No. 2 Auburn faces long road in 3A state tournament after upset loss to No. 7 Mount Spokane
Auburn High School will have to take the long road at the Tacoma Dome next week in its pursuit of a Class 3A state title.
After spending much of the winter season routing nearly every opponent, the No. 2 Trojans (23-2) dropped their second loss, 69-58, to No. 7 Mount Spokane on Friday evening in the 3A state regionals.
The unexpected interruption of what was a 15-game winning streak for the Trojans entering the contest means they now need four consecutive wins in the state tournament to bring the program home its first title in history.
“I feel like coming into the Dome we’ve got to be more focused,” Auburn guard Trevon Blassingame said. “We’ve got to be tougher and we’ve got to have a sense of urgency the whole time.”
Auburn begins that path Wednesday morning against No. 15 Kennewick (17-8), which upset No. 10 Lake Washington on Friday night in Bellevue.
Mount Spokane (21-5), meanwhile, earns the coveted first-round bye, and is set to resume its schedule in Thursday afternoon’s quarterfinals.
For a Trojans program that rolled to an undefeated 3A North Puget Sound League title and a 3A West Central/Southwest bidistrict championship in recent weeks, this outcome wasn’t anticipated.
Auburn’s total offensive production this season entering Friday had nearly doubled that of its opponents. All but one of the Trojans’ wins to this point were by double digits, all but three by 20-plus points and their average margin of victory was a stunning 43.3 points.
The way the meeting with Mount Spokane began, it seemed Auburn’s string of convincing victories could be set to continue.
Blassingame scored the game’s first basket on the opening possession, then hit a corner 3-pointer a minute later to give the Trojans a lead they kept until the closing moments of the half.
Kaden Hansen’s putback following a Mount Spokane turnover gave them their biggest lead at 23-13 at the end of the first quarter.
Then the Wildcats regrouped. During a quarter when the Trojans scored only twice from the floor, Mount Spokane rallied for 21 points, evening the score at 34-34 by the break.
“We came out and we jumped on them in the first quarter and they didn’t panic,” Auburn coach Ryan Hansen said. “They just kind of chipped away.”
Mount Spokane took its first lead at the 6:45 mark in the third quarter on a long 3-pointer from Xavier Kamalu-Vargas and never gave it up.
The Wildcats led by as many as 11 points midway through the fourth following a trio of 3-pointers by Chapel Smith and a basket from Ryan Lafferty that made it 58-47 with 4:35 to go.
Auburn closed in late, making it 60-57 on a Kaden Hansen follow with 2:09 left, but never got closer, and didn’t score from the floor again.
“We were not controlling what we could control, we weren’t doing what we were supposed to do, we weren’t tough enough, and that’s why we lost,” Blassingame said. “The tougher team wins in games like this, and tonight we weren’t the tougher team.”
Kamalu-Vargas connected on a turnaround jumper a minute later, and Smith connected on his fourth 3-pointer of the quarter with less than 20 seconds remaining to silence Auburn’s rally.
Four free throw makes from Lafferty to close the game gave the Wildcats the final 11-point advantage.
Lafferty, who finished with a team-high 18 points, and Smith, who added 16, combined for 20 of Mount Spokane’s 22 points in the fourth quarter. Maverick Sanders (12 points) and Kamalu-Vargas (10) also reached double figures.
Blassingame led the way for Auburn with a game-high 21, while Maleek Arington added 13 and Kaden Hansen had eight.
“That was playoff basketball,” Ryan Hansen said. “It was a physical game. We knew we were going to be in for a game like that against those guys. They play extremely hard and they’re a physical group.
“That’s one thing we take away is we’ve got to be prepared to play that style, and then play that way for 32 minutes.”
Auburn will get its chance to regroup in a loser-out game at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday inside the Tacoma Dome with a tough stretch ahead.
“Any road is a difficult road to win a state championship,” Ryan Hansen said. “These guys, I know these guys, I’ve known them for a long time, and they’re going to embrace this challenge that’s in front of them and they’ll be ready to go on Wednesday.”
Should the Trojans win Wednesday, they could be headed toward a meeting with the only other team they’ve lost to this season in top-ranked Garfield.
Auburn dropped a nine-point loss to the undefeated defending state champions in a nonleague contest in December, and didn’t lose again until Friday.
If the Bulldogs make it by No. 8 Timberline on Saturday night at Bellevue College in their regional matchup, the bracket’s top two seeds could now meet as early as the quarterfinals.
Whatever the road, the main goal — ending the season with a championship — is still the same for this Auburn group, and even after Friday’s loss, that possibility remains.
“We’ve got more work to do,” Blassingame said.
This story was originally published February 25, 2022 at 9:17 PM.