Hot-shooting Puyallup basketball sinks Sumner, 63-60: 3 takeaways
It came down to the final possession, with the Sumner High School boys basketball team having a chance to tie the game on the road against Puyallup and force overtime, but Josh Lear’s shot just missed and Puyallup hung on for the 63-60 win. Here are three takeaways from the Vikings’ win.
BIG NIGHT BEHIND THE ARC FOR THE VIKS
Puyallup (8-2 SPSL 4A) had a strong outing against Sumner’s 3-2 zone, burying 13 3-pointers in the contest — four from Cobi Campbell, six from Luke Holcomb and three from Taki Uluilakepa. Getting the ball to the short corner and into the middle of the zone to open weakside space for Puyallup’s three shooters proved to be the winning formula.
“This is our third year playing against (Sumner’s zone),” Holcomb said. “We’re kind of familiar with it. We practice a lot against it, our JV was running it against us and our second string, which helped us prepare for the game well.”
Last year, Puyallup had more team size and focused on attacking the zone with its interior players. This year? The focus shifted to the team’s shooters.
“This year, with our personnel, we have a lot of shooters and we tried to penetrate, drive and kick and find 3’s,” said Puyallup coach Scott Campbell. “Cobi and Luke and Taki can all shoot it. If they’re set and can catch it and shoot it, we feel like that’s a good shot for them. (Joseph Dwyer) and Marquel (Thomas) did a really good job playing out of the short corner and making some passes for those guys. It’s a whole group effort.”
Sumner coach Jake Jackson tipped his cap to Puyallup’s coaching staff after the loss.
“They found the shooter,” Jackson said. “Their team has bought into that.”
Jackson added he felt his team was caught flat-footed in the zone too often.
“We have a very unique zone,” he said. “When our guys aren’t on their toes, dancing, and don’t rotate on the pass fake, our air time is not there and if you don’t have great air time, the shooters have too much space.”
TURNOVERS COST SUMNER
Puyallup isn’t a constant full-court pressure team, but the Vikings do a good job getting into a full-court press after a made basket and caused issues for Sumner from the start, forcing 14 Spartans turnovers, 11 of which came in the first half.
“JD, Marquel — they were doing good in the press, forcing a lot of havoc and forcing turnovers,” Holcomb said. “That’s the biggest part of the game, the turnovers.”
Puyallup took a 31-24 lead into halftime and never looked back, leading comfortably for most of the second half until Sumner made a late run.
SUMNER HAS GOOD PIECES
The Spartans (6-4 SPSL 4A) will need a lot of things to go their way to have any shot at winning the SPSL 4A title now, but this is still a team that could make a run in the postseason, if everything comes together.
Champ Spencer and Nathan Voliva both scored a team-high 15 points for Sumner. Lamar Campbell made clutch shots down the stretch for Sumner and finished with 10 points. Josh Lear, who might be Sumner’s top player, scored 11. Getting Lear more involved in the offense is a key consideration moving forward for Jackson and the Spartans.
“If we’re turning the ball over and can’t get the ball in the half court, it’s just hard,” Jackson said. “He’s getting only nine shot attempts a game right now. We have to find the shooter.”
This story was originally published January 15, 2020 at 10:29 PM.
