When the Rogers Rams met the Gig Harbor Tides on Friday night, the final result was something quite common for two teams playing to keep their seasons alive.

For 32 minutes, the teams slugged it out, diving to the floor for loose balls, committing hard, clean fouls, and keeping their focus on defense.

Gig Harbor started fast, but Rogers finished the game with a flourish, picking up a 39-34 victory in a Class 4A West Central/Southwest bi-district loser-out contest at Curtis High School.

Gig Harbor led 11-3 after the first quarter but slowly watched its advantage slip away. When Derrick Jones hit two free throws with 18.8 seconds to play, and Josh Breer stole the ball on the next series, the Rams had completed their comeback.

“We just wanted to make sure we were calm, and just attacked the rim and played with a lot of heart,” said Jones, a 6-foot-3 senior guard who finished with 10 points.

“Obviously, both teams had trouble scoring,” Rogers head coach Rico Ancheta said. “I think our players have been in that situation a lot this year. I don’t think we’ve really blown anyone out by any means.”

The Tides tried to use their size advantage under the basket, and they had some strong moments from 6-6 junior Jared Anderson, who finished with a game-high 12 points.

But the Rams made life tough for the Tides’ offense, holding top scorer Cyrus Ward to nine points and limiting the penetration skills of point guard Beau Glover.

“Cyrus got banged up, Beau took a shot to the face,” Gig Harbor head coach Craig Brooks said. “That kind of stuff happens in a tough game.

“Nobody wanted to be done at this point,” he added. “They played as hard as you could play your last game. They were going hard, and there was a battle, and things didn’t go our way.”

Gig Harbor had a 19-13 lead at halftime, but Rogers cut into it by creating some transition chances. Breer and Jones each scored on fast breaks to knot the score at 26-26 late in the third quarter.

Both teams played sloppy at times, and Brooks credited the Rams for the type of in-your-face defense the Tides have struggled with.

“They were able to … cause us to make a few bad passes, a few mistakes, by just getting up into us,” he said.

Rogers took a one-point lead with four minutes to play, and then got a huge momentum boost when senior guard Landon Hannold drained a 3-pointer from the right corner. It was his only field goal of the game.

“Landon came in and hit that shot right off the bench,” Ancheta said. “He’s hit a few big shots like that this year.”

“Landon’s a really good 3-point shooter,” Jones added, “and he stepped up big for us tonight.”

Rogers (13-11 overall) saw its season come to an end the following night. Jones tallied 21 points as the Rams fell 57-46 to the Kentwood Conquerors in a winner-to-state, loser-out game at Curtis.



Neil Pierson can be reached at 253-853-9246.