Evergreen beats Mount Tahoma in overtime in 3A district semifinal, 75-70: 3 takeaways
Mount Tahoma had chances to close the game out down the stretch, but the T-Birds were unable to keep Evergreen from hitting clutch shots in some of the most pivotal moments in Thursday night’s Class 3A West Central III/Southwest bi-district tournament semifinal game at Puyallup High School. Evergreen won in overtime, 75-70.
Mount Tahoma is safely in the state tournament regional round and will play Lincoln in a third/fourth place seeding consolation game to finish the bi-district tournament.
Here’s what we learned from Mount Tahoma’s loss to the Plainsmen.
HEARTBREAKER
Mount Tahoma led 61-59 with eight seconds remaining in regulation and just needed one stop to win and advance to the tournament championship game. But Evergreen’s Mario Herring drove the length of the floor, muscled his way to the left elbow and banked the game-tying shot in to force overtime.
“We were in a position to get a stop and credit to (Herring),” said Mount Tahoma coach Jason Townsend. “He made a tough shot at the end. … I’m very proud of our guys. No one thought we’d be here, competing at this level. The guys have hearts of champions.”
In overtime, Evergreen hit shots in the final minute to seal the game and got stops on the other end.
“At this level, you have to make plays,” Townsend said. “They made the bigger plays.”
LEZJAUN HARRIS IS BEST WHEN HE’S AGGRESSIVE
The 6-foot-7 senior center had a strong game, finishing with a game-high 22 points for the T-Birds, attacking the rim and going up strong throughout the contest. And that’s when Harris is most effective: When he’s on the attack, forcing the issue and using his length to get high-percentage points at the hoop.
“He’s at his best when he’s not just attacking the rim, but also being active,” Townsend said. “When he has games where he’s not as mentally focused as others, it hurts us big time. When he’s active and giving us everything he has on both ends, we’re a very, very good team.”
ASJON ANDERSON ISN’T FLYING UNDER THE RADAR
The T-Birds’ sophomore guard, perhaps to his dismay, is getting plenty of attention from defenders. Evergreen limited his effectiveness on the high ball-screen at the top of the key, hedging longer than usual and throwing double and sometimes even triple teams at Anderson.
Despite all that, he still finished with 21 points, including a half-court 3-pointer as time expired in the first half. But teams are likely content with letting Anderson get his points, as long as they don’t come easily.
“Toward the middle of the season, Spanaway Lake, Lincoln, Wilson, they ran box-and-one on him, pressured him full court,” Townsend said. “I told him this is what’s going to happen. You want to be a big-time player, you’re going to get big-time defense. He’s a sophomore so he’s figuring this stuff out.”
Townsend said Anderson is adapting to that type of defensive pressure and has gotten better at finding open teammates over the course of the season.
“He’s going to be a tremendous player,” Townsend said. “It’s not new, but this is the learning stage for him. They’re going to face guard you, so what are you going to do to make everyone better? He’s figuring out how to get where he needs to go without shooting every time, and making nice passes. He just has to make everyone better, which in return, will make him better.”
