Woodinville Soars Over T-Birds in King Showcase


Woodinville Soars Over T-Birds in King Showcase
By Steve Dion

Monday- January 18th 2016 Boys 4A/2A KingCo/Evergreen
ShoWare Center 1st 2nd 3rd 4th Final
Tumwater 4 16 8 21 49
Woodinville 14 13 13 17 57


Woodinville senior Micah Johnson

The first boys match-up of the King Showcase was a clash between the Woodinville Falcons and Tumwater Thunderbirds. Woodinville took advantage of a cold start by the T-Birds and picked up a double digit lead after one quarter at 14-4. The Falcons converted on self-induced turnovers by THS due to lack of communication. As the first half wore on, the T-Birds found a rhythm and closed the gap through added emphasis in the paint. Weston VandenHazel pulled in 5 of Tumwater’s 17 offensive boards which translated to buckets. Woodinville carried a 7 point lead into the locker room.

Micah Johnson set the tone in the third quarter by helping limit Tumwater to eight points in the quarter from his stifling defensive effort. After the game, Coach Folsom stated, “He’s our motor. We talk a lot about him setting the tone defensively. When there’s good ball pressure, it makes everybody better.” The pesky guard led WHS with three takeaways.

Leading 47-31 with the game seemingly in the bag for Woodinville, Tumwater made their move. Ty Gentry sparked the biggest run of the game; a 14-3 stretch that brought the game within one possession. Despite the comeback by Tumwater, Coach Folsom said, “I thought our kids held our poise, it was a tough to call, it was a physical game, I thought our kids stayed together and ultimately got it done.” However, lack of execution down the stretch and fouls thwarted the T-Birds effort to push the game to overtime. According to the winning coach, “They were excited for the opportunity to play in this venue…we’re trying to get back to the state tournament and this is in preparation for that.” Leading scorer Tony Miller agreed about the event and venue stating, “It’s a big win. The environment was different because we were playing with no background in a bigger arena. Other than that, there wasn’t much of a difference in how we played.”

The Final Score
Woodinville 57, Tumwater 49.

Top Performers:
Woodinville
Tony Miller- 20 points, 11 rebounds

Tumwater
Ty Gentry- 16 points, 5 rebounds, 4 steals, 3 assists