The Redmond boys’ basketball team took a step closer to its season-long goal with a convincing 66-54 win against Bothell in a loser-out 4A Kingco district playoff game Tuesday night at Inglemoor High.
The win assured the Mustangs of a chance to earn a trip to the state tournament at the Tacoma Dome March 4-7.
“Going to state, that was our goal from day one,” said senior Justin Alexander, who scored seven of his 14 points against the Cougars in the fourth quarter. “The first day of practice, that’s what we talked about. … Hopefully we will get there.”
The Mustangs, who have won three out of their last four and improved to 14-9, played Roosevelt Thursday night in a seeding game, after the Reporter’s deadline. Redmond split with the Roughriders in its two regular-season meetings, including a 42-41 victory last Tuesday.
If the Mustangs beat the Roughriders, they will play a team to be determined from the Southwest District in a winner-to-state, loser-out game Saturday night at Juanita Field House. If they lost, they have to make the long trip south and play in a winner-to-state, loser-out game on the road against a Southwest District team, still to be determined.
Where ever they play, the senior-laden Mustangs don’t want to let their state hopes slip away.
“The primary reason that we want to win and that I want this team to win is I love the opportunity to coach this team,” said Redmond coach Jeff Larson. “Winning again to advance is a great, great, great bonus, but I love going to practice every day with these kids.
“I just don’t want that to end yet.”
Junior Philip Leland was a zone-buster for the Mustangs, drilling three of five 3-pointers in the first quarter on the way to a game-high 15-point performance. Leland, whom Larson called “a pure shooter,” was 5 of 11 from beyond the arc and jump-started the Mustangs, who trailed 4-0 in the opening minutes.
“Phil got us started,” said Alexander, who also had six rebounds and two steals. “We came out a little slow, but Phil started knocking them down. That just lifted us off our heels, got us on our toes and we did fine from there.”
Redmond, which has nine seniors on the team, relied on their experience and poise to put away the pesky Cougars. Nine different Mustangs scored with Leland and Alexander leading the way.
Seniors Chris Harrington and Will Ellis each finished with strong all-around performances. Harrington had nine points, six rebounds, five assists and a block. Ellis controlled the game from his point guard position and finished with 10 points and six assists. Ellis was also 4 of 4 from the free throw line the fourth quarter, helping the Mustangs stave off the Cougars.
Bothell cut the lead to 48-39 with just under five minutes to go, but that was the closest the Cougars got.
“I thought our experience really showed,” Larson said. “I thought when we needed to make big shots, we made big shots. I thought when we needed a stop on defense, we defended well. … This was a total team effort.”
The Mustangs hope to keep their momentum going and earn a second state trip in the last three years. As Larson pointed out after Tuesday’s win, going to state is bigger than the just the players and coaches.
“We have the greatest student body around,” Larson said. “It’s not just a Redmond basketball thing, it’s a Redmond High School thing. It wouldn’t be just our basketball team going to the state tournament, we want Redmond High School to go to the state tournament.
“It would just be a perfect ending.”
