Not exactly a knockout, but Foss wins in 2A state quarterfinals

Foss High School got what it usually gets from its leading scorers in Thursday night’s 76-62 victory over Liberty of Issaquah in the quarterfinals of the 2A state tournament at the Sun Dome.

Micah Pollard led the way with 22 and Demetrius Crosby had a 20-point, 10-rebound double-double. Damani Kelly added 18.

As expected, the Falcons (21-4) move on to meet the winner of Thursday’s later quarterfinal between Selah and W.F. West in a 9 p.m., Friday semifinal. Liberty (22-5) will meet the loser in a consolation bracket game at 2 p.m.

But Crosby noticed something a little bit different about coming to state as the defending champions.

“It feels good to be back here,” he said. “But we definitely have a target on our backs.”

For the first half, the Patriots’ muskets couldn’t find the target. Outshot by the Falcons, 59 percent to 34 percent, they fell behind 40-21 at intermission.

“Sometimes, teams that haven’t played against us before are surprised at how hard we play and how athletic we are,” said Foss coach Mike Cocke. “They come up against our pressure and its like facing a 98-mile per hour fast ball.

“Once they’ve been up against it for a while, they adjust and Liberty did that in the second half.”

After a fast break layup by Kelly gave Foss a 47-30 lead midway through the third quarter, the Patriots went to work making what seemed like a runaway victory for Foss as uncomfortable as they could.

A 14-7 run brought Liberty to within 10 at the quarter. With point guard Nick Chung opening the fourth quarter with six of his team-high 20 points, the Patriots edged to within five, 59-54, when Chung hit Jake Elfstrom for a fast break layup.

That’s when Kelly went to work. The 6-foot senior guard went coast-to-coast for two layups, sandwiched around a free throw to return Foss’ lead to double digits. Five Liberty free throws cut it to 7, but that was as close as the Patriots would get again.

“In the fourth quarter we challenged them, said ‘it’s now or never, you’ve got to go out and get some stops,’ ” Cocke said.

When Liberty began to foul intentionally, Foss was clutch at the line with Kelly making a pair and Christian Barnes knocking down four straight.

This story was originally published March 1, 2018 at 10:02 PM with the headline "Not exactly a knockout, but Foss wins in 2A state quarterfinals."