number six. But
the gold standard. There's been greatprograms in the past, but talk about
(58:13):
what was taken to get your programto this stage to raise yourself up to
that standard. Now, it's it'sdedication, it's commitment. When I got
the job, I had I hadtwo kids, Jay Jay Owens and Tyler
Patterson, and I remember sitting downwith them a subway and saying, what
do you guys want to do,Like, what's your goal here? And
we mapped out four years and wesurprised kids their junior year and play guns.
They get prep yere and then thenext year we won it. And
(58:36):
and they've passed the baton. Imean they've passed the baton down down the
line. The great players. Kidshave gone on to Division one, Division
two. I think the biggest thing, you know is what are like community
represents, you know, and wedo it from the youth up. We're
heavily involved all the way down tothird grade and little kids want to come
up and play play basketball and noside. And you got that small town,
almost eastern Washington feel even though you'reyou know, on the outskirts of
(58:59):
Seattle. And that's a testament thosethousands of fans behind us, that and
those kids. None of those kidsat Mountside right now had ever experienced the
title. And today was your opportunity, and you guys got it done.
Yeah, I mean, we're sothankful. We've been supported all year our
school, you know, everybody,everybody comes out, and it's just great
to see a community like this,you know. I mean when I was
(59:21):
growing up, went to Samamas,but we didn't even know where North Bend
was, you know, and andnow North Bend, so call me.
It's a great community and it's strivingwell. And i'd say, talk about
the two current seniors, you're justgonna graduate off here. But but both
Blake and Trevor, I mean Blakegoing down with cramps, so Trevor is
still staying. Just talking about whatthey've done for your program these last four
years. Kind of as a wholematuration that had come to I think it
(59:43):
was, you know what I alludedto earlier, like they took the baton,
you know, and and they Imean Trevor's favorite player growing up with
Jay Mullins, you know, andwhen he took that baton. He was
like, no, I want towin a state championship. And I talked
to Trevor about three weeks ago andI said, what do you want your
legacy to be? And he goes, Coach, I got a title to
start talking about legacy. So Iguess we can talk about legacy now.
(01:00:04):
Yeah, you certainly can. Youcertainly can. Well, congratulations, just
fabulous job. I mean, theoffensive glass today was where you won this
basketball game. I mean, somany opportunities you gave yourself two, three,
four times in a possession and youtook like eighteen more shots than they
did just because you commanded the glass. Was that kind of surprising how that
went because that was a big teamyet, especially with a westernfield on the
(01:00:25):
other side for sure, and weknew they like to get up and run
and that's their strength. They getout and transition really well. So we
sent guys to the glass. Youknow, Jack Taylor, I don't I
can't say enough about him. Youknow, this is a senior that you
know, he's a two sport kid, just kind of a role player his
whole life. And somebody told mehe finished with eighteen to some of those
offensive rebounds you're talking about, youknow, just hustle plays. You know,
(01:00:49):
you to beat a team like this, you got to win the fifty
fifties and I thought, look,we did that. Hey, you're doing
it the right way, man.Thank you, congratulations, appreciate it.
You bet appreciate it. Jason Griffith, the head coach of Mounts. The
second state championship for him, thefourth appearance in the championship game for him,
fifth final four. I mean,it just keeps rolling. And even
though they're gonna lose those seniors,you better believe there's a stockpile of young
(01:01:14):
kids that are growing up in thattown that have one goal, and that
is to be right here with aMountside jersey on well, and we talked
about both Blake and Trevor. We'rein there as eighth graders in the student
section that's starting to thin out behindthis as they're making their way in and
out bringing the next girls crowds inhere. But you know there's gonna be
some eighth graders in the city.My favorite player is Trevor Hennick. Absolutely,
(01:01:35):
He said his favorite player is JayMowens before him went to Saint Mary's,
had an amazing career he's saying,I want to be the next Trever
Hennick. I want to be thenext Blake Force. It's gonna be fine.
I don't know who they are,but we're gonna get to know their
names in the next few years andbe excited to watch them play in this
court hopefully. Take a look atthe final stats from this win, twenty
eight points for Hennick, eighteen forJack Taylor. On seven of twelve,
he was five of six from twopoint range, two of six from three
(01:01:57):
to seventeen for Blake Forrest. Sothose three seniors putting up a vast majority,
all but nine points from outside comingfrom those three guys. Lat Ford
struggled from the field today, justone of eleven. But you know,
lat Ford's gonna be on this courtagain as the leader of the mouthside team
next year as a junior, becausehe's a phenomenal talent. Just didn't have
the rains today, but still avery deserving champion. And lat Ford does
(01:02:20):
his game a little bit more inthe paint. He can hit outside shots,
obviously, but when you have asix' ten Lucas westernfield in the
paint, it is giving a littlebit horter sledding but you notice he never
came out. His coach wasn't gonnabring him out of the game just because
he's having a tough shooting night.He has to be in the game because
of his importance to the team,to the defense, to the collective hole.
So even though maybe a tough nightrim on the numbers, he still
gave so much and made a markon this game through just his presence and
(01:02:43):
his athleticism. Three players in doublefigures for Richland, twenty for Josh Woodward
or Woodard rather landed Northrop with twelve. Lucas Westerfield again held to just seven
of nine from the field. Nowthat's great production from percentage basis, but
Lucas Westernfield cannot have nine field goalattempts if you want to win the state
championship game. Yeah, and mountSide of their credit, it did a
(01:03:04):
great job of fronting him, havingbackside help really pressuring him making it difficult
as well as pressure on the entrypass. It wasn't just an easy dump
in just throw it up high tothe six to ten guy. They have
a lot of athleticism on the Mountainsideteam. Like I said, a hair
undersize if you will just going sixto six and down. Yep. But
all of them are just competitors.They're fiercely competitive. They have an expectation.
(01:03:25):
This is what we know we're supposedto do. We just said in
the student section. They know that'swhat they're supposed to do. Is they
come up to the high school level. So I'm sure that they had a
plan in place. But you heardJason Griffis saying, we put nothing on
the whiteboard. Oh put nothing onboard, saying you guys are ready,
you're ready for this stage, gomake it happen. Awesome moment. Right,
They're cool, very very cool.Well, another great state championship and
(01:03:45):
we got another one coming up,the four A Girls championship game. Steve
Willots is gonna slide in for me. You're gonna stick around Johns and call
that game. Congratulations, Thanks forbeing here, man. This has been
a This has been a really funweek. It's like the best week of
the year. Right, it's Christmas, great stuff, Gonzaga Prep and Camus
coming up. Or thanks to ChrisKidd, He's gonna stick around for the
(01:04:06):
next game as well. Steve Willetsallowed to play by play alongside Josh of
Gonzaga prep and Camus coming up next. You're listening to the WIAA State Championship
presented by GISA Credit Union here onSports Radio nine fifty kJ R