Tulalip Earns Ticket to State with Win Over Wilbur-Creston
By Steven Dion

Win or go home. This is the nature of the regional round leading up to the state tournament next week. The fate of Tulalip Heritage’s and Wilbur-Creston’s seasons would be decided on Friday night at Everett Community College. The winner of this game would receive their ticket to the state tournament at Spokane Arena next week and be three wins away from a championship. The loser would end their season in the sweet sixteen round.

Tulalip wasted no time getting their momentum rolling as they started the game on an 11-0 run. The Hawks shot the ball extremely well out of the gate, especially from downtown. Four players scored in double figures for Tulalip which presented matchup problems for Wilbur-Creston throughout the game. The Wildcats were able to rally midway through the second quarter from a double-digit deficit by feeding Colton Magers. The junior forced his way through the Hawks defense to put up shots in the paint en route to 19 points. However, THHS closed the quarter strong and took a 42-29 lead into the locker room.

When the third quarter began, Tulalip continued to be the aggressor in this contest as their precision passing in transition led to a number of buckets at the rim. The Wildcats were tentative in their shot selection, which prevented them from grabbing a lead in this game. Bradley Fryberg started to loosen up in this game for Tulalip in the second half as his gritty defense highlighted by eight steals deflated the WC attack. Fryberg was slinging the rock to teammates like a quarterback down the stretch, many of which were no-look passes. The junior’s command of the court helped Tulalip’s leading scorers in Ayrik Miranda and Keanu Hamilton pick up an 81-64 win and a trip to state.

Top Performers:
Tulalip Heritage
Keanu Hamilton-19 points, 9 rebounds, 5 assists

Wilbur-Creston
Colton Magers-19 points, 6 rebounds, 3 blocks