Boys Hoops: Black Hills Keeps League Title Hopes Alive, Beat WF West

1/25/23

Black Hills 67, WF West 66

(Chehalis, WA) There was a playoff-like atmosphere in Bearcat Gymnasium on Wednesday night as the WF West Bearcats hosted the Black Hills Wolves. It was a rematch from a December meeting early in the season in which Black Hills took home a defensive battle. This time, the winner would keep their hopes alive for a league title.

In a different style game than the first time around, both offenses were on fire the entire game shooting wise. The result however would be the same as Black Hills would hit a late three to lift Black Hills to a 67-66 win in a nail-biter.

Both teams came out firing in the 1st quarter but turnovers plagued both teams. Black Hills got out in transition consistently for some easy fast break points. After missing a couple of games with an injury, Bearcat senior Tyler Klatush made up for lost time with a hot start from beyond the arc. Soren Dalan was also great in the post but Keagan Rongen did a fantastic job limiting the senior and preventing him from being a total game wrecker.

After taking an 18-17 lead into the 2nd quarter, Black Hills got a big time boost from an unlikely player. Coming off the bench Harrison Pilon looked like a cheat code in a video game from beyond the arc. Pilon knocked down four corner threes and had a total of 16 points in the first half. It was an eye opening performance for everyone except for Pilon and the Wolves as the senior shot with absolute confidence and his teammates continued to get him the ball. Dalan however counteracted that performance with a big 2nd quarter as well as he finished the first half with 14 points but it would be Black Hills with a 32-30 lead at halftime.

Neither team slowed down in the 2nd half when it came to the hot shooting. Pilon did miss a three but would be just fine as he continued to knock down big shots. Johnnie Stallings was the difference maker in the 2nd half for Black Hills. Stallings tallied just three points in the first two quarters but added 17 in the second half to finish with 20 for the game.

The trio of Dalan, Klatush and Gage Brumfield led a 4th quarter charge which tied the game at 62-62 with just over a minute to play. Offensive rebounding was pivotal for WF West as Soren Dalan cleaned up a missed shot to give the Bearcats a 64-62 lead. Despite the Bearcat faithful shouting to cover #34, the Wolves would find Harrison Pilon in the corner and he would bury a contested three pointer to put Black Hills up by one.

Both teams traded buckets but WF West had only picked up one foul in the first 15 minutes of the 2nd half which gave them a long way to go to get Black Hills into the bonus. With the score 67-66 in favor of the Wolves, WF West would force a turnover on the baseline to get the ball back with a shot to take the lead. As Brumfield drove to the basket, Johnnie Stallings tied up the shot to force the jump ball and possession arrow gave it back to Black Hills. A long baseball style pass helped Black Hills run out the rest of the clock to get the 67-66 win.

The two teams combined to hit 20 three pointers and there were only three total fouls called in the first three quarters. It was an offensive basketball game that felt more like a District game than a regular season matchup. For the Bearcats it was a historical night as Soren Dalan recorded his 134th career block passing Brandon White for the most ever for a Bearcat.

Our Thorbeckes MVP of the game was Harrison Pilon who knocked down eight three pointers off the bench as he finished with a game high 30 points. He had his opportunity to be the hero and he stepped up and had an incredible performance.

With the win, Black Hills moves to 12-5 and 8-1 in EvCo 2A play. The Wolves remain alive for a league championship but must defeat Centralia on Friday to setup a league title showdown with Tumwater on Tuesday. WF West drops to 12-4 and 6-3 in league play as they will look to bounce back on Friday when they travel to Tumwater.

Scoring

Black Hills: Pilon 30, Stallings 20, Rongen 6, Nysted 5, Ellison 4, Shepler 2

WF West: Dalan 25, Klatush 20, Eiswald 10, Brumfield 7, Jones 2, Hoff 2