Capital books trip to the Tacoma Dome for second time in three seasons with regionals win over Shorecrest

Capital High School could see its dream of returning to the Tacoma Dome for the Class 3A state tournament getting closer.

First the No. 9 Cougars built a nine-point halftime lead over Shorecrest in a state regionals loser-out contest at Tumwater High School. Then, with less than three minutes to play, they were looking down at the No. 16 Scots from a 17-point edge.

Both times, Shorecrest reminded Capital it had the same dream with sudden rallies, but the lead at the end was too much to overcome, and the Cougars emerged with a 59-52 victory that propelled them into the tournament for the second time in three seasons.

“The guys got a taste of it two years ago and they wanted to go back,” Capital coach Brian Vandiver said.

Shorecrest (14-10) went into its locker room at halftime trailing, 28-19, but seemed to come out a changed team.

The Scots erased Capital’s lead in little more than three minutes, with a 9-0 run ending when forward Newton Pepple flashed to the basket on an assist from Elijah Johnson.

The rally seemed to awaken a sleeping favorite.

Capital (20-4) closed out the third quarter on a 16-4 run of its own fueled by senior guard Chris Penner, who scored eight of his game-high 24 points during the spree.

“Chris and Grant Erickson really stepped up,” Vandiver said. “Grant made three or four hustle plays that were just flat-out amazing. He wanted it more. Chris took over offensively in the third quarter.”

Erickson’s motivation was simple.

“It’s win or go home at this point, and I don’t want my high school career to end now,” he said. “I want it to end on our terms, at the Tacoma Dome.”

Seemingly left for dead when a pair of Gabe Landers’ free throws built the Cougars’ edge to 52-35 with only 2:49 remaining on the clock, Shorecrest was still breathing.

The Scots’ 6-foot-9 Calvin Acker made a pair of free throws and drove for a 3-point play. Davud Jusic made a free throw — his only point of the night. Antonio Stillwell, held in check most of the night by Capital defender Lucas Bowser, nailed back-to-back 3-pointers, and suddenly the Cougars lead was single digits at 54-47.

Capital called timeout with just a minute to play, but Shorecrest’s Tim Opany chose that moment to shine with a pair of follows, one on a tip dunk, and it was a two-possession game, 57-52, with 20 seconds to go.

But, Shorecrest had to foul to try to regain possession and twice Penner made one of two free throws. The Scots never scored again.

In addition to Penner, Landers reached double figures for the Cougars with 10 points. Eladio Fountain gave Shorecrest two in double digits, also with 10.

INDIVIDUAL SCORING

S – Michael Atendido 2, Elijah Johnson 5, Gavin Hyppa 1, Newton Pepple 2, Tim Opany 7, Dante Recabarren 3, Antonio Stillwell 8, Davud Jusic 1, Calvin Acker 12, Eladio Fountain 10.

C – Gabe Landers 10, Chris Penner 24, Lucas Bowser 6, Brandin Riedel 9, Duncan McDermott 2, Grant Erickson 8.

This story was originally published February 23, 2019 at 11:03 PM.