The top-ranked Bear Creek School boys’ basketball team made their date with state official Tuesday night with a 60-46 Tri-District 2B playoff win over Life Christian School at Chief Leschi in Puyallup.
Senior Jamie Meyer was on fire all night, scoring 28 points, including an incredible run in the decisive third quarter when the Grizzlies opened up a 17-point lead.
“Jamie was a beast last night, he had a stretch in the third quarter where he went on a 12-0 run by himself,” said Bear Creek coach Scott Moe of his star guard. “He put the team on his shoulders and said, ‘Jump on, because I’m taking us to Spokane.'”
In addition to Meyer’s 28, Lucas Peterson displayed his sweet stroke from beyond the arc for a trio of three-pointers and 15 points total.
The 2B state tournament starts next Wednesday at Spokane Arena, but before the Grizzlies (22-1) head east for their state run, they will play Chief Leschi Saturday at 6:15 p.m. for the third time this year, this time for the Tri-District title. The game will be at Chief Leschi.
Bear Creek has beaten Chief Leschi by double digits in two previous matchups this year — 61-49 during Sea-Tac 2B league play and 65-41 for the league championship two weeks ago.
“We need to try to limit their big guys’ touches,” said Moe on his team’s keys to victory. “They’ve got two big guys, Nate Bisson and Jordan Foley, who are really good players, and a super-quick point guard.”
Moe explained that Leschi is extremely quick compared to other teams in the Sea-Tac 2B League, and that his kids need to have a solid night in transition, as well as rebounding, to have success.
“We’re hoping to win the battle of the transition game because they’re terribly fast,” Moe said. “We did a pretty good job of that last time and blocking the paint.”
A key statistic is that the Grizzlies gave up only nine offensive boards to the Warriors in the league championship game compared to 20 in their first meeting, knowing that giving a tall and physical team second chances may come back to haunt them.
But the dirty work has already been done, and Moe would love nothing else to put the icing on the cake Saturday night.
“I’m super-proud of our guys,” Moe said. “Guys kept competing and played through the physicality that was out there and did a nice job.”
LADY GRIZZLIES ONE WIN AWAY FROM STATE
The Grizzlies lost their Tri-District opener to Darrington 62-36, but rebounded nicely with a defense-driven 31-18 win over Seattle Lutheran to advance to a loser-out, winner-to-state game against Evergreen Lutheran. The Eagles lost to Tacoma Baptist in the tournament semifinals.
The Grizzlies’ winner-to-state game will be at Chief Leschi School in Puyallup on Friday night, Feb. 26, at 4:45 p.m.
OVERLAKE GIRLS OUSTED IN BLOWOUT
The Overlake girls’ basketball team was eliminated from the 1A Tri-District Tournament with a 73-28 loss to Lynden Christian Tuesday night at Mountlake Terrace High School.
The Owls finished the season with an overall record of 12-11, including a 9-5 mark in Emerald City League play.
