On Saturday, February 10, the Meridian Trojans girls team scored five points in the final half-minute on a 3-point shot and a lay in with six seconds to go to beat the Blaine Borderites in the 1A District Tournament. Six days later, the Trojan boys were up to the same tricks.
Senior guard Cohen Fuller took a shovel pass from senior guard Taran Burks at mid court and completed a driving lay in as the buzzer sounded, sending the Trojans to next week’s regional playoffs with a 67-65, come from behind win, over the Nooksack Valley Pioneers.
The last 36 seconds of play erased 31 minutes and 24 seconds of misery for the Trojans, but let’s start from the beginning.
The Pioneers, who lost to the Trojans in district play last week, came out on fire as junior guards Caden Heutink and Cory Olney hit 3-point shots, sandwiched around a three by Trojans junior Talon Jenkins. The Pioneers went out to a 13-5 lead, and Jenkins, the Trojans leading scorer, left the game at the 3:26 mark with his second foul.
The lead grew to 27-18 with 4:25 left in the first half, as Heutink and junior post Brady Ackerman led the Pioneers charge. But the Trojans cut the lead to three less than two minutes later, until another Pioneer run nearly spelled doom for the Trojans.
Pioneer senior guard Wayne Silves hit a 3-pointer at the 2-minute mark, then scored on a fast break lay in. Heutink scored inside, as did Ackerman, and the Pioneers had momentum, and a 36-24 lead at halftime. Jenkins also had three fouls.
And then, Jenkins picked up his fourth just 12 seconds into the third quarter. Trojan junior Jaeger Fyfe also got into foul trouble, getting his fourth in the middle of the third quarter, as did Heutink. Ackerman joined the 4-foul list in the first minute of the fourth quarter. So, this result was going to largely be up to those very important, “role players.”
Jenkins returned in the middle of the third quarter and hit a leaning jumper and two free throws to cut the lead from 12 to eight, but the Pioneers built it back to 14 on a lay in by sophomore guard Cole Coppinger.
Burks hit a 3-pointer and senior forward Christian Clawson scored on a lay in, part of his eight points in the third quarter, and the Pioneers lead was 52-44 after three.
The Trojans crept closer as the fourth quarter passed, but the Pioneers seemed to have answers. The Trojans cut the lead to five, but a 3-pointer by Coppinger pushed it back to eight with four minutes to play.
Ackerman’s fifth foul came at 3:16 to play, which opened up the middle of the Pioneers defense. On that foul, Clawson hit two free throws, and the Pioneers led 59-53.
Fyfe was whistled for his fifth foul at the 3-minute mark, putting a damper on the Trojans offense. On that foul, Coppinger split a pair of free throws to give the Pioneers a seven-point lead.
Over the next minute, the Trojans caught fire at both ends of the floor. Jenkins hit a 3-pointer at 2:45, then the Trojans got steals and buckets by Burks and Fuller, which tied the game at 60-60 with two minutes left.
On the Pioneers next possession, freshman forward Dane Ackerman, whose job it is to rest Brady, swished a 3-point dagger from the left corner, giving the Pioneers a 3-point lead with 1:45 left.
Clawson came back with a bucket for the Trojans 20 seconds later, then came a turning point, as Fuller drew a charging foul on Heutink, sending him to the bench with his fifth foul with 58 seconds left.
That gave the ball back to the Trojans, where there was a scramble for a loose ball. The tie-up gave the ball back to the Pioneers with 37 seconds left.
A second later, Coppinger was on the free throw line. He hit both shots to put the Pioneers up by three.
The Trojans spent the next several seconds trying to get the ball to Jenkins for the tying shot, but the Pioneers would have none of it. Olney was chest to chest with Jenkins as the Trojans weaved back and forth out front.
As senior guard Jacob Amundson tried to send a short pass to Jenkins near the top of the key, Silves got a hand on the ball, and briefly had a steal, until Amundson wrestled it away, as the two went to the floor.
Amundson came up with the ball, and from a seated position, fed Jenkins who was now wide open. He drilled the game tying shot with 15 seconds left.
With no timeouts, the Pioneers quickly hustled the ball into the front court. After a few passes against the Trojans zone, junior forward Colton Lentz penetrated from the left wing into the middle of the key. The ball was knocked loose as he tried to get a shot off.
The ball was deflected toward the foul line, where Burks grabbed it and started up floor with a somewhat shaky dribble. Coppinger was the only Pioneer back to defend, and Burks had Fuller sprinting on his left. At midcourt, Burks shoveled the ball to Fuller who had a clear path down the left side, to the hoop. Coppinger was giving chase, but Fuller raced to the hoop, got the ball out of his right hand and off the glass. As the buzzer began to sound, the ball gently touched the rim and fell through the net, and the miracle comeback was complete.
That was the Trojans only lead of the ballgame.
Fuller’s contributions to the Trojans win cannot be understated and were much more than the winning hoop. He had his hands on Pioneer passes all night. He set up teammates and played great defense. The winning bucket gave him six points in the fourth quarter, and 12 for the game.
Also taking up the slack for their shooters in foul trouble, was the play of Clawson and Burks. Clawson scored 13 of his 15 points in the second half, while Burks added 13.
Jenkins finished with 18 points, which is probably more minutes than he had on the floor.
For the Pioneers, Brady Ackerman was a force inside, and was a tremendous blow to the Pioneers when he went to the bench with 16 points. Heutink scored all 12 of his points in the first half. Coppinger scored eight of his 11 points in the fourth quarter.
As great of a win as it was for the Trojans, it was equally crippling for the Pioneers, to lose a game that was in your control, and to be eliminated. They certainly will be as good as many others that will be playing next weekend. The Pioneers finished the season with a record of 12-12 and have plenty in the cupboard for next season.
The regional match ups will be handed out by the WIAA on Sunday. The Trojans (13-11) will probably be in the lower seeds, 9-16. That would mean that they will have to play a “loser out” regional game. A win would send them to Yakima for another loser out game on the Wednesday of Tournament week.
~ Ted House
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