Different day, same story: Auburn stifles Mount Tahoma in 3A district semis, 88-56

Senior Dae’Kwon Watson scored the first two points of the game for the Auburn High School boys basketball team, and that would be the only lead change for the entire contest.

The Trojans put forth a dominant 88-56 win over Mount Tahoma in the 3A District 3/4 semifinals as both sides of the ball completely shined. They suffocated arguably the T-Birds’ best scorer in senior Asjon Anderson, holding him to just 10 points.

And on offense, they moved the ball as effectively as any team can to create lanes to score points.

Auburn completely took over the game early with three big three-point shots from senior Kaden Hansen. When the Trojans needed to close the game out, senior Tre Blassingame put his personal stamp on the game with a dunk to end the third quarter.

“I thought we played a pretty complete game from start to finish. We went to our half-court man [defense] in the second half and the kids bought into getting stops,” said coach Ryan Hansen. “We were able to get out in transition a little bit…We have a lot of guys who can score and are unselfish. The game is a lot easier when you move the basketball.”

When they had possession, there was plenty of ball movement for the Trojans.

Once they were able to break through, any one of the Trojans could drive for the score. Blassingame would find himself under the bucket more often than not, trying to put back whatever he could. It worked as he finished with 20 points.

“Honestly, it was our defense. We came in locked in defensively,” the senior said. “We knew that our main goal was to be in our gaps and run our defense the way we know how to run it. I really think that’s what sparked our lead. We want to attack first and have that open up our outside game.”

It can’t be understated how important it was to the Trojans to control what the T-Birds could do offensively. Auburn forced turnovers, pulled down defensive rebounds, and limited any plays that ran on the inside.

Some T-Birds were able to get good looks, including senior Ryan Tran scoring 20 points. Unfortunately, the shots did not fall for Mount Tahoma as they shot 14-for-48 from the field as a team.

“We want to put pressure on our opponent on both sides of the ball,” Hansen said. “Apply defensive pressure but put the pressure on them as we transition quickly. That is an emphasis of ours, to be relentless. And I think we have a tendency to overwhelm teams.”

The win improves the Trojans’ record to 22-1 on the season. They also advance to the district finals where they will take on Timberline for the championship. For the T-Birds, they will play for 3rd/4th place in districts against Kelso.

Both games will be Saturday, Feb. 19 at Auburn High School. Mount Tahoma/Kelso will tip-off at 3:30 p.m., and Auburn/Timberline will begin at 7:30 p.m.

BOX SCORE

MT: 12-17-8-19--56

A: 27-18-21-22--88

Scoring: (A) Tre Blassingame 20, Maleek Arlington 8, Semaj Brown 16, Kaden Hansen 22, Easton Ruteldge 2, Lateibreon Chandler 6, Dae’Kwon Watson 12, Luvens Valcin 2; (MT) Ezekial Clark 11, Josiah Maxey-Johnson 9, Ryan Tran 20, Nehemiah Pollard 2, Asjon Anderson 10, Marquis Thorpe-Taylor 4