CENTRALIA — Big-game experience prepared the Seton Catholic boys basketball team for an atmosphere like Saturday.
The reigning Class 1A District 4 champions, who placed sixth at last year’s 1A state tournament for the first time in program history, successfully defended their district title with a 54-46 win over Trico League foe Fort Vancouver in a packed Centralia High School gymnasium.
After Seton Catholic breezed through two district playoff games to reach the championship, Fort Vancouver gave the Cougars a much-needed test.
The Trappers, who clinched their first state tournament berth since 1990 earlier this week, led for the majority of the first half, holding a high-powered Cougars offense to seven points in the opening quarter. Seton wasn’t fazed.
“Congrats to Fort for getting here, the history that they went through, it’s a really solid team,” Seton Catholic coach Donald Wilson said. “I think (our) experience showed. We didn’t get rattled. We’ve been here before. We haven’t played too many games from behind, but it’s a couple shots, a couple rebounds that got us … guys just settled into the game.”
Five straight points from senior Tyler Tran midway through the second quarter fired up the Cougars and gave them their first lead at 18-15.
The Trappers continued to hang around well into the second half, with a tip-in basket from Leighton Livengood knotting the game at 31-31 with two-and-a-half minutes left in the third quarter.
The Cougars made their move to close the quarter with a Lance Lee layup and a Brady Angelo 3-pointer to start the fourth.
Then, the Cougars put the ball in the hands of Kaiden Wilson, the Trico League Player of the Year, who scored 11 straight points in the fourth to push Seton across the finish line.
Wilson finished with a game-high 23 points, while seniors Angelo and Tran scored 11 and 8 points, respectively.
“This one feels good, especially going back-to-back with all the seniors on the team knowing this is going to be the best team to ever lead Seton,” Kaiden Wilson said.
The Cougars won their 15th straight game of the season, and remained undefeated against Trico League teams with a perfect 18-0 mark in the regular season and playoffs. But they also welcomed the challenge they faced Saturday from the Trappers — led by Livengood’s 15 points — knowing it will prepare them for state.
“It’s always tough to have a challenge,” Kaiden Wilson said, “because at the dome, it’s a little different in there.”
Prior to last season’s district championship and state playoff run at the Yakima Valley SunDome, leading to the program’s first state trophy, the Cougars had the benefit of flying somewhat under the radar as an upstart program.
They didn’t have that luxury this season. Success comes with heightened expectations, but the Cougars have responded well to their newfound position, Donald Wilson said.
“When you’ve got so many expectations you’ve got to live up to the expectations, and I think they handled that well as a group,” Donald Wilson said. “We’ve always talked about it — the culture here is player-led. Those guys understand how to play the game the right way. They’re connected. So, it’s a fun group to coach, it’s a fun group to be around.”
SETON CATHOLIC 54, FORT VANCOUVER 46
FORT VANCOUVER (17-6) — Liam Cvitkovich 6, Samuel Howard 0, Isaiah Barajas 10, Isaiah Gonzalez 8, Josiah Jointer 7, Allen Salazar 0, Bernardo Castro 0, Leighton Livengood 15. Totals 18 (3) 7-12 46.
SETON CATHOLIC (18-5) — Tyler Tran 8, Mason Glassmire 6, Brady Angelo 11, Rico George 2, Lance Lee 4, Kaiden Wilson 23, Ben Deochand 0. Totals 17 (9) 11-14 54.
Fort Vancouver 13 8 12 13—46
Seton Catholic 7 17 14 16—54
