Tumwater hands rival Black Hills first league loss behind solid game plan, Peterson’s clutch free throws

Every team has a game plan for every game. Whether the schemes work out or not is always iffy.

Friday night, visiting Tumwater High School made its plans work well enough to hand Black Hills a 61-60 overtime loss — the Wolves’ first defeat in Class 2A Evergreen Conference play this season

The T-Birds wanted to run Wolves shooters off the arc in crucial situations after Black Hills connected for 10 3-point baskets in its win over Tumwater three weeks ago. This time, the Wolves made only two triples after halftime.

“They had three guys who absolutely torched us last time,” Tumwater coach Josh Wilson said. “Sometimes you say you’ve got a plan, and it doesn’t really work out. Tonight it did.”

The T-Birds wanted to use their size and strength inside. Six-foot-four senior Luke Murphy, who came into the game averaging just six points, scored a game-high 21, while 6-6 Damon Gaither added 20.

“We wanted take advantage of our size and drive the ball to the basket,” Wilson said. “We haven’t been shooting the ball that well from 3. They executed it very, very well getting the ball inside. Credit to Cam (Oram) for finding them on a lot of those looks.”

Junior Weston Ainsworth was the lone player in double figures for Black Hills with 16 points.

Despite the night-long excellence of Gaither and Murphy inside, the T-Birds’ hero in overtime was junior guard Peyton Peterson. After the extra period stayed scoreless for both teams until the final minute, Peterson sank 6 of 7 free throws to account for all of Tumwater’s scoring.

He would have gotten credit for seven free throws in a row after missing his first, but the T-Birds were called for a lane violation on his last make and the point was disallowed.

“I’ve never been in that situation before, never made a buzzer beater,” Peterson said. “I’m just going to the line and knocking them down. No pressure at all, just shooting the ball.”

Black Hills led by four at halftime, 32-28. Tumwater never trailed after taking a 39-37 lead on a fast break layup by Gaither five minutes into the third quarter, but the T-Birds never led by more than four points either.

Leading 55-52 after a Gaither free throw, Tumwater almost saw all of its work go to waste when Zach Crumley found a crack in the T-Birds’ game plan to bank in a 3-pointer from the left wing 12 seconds from the end of regulation, forcing the overtime.

But, Peterson took over from the foul line, and while late baskets by Ainsworth and Nic Bovenkamp made the score closer, they didn’t threaten Tumwater’s lead.

INDIVIDUAL SCORING

T – Peyton Peterson 9, Gunnar Fields 3, Ryan Reed 2, Camden Oram 6, Damon Gaither 20, Luke Murphy 21.

B – Jackson Bauer 7, Avery Armin 4, Elyas Inman 8, Zach Crumley 9, Gabe Wright 7, Nic Bovenkamp 4, Weston Ainsworth 16, Zach Loveless 1.