La Center celebrates a one-point win against Seton Catholic last week at King’s Way Christian that secured them a spot in regionals.
Saige Keep elevates for a shot in the second half amid Seton Catholic defenders.
“I can’t believe we won that game.”
This simple line was the first thing La Center boys basketball head coach Jeremy Ecklund said when asked how it felt to advance to regionals.
The Wildcats had just survived Seton Catholic’s best shot in dramatic fashion, pulling out a 58-57 win after playing from behind most of the game.
Ecklund’s disbelief might have made sense following the game, but he had no plausible reason for doubt prior. His squad had easily dispatched the Cougars of Seton Catholic both times they’d faced them earlier this year.
And that’s exactly how the Wildcats played, Ecklund said. Their memory of soundly beating the Cougars was still a bit too vivid, and early on they expected a win to come easy.
“They came out with energy,” Ecklund said, “We underestimated them.”
Seton Catholic of the Cougars, came out on fire. They jumped out to an early 4-0, and were up by 10 early in the second quarter.
The Cougars’ energy on the floor was equal to that of their student section — or visa versa.
The Seton Catholic students erupted at every point scored and were chanting “we can’t hear you” across the court to the La Center students before the game had even reached the second quarter.
La Center never let the game completely get away, though.
Even with point guard Hunter Ecklund in foul trouble, the Wildcats managed to start the third quarter only down two.
Allowing the league champs to slowly crawl back into the game didn’t seem to discourage Seton Catholic, however. They brought the same energy in the second half and by late in the third quarter had extended their lead to double digits again.
But still, La Center hung around. And with three minutes left in the game, they took a 55-53 lead.
With 38 seconds left in the game, Avery Seter put the Wildcats up for good, 58-57, by hitting a pair of free throws and the Wildcats scratched out a defensive stop on the other end. Game over. Coach Ecklund threw up his hands in disbelief and shook his head and smiled at the La Center parents sitting behind the bench.
Ecklund credited his bench players for picking up the slack early in the game and said it wasn’t a matter of adjusting their game plan, but rather executing it better and weathering the storm.
“I told them to keep playing our game,” Ecklund said of the second quarter when they fell behind by double digits.
Seter finished with a team high 15 points. Hunter Ecklund had 14 and Colby Shaw notched 11 (nine of which were three pointers).
La Center played King’s Way Christian in the District 4 1A Boys Basketball Tournament title game last Saturday, the scores of which were not available by The Reflector’s print deadline.
Falcons to state
Prairie worked their way through the back draw to secure a spot in regionals.
The Falcons beat Peninsula 65-59 on Tuesday, then beat Capitol 64-40 two days later, which sent them to the 5th/6th place game and a ticket to the state championship. The score of the game was not available by print deadline.
Ridgefield out
The Spudders followed up their loss to Centralia in the first round of the District 4
2A Boys Basketball Tournament with a 43-39 loss to Tumwater which ended their season. They finished with a 6-6 league record, 12-11 overall.
