Black Hills shoots its way out of sync, falls to Clarkston in 2A boys quarterfinals, 51-42
Round four.
Black Hills vs. Tumwater.
First came two celebrations of the school’s cross-freeway rivalry, with each team winning once on a festive Friday night. Then, Tumwater claimed a heated District 4 semi-final on a neutral court at Olympia High School to guarantee itself a spot in the state regionals.
Friday at 2 p.m., it will be in the consolation round of the 2A state tournament at the Yakima Valley SunDome, a fate Black Hills (20-7) might have avoided if the Wolves had shot the ball better during the first half of their 51-42 loss to Clarkston (19-5) late Thursday.
“There’s no love lost,” said Gallagher of the rivalry with the Thunderbirds. “I’m not going to lie to you. We’re in a situation where we want to bring home a trophy. The school’s never done that before.”
Usually a potent outside scoring team, against the Bantams the ninth-seeded Wolves started the game 2-of-12 from 3-point range and ended it 4-for-22.
“As individuals, they want to get everything back right away,” said Black Hills coach Jeff Gallagher. “They want it to happen so quickly, they fall in love with that line, because that’s the quickest way to get back into it.”
The lackluster focus on shooting, instead of driving, took Black Hills out of its offense and allowed Clarkston to play less-than-aggressive defense, leading to another telling stat: Black Hills shot only three free throws while the Bantams were a perfect 13-for-13, an 11-point difference that more than accounts for Clarkston’s margin of victory.
“That’s an indicator of how we’re doing offensively,” said Gallagher. “If we’re attacking the basket, we’re getting to the free throw line.”
The Wolves jumped out to a 14-7 lead midway through the first quarter, but by the end of the period, the Bantams were just a point back at 14-13 and, before halftime, took a lead they never relinquished.
Wyatt Chatfield’s post-up basket with just under six minutes until halftime put Clarkston up, 19-17. They would build as much as a 12-point lead before game’s end.
Senior guard Zach Crumley led the Wolves in scoring with 12 points while fellow senior Avery Armin added 11 and four assists before fouling out. Aside from Crumley and Armin, Black Hills shot just 8-for-32 from the field overall.
The Wolves did outrebound Clarkston, 30-28, with Justin Hicks and Weston Ainsworth leading the way with six each.
Clarkston’s top scorer was Trey Dreadfulwater, who was far from dreadful and lived up to his first name by hitting 4-of-8 three-point attempts on his way to a game-high 18 points. Tru Allen contributed 12 and Alex Italia 11.
“It was a disappointing loss,” said Gallagher, whose team plays Tumwater roughly 16 hours after the end of its game against Clarkston. “But we don’t have a lot of time to worry about it.”
This story was originally published March 6, 2020 at 1:11 AM with the headline "Black Hills shoots its way out of sync, falls to Clarkston in 2A boys quarterfinals, 51-42."
