Issaquah Pulls Off Round of Eight Upset, Defeats Jackson

Issaquah Pulls Off Round of Eight Upset, Defeats Jackson
By Colin Caruso

The top half of the boys 4A bracket is stacked, with Garfield and Kentridge facing off, and this battle between Issaquah and the #1 ranked Jackson Timberwolves. Jackson has one loss on the season in a matchup against what was a very good Lincoln Abes team. Issaquah comes in at 18-6, but two were to Garfield and three were out of the state.

Both teams came out with great intensity, with great fan section support on both sides. Jackson had the upper hand early, with baskets from their leading scorers Dan Kingma and Jason Todd. But Issaquah responded with an onslaught of shot making from five different players in the first quarter. Issaquah took a strong 22-12 lead into the second quarter. The ten point first quarter lead remained going into halftime, 36-26 in favor of the Eagles.

Issaquah began pulling away early in the third, but Kingma hit back to back triples to maintain the ten point deficit late in the quarter. Issaquah extended their lead by one in the third, on the back of six points from freshman Trevon Ary-Turner. Jackson was on the ropes, down 11 going into the final frame.

The Timberwolves needed quick scoring to bring this one close, and started the fourth with a 5-0 run in the first 1:15 of play. Ary-Turner stopped the run with a brilliant spinning floater to put the Eagles back up eight with five minutes remaining. After a bucket for Jackson and a free-throw for the Eagles, Jason Todd converted a layup on a steal to cut the Issaquah lead to five with 2:30 remaining. Ty Gibson for the Eagles immediately answered with a short jumper then added one free-throw to put the Eagles up eight with just over a minute to play, 52-44. The Eagles added four more free-throws and upset the top ranked Timberwolves 56-44.

Top Performers:
Issaquah
Ty Gibson – 18 points, 10 rebounds, 3 assists, 5 steals
Jake Henke – 6 points, 13 rebounds

Jackson
Jason Todd – 17 points, 9 rebounds, 3 assists, 4 steals
Dan Kingma – 15 points, 5 rebounds