Clark County had nine basketball teams in the state regional round last week. Four of them won, and all four games were decided in the fourth quarter.
The Union boys did end up winning by 12 points, but the Titans trailed by 10 with six minutes to play.
The King’s Way Christian boys won in overtime, surviving a wild finish in regulation.
The Prairie girls led almost their entire game, only to have to hold off a late charge in a two-point victory.
Clark County had nine basketball teams in the state regional round last week. Four of them won, and all four games were decided in the fourth quarter.
The Union boys did end up winning by 12 points, but the Titans trailed by 10 with six minutes to play.
The King's Way Christian boys won in overtime, surviving a wild finish in regulation.
The Prairie girls led almost their entire game, only to have to hold off a late charge in a two-point victory.
The Skyview girls got the benefit of a call none of them expected to get and won by a point.
Survive and advance. That's all that matters at this point.
These four teams did just that. We will share their stories, Wednesday and Thursday, on just how they managed to survive. And now that they have advanced, they explain what they learned from their experiences at regionals.
The Skyview girls got the benefit of a call none of them expected to get and won by a point.
Survive and advance. That’s all that matters at this point.
These four teams did just that. We will share their stories, Wednesday and Thursday, on just how they managed to survive. And now that they have advanced, they explain what they learned from their experiences at regionals.
It was a controversial call, for sure.
Video makes it appear as if it were a clean steal.
Skyview’s Riley Friauf said she was fouled, that there was contact on the arm. But she is quick to point out that she did not think a call would be made.
“They hadn’t been calling that type of foul all day,” Friauf said.
It was called with four seconds to play in a tie game in the Class 4A state girls basketball regionals Saturday. Friauf would make one free throw, sending Skyview to the Tacoma Dome, to the state quarterfinals.
“Before I shot the free throw, I was stressed out,” Friauf said. “My teammates … said ‘You got this. I believe in you.'”
That’s all she needed. Skyview 54, Kentlake 53.
If the call had not been made, Kentlake would have had four seconds for a breakaway, to try to win the game.
It would not have been easy, though.
Skyview’s Hannahjoy Adams could be seen on the video moving toward half-court, to give her teammates a passing lane. When the would-be steal was happening, she reacted.
“I was already sprinting back for defense,” Adams said. “I don’t think I expected the call to be made. I knew I needed to get back.”
So, with or without the call, the Skyview Storm were in position to do what they had to do to win, and that is really what this team is about this season.
“This team’s one of the grittiest I’ve coached,” Skyview coach Jennifer Buscher said. “They’ve been down in games all season long, and they find ways to win.”
Teams like this one create good fortune, Buscher said. That call at the end of the game? The coach is not sure it was the correct call, but calls go against and for every team throughout a contest.
“Sometimes the cookie crumbles your way,” Buscher said. “The harder you work, the luckier you get.”
This Skyview team does not play a “beautiful” style of basketball.
The Storm pride themselves on defense and rebounding.
“It’s not pretty with what we do,” Buscher said. “But we get the job done.”
The Storm are 20-4 in what was supposed to be a “rebuilding” year.
The Storm survived and advanced and now are looking ahead to the quarterfinals. With the same philosophy that has led to 20 wins.
“We all believe in each other,” Friauf said. “That’s the biggest thing going into this. We all trust each other. That’s what it took to get here. If we keep doing that, we can do more.”
