KELSO — Hockinson coach Trevor Person asked guard Alan Haagen to be more aggressive for Tuesday’s Class 2A boys basketball district semifinal.
Instead, he got a shooter who was unconscious.
Haagen scored 30 points as Hockinson beat Capital of Olympia 79-66 at Kelso High School.
Some call it being in the zone, others say unconscious. Whatever it is, Haagen was there in the first half.
The senior didn’t miss until halfway through the second quarter.
By that time, he had 23 points including six 3-pointers.
When asked if he’d ever been in a groove like that, Haagen passed credit to his teammates like he was still collecting assists, of which he had six on Tuesday.
“Not anything to that extent,” he said. “My teammates did a great job of getting me the ball.”
And now Hockinson gets another shot at Mark Morris. The Hawks will face the team it shared the 2A Greater St. Helens title with after splitting two meetings. The teams will play in the district title game Friday at St. Martin’s University in Lacey.
“Definitely this is the settler,” Haagen said. “It would be nice to one-up them.”
Haagen’s hot hand helped the Hawks avoid the cold road Capital must now travel through the loser-out side of the bracket. To reach regionals, Capital must win two in a row, starting Thursday against Tumwater.
But Hockinson now has hardware on its mind. Beyond Friday’s district title game, Hockinson has secured a berth at regionals, which begin Feb. 28 at a site to be determined.
Hockinson has focused all year on regionals, where a narrow loss to Sequim denied the Hawks a state tournament berth last year.
“We got there last year and had a tough loss,” Taylor Rennaker said. “Part of the goal all year was to get back and redeem ourselves.”
Rennaker was among the Hawks that helped keep the lead comfortable in the second half, when Capital began clamping down on Haagen. He scored 10 of his 17 points in the third quarter.
Jack Klodt added 19 points and 13 rebounds. He said Haagen’s hot start helped others relax.
“It gave us a little bit of comfort,” Klodt said. “But I knew defense was going to win it from here on out.”
Hockinson’s defense remained stout, except for a short spell near the end of the third quarter. Capital used a 13-4 run to pull within 59-47.
But Hockinson kept its poise in the fourth quarter, in which it made 7 of 12 field goals and was 5-for-7 from the foul line.
“Our bench that didn’t get many minutes tonight really pushed us in practice,” Person said. “Credit to them because they put our guys through those situations in practice. That leads to calmness.”
HOCKINSON 79, CAPITAL 66
HOCKINSON — Taylor Rennaker 17, Nate Gunderson 4, Jack Klodt 19, Alan Haagen 30, Jared Broer 0, Austin Steimle 0, Taylor Ellensohn 5, Littleton Davidson 0, Jess Krahn 4, Brian Prigmore 0. Totals 27 (12) 13-17 79.
CAPITAL — Isaiah Springer-Black, Ty Gentry 9, Jacob Pratt, Jake Crawford 12, Travis Miller 17, Zack Nibler 2, Jacob Johnson, Anthony Duncan 19, Connor Hayden 3, Ben Pearce 4. Totals 25 (7) 9-12 66.
Hockinson 29 14 16 20–79
Capital 17 8 22 19–66
