Sophomore guard Walker shines, but Silas can’t muster enough offense in 56-39 loss to Union
Once the shots stopped falling from the perimeter, the game turned on the Silas Rams.
Silas controlled the first 18 minutes of its first-round game at the Hardwood Invite on Saturday morning before Union rolled off the final 15 points of the third quarter and never looked back in a 56-39 victory at Auburn High.
That 15-0 run over the final 4 minutes, 55 seconds eventually expanded into a 27-2 run that culminated with an Evan Eschels basket inside with 5:18 to play in the fourth quarter. Only two Taveonte Webster free throws with 7:18 left in the game broke up the Titans streak.
“In the third quarter, we took some long shots and we missed them,” Silas coach Mike Cocke said. “That was the difference.”
Union advances to a 5:30 p.m quarterfinal on Sunday against the winner of the 4 p.m. game Saturday between Garfield and King’s Christian. Silas plays the loser of that game in a consolation bracket tilt at 10:30 a.m.
Patience Equals Performance
Throughout the first half, the Rams (1-3) controlled the pace of play by using much or all of the shot clock. Even against the long zone of the Titans (3-1), Silas managed to get shots.
Accordingly, Silas built a 10-6 lead after one quarter and took a 24-22 lead at the half. After a Porter Hill basket tied the game in the first minute of the third quarter, Tre Walker made two free throws with 6:27 left in the period to give the Rams what would be their last lead of the game, 26-24.
“They’re a big, long team and their zone is really disciplined,” Cocke said. “We were patient on Thursday, too, when we played at Bonney Lake (a 52-30 victory), and we played pretty well on offense.”
Walker’s a Zone Buster
The patience did create a few situations where the shot clock became a factor. Walker took care of those situations over the first two quarters.
Walker found any small space to be enough, moving further and further toward the mid-court line in the second quarter while burying three 3-pointers in the period. The last of those long-range bombs came with three seconds left in the first half to give Silas its 24-22 lead heading into the locker room.
“Coach said shoot it, so I did,” Walker said.
The sophomore finished with 16 points to lead the Rams. Eschels led all scorers with 21.
A Drought, A Lid … A Cement Slab?
When Walker’s shot swept through the basket to end the second quarter, it became the last Silas field goal of the game until Walker finally made a short jumper and was fouled with 4:16 left in the fourth quarter.
The two Webster free throws were the only two points the Rams scored in the third quarter. That meant that Silas went 11:47 without making a shot.
Yes, many of those were from distance as Cocke noted. But the Rams couldn’t make lay-ups, either over that stretch.
“We can be a little challenged around the rim at times,” Cocke said. “They’ve got some big kids. When we got it in there, we just didn’t finish around the basket. You’ve got to be a little more crafty around the rim.”
A Work in Progress
Bottom line, Silas still is trying to find itself in the wake of a season-ending injury to star junior Cayden McDaniel as the season was just getting underway.
“The situation with Cayden was a big deal,” Cocke said. “So guys have been forced into roles that they’re not ready for at the moment. But we’re trying to help them along. Our best basketball is going to be later in January as opposed to right now.”
Tournament Changes
Two other local teams, host Auburn and Federal Way, were among the field for the tournament.
The Eagles were originally set to face Bellevue, then Atlas Summit. Federal Way played neither on Saturday, after Covid-19 protocols forced the Eagles to withdraw from the tournament at the last minute (Bellevue already had withdrawn due to pandemic issues).