Hounds outrace Bantams in district semis

Feb. 16—The Pullman boys basketball team is officially headed back to State.

The Greyhounds downed the Clarkston Bantams 70-53 in a Washington Class 2A district semifinal game Thursday at Pullman High School and secured a spot in the 2A state tournament in the process.

Sometimes, a final score isn't indicative of how competitive a game actually is, and such was the case Thursday.

It was the most competitive showing for Clarkston (11-12) in three matchups against Pullman (16-5) this season, and a game that coach Justin Jones said made him proud of his team.

"I thought my guys competed really, really hard tonight," Jones said. "I got more out of this team than I ever have with any of my teams. And it's all because of them. They practice hard, they like to get coached hard and they love to compete. If we could've just made a few more baskets throughout the season, it probably would've been a different story."

The Greyhounds made some key adjustments in the second half to secure their third straight state tournament berth.

Here's how Thursday's game played out:

Late free throws sink Bantams' chances

With 1:33 left in the game, Pullman led by 10 and Clarkston was preparing to make a defensive stand. The Bantams, though, had no more fouls to give and were at the mercy of the clock. The Greyhounds' Caleb Northcroft was fouled on the floor with 1:27 left. That put the team in the bonus and gave Northcroft two free-throw attempts to potentially put Pullman up by 12 and seal the game.

At least that's how it was going to be, initially.

Clarkston's Xander Van Tine was whistled for a technical foul, the Bantams' second of the game, which gave the Greyhounds four free-throw attempts with the prior foul on Northcroft, and possession.

After some confusion, in which Champ Powaukee made the technical shots and the foul shots, two of those makes were taken off the scoreboard so Northcroft could attempt his free throws. He made one-of-two to put Pullman up 66-53 along with possession with 1:27 left in the game, effectively ending Clarkston's chances at a comeback.

The Greyhounds put up four more points in the remaining seconds to seal the 17-point win over the Bantams.

Cade Rogers and Champ Powaukee combined for 40 points to help secure Pullman's victory.

Second-half adjustments lift Greyhounds

Pullman's win came down to more than just the late free throws — it was a matter of second-half adjustments.

Clarkston had an effective game plan through the first two-and-a-half quarters: double-team whoever has the ball and go for traps. And definitely double the Greyhounds' 6-foot-11 post Austin Hunt in the paint.

This strategy, for the most part, worked. Van Tine had four steals in the first quarter and had nine of his game-high 22 points in the first half.

This led to an 18-12 Pullman lead after the first quarter and a 26-26 knot-up at halftime.

An and-one play by the Bantams' Nathan Somers early in the third quarter gave Clarkston its first lead at 28-26. It was also the last lead of the game for the Bantams.

Pullman went on a 9-0 run after and never looked back.

The Greyhounds' adjustments on offense in the second half included quick, cross-court passes to a player often left alone on the wing due to the double-teams, which either resulted in wide-open looks from 3 or quick pull-up jump shots from midrange.

Pullman also elected to drive to the basket rather than its previous strategy of trying to pass and gather the ball in the paint, which resulted in more fouls and more free-throw attempts for the home team.

This new approach to the offense was installed just a day before the game on Thursday and helped facilitate three runs of at least six-straight points for the Greyhounds in the second half.

"It's just a simple little thing where we can have a lot of options when (Clarkston) goes to trap," Pullman coach Craig Brantner said. "In the first half ... we ran some other things. Then we went to (that) and it's a good thing we put it in because it got us some easy baskets. And we started finishing in the second half. We missed a lot of bunnies in the first half."

Bantams still flying high

The loss on Thursday ended the season for Clarkston. It was a disappointing end for a team that seemed to be playing at its best at the right time and, for the most of the 32 minutes of regulation, looked like a legitimate threat to the No. 1 seed in the 2A Greater Spokane League.

And for Jones, the pride he felt in his team is more prevailing than any potential disappointment.

"I've been in locker rooms in state championship losses, first-round losses, and it's the same," Jones said. "It's always sadness and disappointment because the season is over. But I could not be more proud of these guys. I'm seriously so thankful I got to coach these kids."

Players of the game

Van Tine scored his game-high 22 points on 8-of-23 attempts from the floor and finished with six steals for for the Bantams.

Powaukee and Rogers had their combined 40 (20 each) on a total of 14-of-21 from the floor and 6-for-9 from the free-throw line.

Up next

The No. 1-seeded Greyhounds will play No. 2 seed Rogers at 6 p.m. Saturday at Pullman High School in the district championship game. Both teams are guaranteed a spot in the state tournament.

CLARKSTON (11-12)

Marcisio Noriega 0 0-0 0, Nathan Somers 1 1-2 3, Xander Van Tine 8 2-8 22, Niko Ah Hi 1 0-0 3, Carter Steinwand 5 4-5 14, Josh Hoffman 2 1-3 5, Ian Moore 3 0-0 6. Totals 20 8-18 53.

PULLMAN (16-5)

Gavin Brown 1 1-2 3, Champ Powaukee 6 5-7 20, Alex Bickelhaupt 0 0-0 0, Cade Rogers 8 1-2 20, Caleb Northcroft 1 3-4 5, Daniel Kwon 4 2-4 10, Evan Anderson 0 0-0 0, Austin Hunt 5 2-4 12. Totals 25 14-23 70.

Clarkston 12 14 13 14—53

Pullman 18 8 20 24—70

3-point goals — Van Tine 4, Ah Hi, Powaukee 3, Rogers 3.

Kowatsch can be contacted at 208-848-2268, tkowatsch@lmtribune.com or on Twitter @Teren_Kowatsch.