A 43-point game. A buzzer-beating half-court swish. Sixty-three free throws in 32 minutes.
Oh, and four state wrestling titles.
Once a year, in a bittersweet expanded sporting weekend, we get the annual Mat Classic in Tacoma, something like 43 local district basketball games at the 1A, 2B and 1B levels, and the regular season-ending Centralia/Chehalis rivalry games.
This year, more than ever, the Long Lost Weekend did not disappoint. Unlikely outcomes followed unlikely outcomes and, like a good movie, you could have gone to any game and left thinking you’d remember it for years.
Friday
In 1A boys action, Onalaska held Montesano to just 22 points in a district 1A boys win. That’s okay, but it pales in comparison to what happened on that same court just 20 minutes prior.
Rochester’s Jared Burkhardt scored 32 in the FIRST HALF against Ilwaco. That included five 3s in the second quarter, often with the lefty playing point guard, dribbling up court and firing away from the top of the key. If that wasn’t crazy enough, Burkhardt wasn’t even the game’s high scorer.
Ilwaco’s Karl Oman dropped 43 (a mere 2 points shy of the tournament record), while Burkhardt finished with 36. Ilwaco won an 87-79 shootout in which defense was as optional as leaving a tip at McDonald’s.
In girls action, Chehalis avenged a previous loss to Centralia, riding the momentum of a stunning win over No. 1 River Ridge and forcing a tiebreaker playoff game with Aberdeen — which the Bearcats, of course, won — on Monday night.
And, in a precursor to what would be a remarkable finish for the Bearcats the following day, W.F. West’s Cody McNurlin won a 130-pound quarterfinal match in Tacoma — in four overtimes.
Saturday
Naselle sent Wahkiakum packing in district 2B boys action, ending the Cody Olsen era in Cathlamet. The Mules guard went out with a flashy 28 points (and a school record of over 1,600 points), while Pacific League MVP Austin Burkhalter had 23 points and 10 boards for the Comets. Olsen and his father, Bill Olsen — Wahkiakum’s fiery coach — picked up technical fouls within a minute of each other, prompting a “Like father, like son!” shout from the crowd at Centralia.
Four different locals (Chehalis’ Jesse O’Camb and Alex Nunez, and Rochester’s Zach Eastman and Liezl Mondoc) won state wrestling titles. Since nobody won it all last season, and it’s been a few years since more than one wrestlers from around here won it at the same time (W.F. West’s Derek Driscoll and John Capen, and Eastman’s older brother Justin, in 2007, to be exact), that’s huge — almost as huge as Centralia and Chehalis both finishing in the top four.
Onalaska lost to Toledo, 45-44, in a winner-to-state district 1A girls game. Considering Toledo’s Lia Lucas wound up with a broken nose the last time the teams met, tensions were high and some variety of on-court donnybrook probably wouldn’t have come as much of a surprise.
It’s tough to say what’s more impressive: Samantha Gordon’s defense for Ony, or Tiffany Tornow’s 13 points. Gordon stayed within 18 inches of the high-scoring Indian guard (who shoots a ball like Billy Joel plays a piano; unless you’ve seen it, it’s impossible to describe) for all 32 minutes of the game. The three 3-pointers Tornow hit — a half-court, falling down, well-defended third-quarter buzzer beater (that didn’t so much as touch rim); a bomb from the farthest point in the corner, off an inbounds pass, with Gordon all over her and the out of bounds line maybe an inch away; and a straightaway bank shot from 22 feet out in the fourth quarter — probably couldn’t have been shot any quicker or defended any better.
Just before the Onalaska/Toledo barnburner, Adna and South Bend jumped all over each other (back in 2B boys action) to the tune of 44 fouls and 63 free throws. Adna guard Coulsen Kohler shaved off his Shaun White-esque mop before the game, apparently deciding that the referees might respect him more with short hair. They did, of course, and rewarded his forays to the basket with 23 free throw attempts, of which he hit 16 en route to a season-high 26 points (and 10 rebounds) in the 58-55 win.
Oh, and White Pass won its second game in the district 2B boys tournament — which means, in what might be the most unlikely and easily overlooked achievement of the weekend, the Panthers are one win away from as many victories in the postseason as they had in the Central 2B League season.
