This was a game the Hudson’s Bay boys basketball team, winner of back-to-back games after a season-long nine-game losing skid, needed.
Yet so did Evergreen, loser of four straight, including two of its past three games by a single point apiece.
The latter won Wednesday night.
That, in part, is what made Evergreen’s 81-66 home victory over the Eagles that much more special.
Behind five players in double figures, the Plainsmen led by as many as 22 points in the fourth quarter for a 81-66 victory to secure the 3A Greater St. Helens League’s fourth and final playoff spot in boys basketball, regardless of the outcome of Thursday’s regular-season finale games.
Evergreen travels to face Lincoln of Tacoma (18-0), the Pierce County League’s top seed, to open the 3A bi-district tournament Feb. 8.
Plain and simple, as senior John Hansberry put it, he and his teammates got down to business against the Eagles (5-13, 2-7), who beat the Plainsmen 61-52 just five days earlier. .
“We didn’t want our season to end,” said Hansberry, who had a team-best 17 points.
The third quarter was the difference-maker for Evergreen, which nursed a 36-33 halftime lead. Using its new triangle-and-2 defense implemented a day earlier at practice, they forced Hudson’s Bay into five turnovers over six possessions while converting four of those into points. It was only a sliver of a 20-4 Evergreen run in the quarter while its lead blossomed to 58-37 with 1:12 left in the third.
Evergreen led by 22 just 90 seconds into the fourth quarter before Bay began making its comeback behind its 3-point shooting. It hit 8 3s on the night, Quentin Raynor’s 3 with 2:12 to play cut the once-22-point lead down to eight at 70-62.
While it wasn’t Evergreen’s most complete game of the season — he gives that to a loss at Kelso earlier this season — he did credit his team’s balanced scoring. Shawn Johnson, Jr.’s nine points was one player shy of a sixth player in double figures.
“That just shows when we want to play together, we play as a team,” Evergreen coach Brian Witherspoon said.
Dwight Jones had 15, Payton Monda finished with 10 and Dustin Nettles and Elon Freeman each had 10. Nettles received two technical fouls Wednesday, and will sit out one game, per WIAA rules, Witherspoon said. He will not play in Thursday’s regular-season finale against Prairie.
EVERGREEN 81, HUDSON’S BAY 66
EVERGREEN — Payton Monda 12, John Hansberry 17, Dwight Jones 15, Elon Freeman 10, Jeremy Harju 2, Shawn Johnson Jr. 9, Dustin Nettles 10, Brock Schoene 4. Totals 30 (9) 9-17 81.
HUDSON’S BAY — Carter Morse 2, Demareya Gipson 12, Quentin Raynor 12, Quadrese Teague 4, Elijah Hoover 15, Myles Artis 6, Palaina Gasper 2, Eric Ryapolov 3, Jordan Hickman 8, Marcos Cadiz 2. Totals 21 (8) 17-25 66
Hudson’s Bay 10 23 8 25 –66
Evergreen 18 18 22 23 –81
