Cayden McDaniel scores 31 points as defending 3A PCL champion Wilson opens with win over Lakes

The long wait finally over, the Wilson High School Rams were going to enjoy being back on a basketball floor — any basketball floor.

Wilson opened its Class 3A Pierce County League boys schedule with a runaway 93-46 victory over Lakes at the Western Washington Fairgrounds on Thursday night.

It was the second day of games played at the temporary courts put down this week in the agricultural complex in Puyallup. Just how long the 3A PCL and 4A SPSL teams will play here became a question just an hour or so before the games began, when Gov. Jay Inslee announced that Pierce County would be back in Phase 3 of the state’s reopening plan as of Tuesday.

That move would allow basketball to move back to indoor gymnasiums, possibly as soon as next week.

“We have a lot of decisions to make,” Puyallup School District athletic director Jim Meyerhoff said.

While those decisions are being contemplated, games go on at the fairgrounds.

The Rams got huge scoring nights from senior Jackson Dorsey and sophomore Cayden McDaniel to get their COVID-19 pandemic delayed season started. The two combined for 31 of Wilson’s 41 points in the first half, as the Rams used two big spurts to effectively put the game away by halftime.

“We know we have to lead,” said McDaniel, who finished with a game-high 31 points. “Last year, we had other leaders.”

This one actually was close for the first four minutes.

A 3-pointer from Keon Dewalt pulled Lakes even at 5-5 with 4:38 left in the first quarter. It was the first of five 3-pointers from the Lancers sophomore, who scored a team-high 16 points.

Just under a minute later, McDaniel scored to start a 16-0 run that staked Wilson to a 21-5 advantage with 7:00 to play in the second quarter.

McDaniel scored 10 of his 17 first-half points in the second quarter.

“He’s improved a lot,” Wilson coach Mike Cocke said. “And he’s been waiting for this for 14 months. He and Jackson kind of have to set the tone, and they came out ready to go. Everybody then can rise to that level.”

They did.

Freshman Tre Walker added 16 points for Wilson, 11 of them in the second half. Walker added three 3-pointers as the Rams made eight overall from behind the arc.

Dorsey finished with 19 points.

As dominant as the performance was, and as pleased as they were with the victory, the Rams still were pleased about the possibility the governor’s announcement could present as early as next week.

“We’re excited,” Cocke said. “We would love to be back in our home gym, with 25 or 50% of our fans.”

Part of the concern for Cocke is the non-basketball flooring. The all-sport courts at the fairgrounds can tend to be slippery, and there were several slips and falls that happened, especially during the boys contests Thursday.

“These guys are flying around,” Cocke said. “For us, we have several guys that could play ball in college. I don’t believe a high school game is worth a career. So we’re really hopeful about this coming week.”

This story was originally published May 13, 2021 at 9:01 PM.