AFTER SCORING JUST four points in the first half of Friday’s Class 1A district playoff game, La Center’s Wyatt Aguirre (22) took his coach’s advice and created scoring opportunities by driving to the basket, as he did on this play against a pair of Tenino defenders. The strategy led to the senior guard scoring 16 points in the second half.
LA CENTER SENIOR Will Rice (20) goes up for a shot in the Wildcats’ Class 1A playoff game against Tenino on Friday. Rice scored 15 points to help La Center earn a 68-36 win.
LA CENTER – Sometimes a little adjustment is all that a scorer needs in the game of basketball.
In the first half of La Center’s Class 1A district tournament game against Tenino Friday, Wildcats’ senior Wyatt Aguirre expressed some frustration with his performance to coach Jon Schroeder.
“He was really struggling early on with the flow of the game,’’ Schroeder said of Aguirre. “During a dead ball situation, he commented to me, ‘I’m just not hitting (my shots) tonight.’’’
Aguirre’s veteran coach had just the right advice.
“I told him what he needed to do was find his drive opportunities,’’ Schroeder said. “It’s not like you’re going to finish every drive (with a bucket) but you can get fouled and get to the free throw line and get a couple of free throws.’’
Among other things, Aguirre followed his coach’s advice and the result was a second-half onslaught that propelled La Center to a 68-36 win over Tenino in the first round of the district tournament.
Aguirre scored 16 of his game-high 20 points in the second half as the Wildcats turned a slim 23-20 halftime lead into a 32-point blowout win. In the third quarter, Aguirre did get to the free throw line, making three of his four attempts.
After the court opened up for La Center in the fourth quarter, the Wildcats poured in six 3-pointers, including five in a row at one point, to outscore the Beavers 33-12 in the final eight minutes of the game. Overall, La Center made 12 of its 19 shots in the fourth quarter.
Aguirre had three of his team’s nine 3-pointers and fellow senior Will Rice chipped in three 3-pointers as well on his way to 15 points. Rice scored all 15 of his points in the second half.
“We had better ball movement within the group to get the kind of shots we were looking for,’’ said Schroeder, explaining his team’s improved offensive effort in the final two quarters.
As the Wildcats advance through the postseason, Schroeder knows his team can’t afford to get off to slow starts, such as the one they experienced in the win over Tenino.
“We struggled the last couple of games with that,’’ Schroeder said. “It’s something we’re going to work on.’’
Aguirre and Rice had plenty of help in their first win of the postseason, which improved the Wildcats’ overall record to 13-7. Junior Dalton Morgan came off the bench to score 13 points and senior Chase Davison added 10 points. Senior Max Hiller chipped in eight points.
La Center was scheduled to play Kalama in the semifinals of the district tournament on Sat., Feb. 14. A win over the Chinooks, something the Wildcats did twice during the regular season, would assure La Center a trip to the final 16 round of the playoffs.
