Emerald Ridge Escapes Overtime Thriller With Viks
By Nic Beckman
| Tuesday- January 19th | 2016 | Boys | 4A | SPSL | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Puyallup High School | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | OT | Final | |
| Puyallup | 10 | 12 | 12 | 16 | 4 | 54 | |
| Emerald Ridge | 16 | 13 | 11 | 10 | 5 | 55 | |
As the regular season winds down, the games gain significance for teams at the top of their divisions and Tuesday night was one of those nights. Curtis has clinched the SPSL South top spot at 11-0 with one game remaining, but the number 2 through 4 positions are going to be decided between Emerald Ridge, Puyallup and Spanaway Lake. Spanaway Lake was at Rogers and the Jaguars came down from South Hill to take on the Vikings looking to avenge the 48-43 loss PHS gave them at the jungle in the first game of the new year on January 5th.
The Paul B. Hanawalt Pavilion was rocking Tuesday night , it was senior night for the Viks and Emerlad Ridge was in the house. ER coach Pat Mullen had is Jaguars ready to play, the junior dominant team handled the Viking pressure early. The Jags Jason Cassens and Tevin McClain combined for the first 10 ER points and got up 10-4. Cassens would finish with 11 points, McClain with 8. Puyallup, again playing without their second leading scorer, Tony Gutierrez still hobbled by a quadriceps contusion and sophomore starter Jacob Holcomb, looked to find scoring elsewhere. The first quarter would end 16-10. In the second quarter, Viking leading scorer senior Deven Neff got going with a pair of 3’s and a couple of buckets in the lane for 10 of Puyallup’s 12 in the period and the Jags held pace with 13 of their own to head to the locker room up 29-22 at the half. Deven Neff with 11 in the half would lead all scorers and come out in the third quarter to repeat his performance of the second, getting two more 3’s enroute to 10 of the Viks 12 in the first 8 minutes of the second half. Puyallup would cut the lead to one at 33-32 with 3:19 remaining in the third, but Emerald Ridge would keep their poise and push the lead back to 6, leading 40-34 heading into the final period. Puyallup tried to stay within striking range as Jags Daniel Gregory fouled on a jumper hit the and one to put the score at 44-38 with 5:10 on the clock. But the Vikings kept coming, Brooks Balmer with a bucket and the ER lead was 44-40 with 4 minutes left. Balmer would go 4-4 from the line and finish with 8. The Viks would also get help from junior Myles Smith who hit two 3’s coming off the bench, the second at 1:46 to again cut the Jaguar lead to just one at 49-48. Andrew Boston at the line for ER with under a minute hit 1of 2 to set the score at 50-48 with less than 30 seconds remaining in regulation. A baseline drive with the clock winding down by senior Tyler Torgerson who went up and under for a reverse off the glass as the buzzer sounded fell in and the crowd went wild. This game was tied at 50 and was headed to overtime.
Sophomore Landen Neff gave Puyallup their first lead at 51-50 at 3:46 of the OT period. Points always a premium became even harder in the overtime as both teams battled for the lead. Daniel Gregory hit a runner in the lane to get the lead back for Emerald Ridge and would finish with a team high 15 points and the Jags looked to have the game in hand as they would get 8 free throws in the extra time but could only convert 3 of them. Leaving the door open for PHS. Puyallup couldn’t find their range from beyond the arc, but we’re able to corral offensive rebounds the most critical by Jaden Vollmen who fell to his back on a play at the rim, but as the ball was tipped around dropped in his hands while he was on the floor and he was able to loft it out to a team mate and Vikings coach Scott Campbell called time out with just 6 ticks remaining on the clock, down 55-54. Before the inbound coach Mullen called another time out to set his defense. On the ensuing inbounds the Vikings were forced to throw the ball into back court to get it in the hands of Jaden Vollmen. With seconds ticking off, Vollmen was able to get into range and launched a high arcing 3 for the game winner, it hit the rim and before Deven Neff could put it back, time expired and the Jaguars had the OT win 55-54. Neff would lead all scorers with 22 points, Vollmen would finish with 11. The win by ER puts them at 8-3 in control of the number 2 spot, for now. The Jags will be facing 11-0 Curtis at home in the jungle on Friday night, while Puyallup 7-4 heads up to a 4-6 Rogers team, who beat Spanaway Lake 61-55 Tuesday night. Putting the Sentinels at 7-5 on the outside looking in and setting up a must win rivalry game for the Vikings against the Rams on Friday. The close of the regular season in the SPSL South still with questions to be answered is going down to the wire.
The Final Score
Emerald Ridge 55, Puyallup 54.
Top Performers:
Emerald Ridge
Daniel Gregory- 15 points
Jason Cassens- 11 points
Tevin McClain- 8 points
Puyallup
Deven Neff- 22 points
Jaden Vollmen- 11 points
Brooks Balmer- 8 points