W.F. West grinds out win to clinch 2A EvCo title
W.F. West High School clinched the 2A Evergreen Conference title on the road in Tumwater — but not without a battle.
The seventh-ranked Bearcats, who are undefeated in league play, came from behind in the fourth quarter to grind out a 59-50 win Wednesday over the T-Birds.
“It’s pretty awesome to know that we’re league champions,” senior Bailey Cooper said. “We haven’t been league champs in a long time.”
W.F. West (17-2, 9-0) sewed up its first title since 2013 behind Brandon White’s team-high 14 points and eight rebounds, while Jordan Thomas and Cooper each added 13 points.
The Bearcats took a slim 23-20 lead into the break — though the lead changed eight times in the first half — before Tumwater (9-10, 5-4) rallied with a 21-point third quarter.
CJ Geathers scored a game-high 22 points for the T-Birds, while Jelani Jones added 11.
Jones hit a 3-pointer with two minutes, 17 seconds remaining in the third quarter to ignite Tumwater’s crowd and regain the lead.
“We kept trying to attack the basket, and kept trying to play our game even though things weren’t working out,” Cooper said. “In the end, we got the win.”
The T-Birds carried a two-point advantage into the final period, but the Bearcats took it back for good with 5:36 to play when Thomas dished the ball to Nole Wollan for an easy score.
The game-winning basket came while Geathers, who left the game briefly with an apparent injury, was on the bench.
Geathers returned to the game with more than four minutes to play, and drilled a 3-pointer to cut W.F. West’s lead to four points with 1:55 remaining, but Tumwater never completely recovered.
Cooper and Thomas combined to shoot 5 of 6 from the free throw line in the final 1:20 to ice the game.
The Bearcats take the win, the title and the league’s No. 1 seed into Friday’s regular-season finale at Centralia.
Tumwater hosts crosstown rival Black Hills on Friday for the No. 3 seed.
Lauren Smith: 360-754-5473, @smithlm12
NO. 7 W.F. WEST | 12 | 11 | 16 | 20 | — | 59 |
TUMWATER | 8 | 12 | 21 | 9 | — | 50 |
WFW – Dobyns 3, Wollan 5, Thomas 13, Speck 3, B. White 14, C. White 8, Cooper 13
T – Williams 1, Geathers 22, Jones 11, Gilliland 6, Gaither 7, Murphy 3
This story was originally published February 1, 2018 at 12:57 AM with the headline "W.F. West grinds out win to clinch 2A EvCo title."