Dillon, Tumwater knock off North Kitsap in 2A state regionals to secure bye into quarterfinals
Josh Wilson was as excited as his team.
Moments after his T-Birds put the finishing touches on a 60-55 regional victory over North Kitsap on Saturday evening, the Tumwater boys basketball coach almost couldn’t wrap his head around what it meant.
His team didn’t have to face a Wednesday, loser-out game at the Class 2A state tournament in Yakima. Instead, the T-Birds will wait until Thursday night at 7:15 and be playing in one of four state quarterfinal games against a team yet to be determined.
“I can’t even comprehend it right now,” Wilson said. “It’s massive.”
The Vikings (20-4) will play Wednesday at 3:45 p.m. against Selah in a must-win scenario to earn their quarterfinal bid.
On Saturday, Tumwater (20-4) forged a slim one-point lead at the half in a game that was close throughout. Tumwater got a huge second-half performance offensively from Ethan Dillon, who scored 15 of his team-high 19 points after the break.
“Quite honestly, he just decided to take over by himself,” Wilson said. “That wasn’t a coaching decision.”
What Wilson was proud of was the way his team played defense against North Kitsap.
“We had a few bumps in the road earlier this season,” Wilson said. “To see them take those losses and turn them around, just such a good job.”
Specifically, the T-Birds lost a game this season to Black Hills by not contesting the 3-point shot. Leading by just three in the final 20 seconds against North Kitsap, Tumwater blocked one 3-point attempt and had a hand right in the face of another shooter who missed with the T-Birds up 58-55.
The big defensive effort led to a big night on the boards for Tumwater’s big man in the middle – Damon Gaither. The 6-foot-7 senior scored six points, but his 16th rebound of the evening on that last 3-point attempt sealed the deal.
“Just a great defensive effort,” Dillon said. “Damon is going to make an impact. He brings rebounding every night.”
Trailing early as Jonas La Tour got off to a hot start for the Vikings, Tumwater crawled back into it with a balanced attack.
Eight different T-Birds scored in the first half - seven in the second quarter alone.
Tumwater used an 8-3 run to close the first quarter and trailed by just a single point, 14-13, after eight minutes. An 8-4 spurt over the final 2:26 of the second quarter got Tumwater a lead, 27-26, at the half.
La Tour had scored seven of the Vikings first nine points as North Kitsap built an early 11-5 lead. The Vikings guard finished with a game-high 21, and it was his 3-pointer with 2:55 left in the game that tied it at 53-53.
La Tour’s shot culminated an 8-0 run for North Kitsap that erased a 53-45 deficit. Dillon responded, however, with a drive to the basket.
The Tumwater senior made an acrobatic shot with 2:24 left, was fouled and sank the free throw to put the T-Birds back on top for good, 56-53.
“I just decided after halftime that I could take my guy,” Dillon said.
So he did exactly that, repeatedly during the final 16 minutes, to help get Tumwater its bye next week.
“That’s just huge,” Dillon said. “It gives us one more day of rest, and we get to check out who we play.”