Acorns Fall One Game Short of State in Loss to Crosspoint

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TACOMA — Oakville stole the momentum in the second quarter but couldn’t close out down the stretch as the Acorns took a 70-57 loss to Crosspoint in the Class 1B Regional playoffs on Saturday at Mount Tahoma High School.

The Acorns’ season comes to an end with the loss, just one game short of the state tournament and a trip to Spokane.

First-year Acorns coach Marcus Whittaker said despite the loss, he’s pleased overall with how his team competed all year.

“We didn’t win but I couldn’t have asked for a better first year,” Whittaker said. “We won league and we placed (third) at districts with a whole new coaching staff. We have to get used to the players and the players have to get used to even being in this position.”

No. 13 Oakville, which was searching for both its first Regional victory in school history and also its first trip to state since 2010, came out the gates slow against the Warriors from Bremerton.

The Acorns trailed 21-15 at the end of one quarter due to a slew of turnovers. They finally started clicking in the second, ripping off a 16-3 run to outscore the Warriors 23-13 to end the half with a 38-34 lead.

But Crosspoint fired back after the break, flipping the script and reeling off a 20-10 run to take the lead for good with a 54-50 advantage heading into the final frame. The Acorns trailed by 10 with six minutes to go and never got closer than eight the rest of the way.

“Just a lot of young, mental mistakes,” Whittaker said. “A lot of freshmen and sophomores out there and they’ve never been in this situation.”

Sophomore Eddie Klatush led the Acorns offensively with 25 points and five rebounds. Junior Ashton Boyd added a double-double of 16 points and 14 rebounds in an impressive effort on the glass. Sophomore Courtney Price finished with seven points and nine boards.

Whittaker said though he’ll miss their lone senior, Jeremiah Baker, he’s already looking forward to next season with his young and talented squad. The Acorns finished 15-8 overall and were a perfect 12-0 in league with one of the youngest teams in the district.

“We’ve got the summer to workout and we only lose one senior,” Whittaker said. “So we’re gonna come back even stronger and take initiative, for sure. The summer’s gonna be a grind and we’ll be sure to make a lot of noise next year. Everybody that beat us, we’re gonna play in the preseason next year.”