Best in Tacoma: Wilson tops Spanaway Lake, wrapping up undefeated season, 3A PCL title
The Wilson High School boys basketball team defeated visiting Spanaway Lake, 66-40, on Saturday night to claim the 3A Pierce County League tournament championship. Here are three takeaways from the Rams’ win.
WILSON IS THE TEAM TO BEAT IN TACOMA
The Rams capped off an undefeated 11-0 season, rolling through league play in the 3A PCL blemish free. It marks back-to-back years that Wilson has won the league, with coach Mike Cocke’s program the best in Tacoma the past two seasons, since he came to Wilson from Foss ahead of the 2019-20 season.
Being the best in Tacoma has been Cocke and Wilson’s primary goal since he made the move.
“Everybody thinks about Seattle or different parts of the state,” Cocke said. “If you win Tacoma first, you can pretty much go play with anybody else in any part of the state. That’s always been my message to these guys. So winning Tacoma was a big deal, because we knew there was no state tournament (this season). Let’s go win Tacoma.”
Senior forward Jackson Dorsey scored 11 points in the win. He’s been one of the team’s top players the past two seasons, and was an integral part of Wilson’s state tournament team as a junior.
“When (Cocke) came in, the big thing was changing the culture around Wilson,” he said. “It’s a lot more team based. That really helped out.”
Sophomore guard Cayden McDaniel scored a game-high 24 points in the win. Senior forward Ryan Ballah scored a team-high 14 points for the Sentinels. Spanaway Lake trailed by just four at half, but the Sentinels scored just three points in the third quarter, and were outscored 38 to 24 in the second half. Just before Wilson pulled its starters from the game in the fourth quarter, Spanaway Lake had scored just three points in the second half.
“Coach got into us at halftime,” McDaniel said. “He wasn’t feeling how we was playing. So we just had to turn it up a bit more.”
CAYDEN MCDANIEL SHOWED FLASHES AS A FRESHMAN. THIS HAS BEEN A BREAKOUT YEAR
Speaking of McDaniel, It was clear as day who the best player on the floor was on Saturday night. While he was a regular contributor on last year’s Wilson state tournament team, the sophomore guard looks the part of a next-level player now. He’s added some weight to his frame and has taken the next step as a high school basketball player. He realizes now, this is his team.
“Last year, we had four or five core leaders,” McDaniel said. “I couldn’t really do much. This year, they’re all gone, so I had to take the leadership role.”
Cocke said the jump in his game has been impressive.
“He’s just a (basketball) junkie,” Cocke said. “He wants to perfect his craft. He wants to just be great. He has goals and aspirations to go play at a really high level. He takes this very seriously. You can tell what he did during covid.”
Cocke said McDaniel was in the gym every day during the coronavirus shutdown, working on his game. He spent time working out with former Tacoma high school greats like Abdul Gaddy and Isaiah Thomas.
“A lot of guys that have just been great players from Tacoma, have kind of taken him under their wing as the next guy,” Cocke said. “It’s shown as a player. He’s made a big jump as a player. His leadership, too. He kind of took that role. … He’s stronger. Upper body is stronger. More bouncy. Just filled out a little bit. He’s made great strides. He helps us out of a lot of situations.”
WILSON RETURNS A STRONG GROUP IN 2021-22
It’s hard to imagine anyone knocking Wilson out as Tacoma’s top team next season. McDaniel will be a junior and will once again be one of the area’s best players. And Tre Walker, who is already a starter as a freshman, will provide more instant offense for the Rams as a sophomore. On Saturday, Walker poured in 21 points for Wilson, including four 3-pointers.
“(We want to) go undefeated again,” McDaniel said. “Get another net.”
Cocke said it’ll be a strong duo to build around. They want to keep the 3A PCL title, and with it, the title of being the best in Tacoma.
“(We want to) keep it going,” he said. “When Cayden’s group got here, we thought this was going to be our title for years to come. I’m excited to just come back and mold this group. Those two guys are hard to guard. It’s exciting.”
This story was originally published June 12, 2021 at 10:44 PM.
