With a short turn around time, the Blaine Borderites recovered nicely from their semifinal loss to Kings, in time to shoot their way past the Toppenish Wildcats, 70-60, to take home the third-place trophy in the 2023 1A Boys State Tournament.
Senior Noah Tavis scored seven of his 13 points in the first quarter as the teams were deadlocked at 14-14.
Toppenish senior guard Josh Perez scored 15 of his teams first 22 points, as the Wildcats led 22-20 in the middle of the second quarter.
The game changer for the Borderites started with offensive rebounds converted to points as seniors Mathew Russ and Lucas Smith scored hit the offensive glass and helped the Borderites forge a 38-34 halftime lead.
Something must have been in the halftime water because the Borderites came out in the third quarter scorching the nets in sinking 10 of their first 11 shots from the field, building a 15-point lead.
Senior guard Ethan Koreski was heavily involved with a couple 3-pointers and a dish to Tavis for a lay-in. Russ also contributed drives and runners as the Borderites move the ball consistently for the open shot.
A key moment in the middle of the fourth quarter went the way of the Borderites as Perez was whistled for his fourth personal foul, defending at midcourt, then got his fifth a few seconds later. He exited with 24 points and his team down by seven.
The Borderites did not allow the Wildcats any sort of run in the last few minutes.
Russ hit 9-15 shots from the field for 19 points and grabbed 12 rebounds. He also dished out seven assists in 31 minutes on the floor.
Smith played all 32 minutes and scored 16 points with eight rebounds, and Tavis added 13 points on 6-8 shooting.
Speaking of shooting, the Borderites hit 53% in the first half, and 53% in the second half. Their stock rose to 63% after their 10-11 stretch in the third quarter.
This is the Borderites first state tournament trophy since 2004 when they took fifth in the 2A tournament.
Of their 19-8 record on the season, five of those eight losses were to teams that will be playing for 1A and 2A state championships.
~ Ted House
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