BATTLE GROUND — There’s certainly a lot of positives, particularly for the La Center Wildcats, by winning their Saturday 1A boys basketball regional game against Deer Park.
For starters, they get a first-round bye straight to the quarterfinals, can watch potential opponents, and perhaps the most important, be on the opposite side of the bracket as state contenders Lynden Christian and King’s.
One of La Center’s two losses this season is to top-ranked Lynden Christian, a 12-point road defeat Dec. 1.
“We have a pretty good way to get the championship,” said junior Evan Norris after the Wildcats’ 63-46 win Saturday at Battle Ground High School. “That’s huge, really huge.”
Norris had a team-best 15 points, Avery Setter added 14 and Hunter Ecklund had all 13 of his points in the second half, as the Wildcats used their defense to spark an offensive run in the third to cruise to the 17-point win.
But a possible rematch with Lynden Christian if all goes the Wildcats’ way is on their minds, as they shift to the Yakima Valley SunDome for the 1A state tournament. La Center plays its 1A state quarterfinal game at 9 p.m. Thursday.
“Now we get to watch our opponent play the day before,” Norris said. “We have a really big advantage.”
Saturday, the final score didn’t indicate the struggles early on for both La Center and Deer Park, especially on turnovers. La Center’s lead was just one at halftime at 27-26, as Deer Park forced nine steals that contributed to the Wildcats’ 12 first-half turnovers.
Ecklund, the Trico League MVP, said the Stags’ style of pressure defense was something the Wildcats weren’t used to.
The second-half change came defensively.
“I think our press wore them down,” Ecklund said, “and after that, it was game over.”
It was after La Center used a 15-2 run that began at the end of the third quarter and extended into the fourth. A big part of that was Ecklund, who had nine points in the third quarter and his first points came at the 4:21 mark of the third, in addition to the final field goal of the quarter that pushed the Wildcats’ lead to 50-40.
Jobi Gelder led all scorers for Deer Park, which plays a first-round state game Wednesday, with 23 points.
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LA CENTER 63, DEER PARK 46
DEER PARK — Chase Wisinger 9, Isaac Berglund 11, Jobi Gelder 23, Hunter Dryden 1, Dawson Youngblood 2. Totals 21 (3) 3-4 46.
LA CENTER — Hunter Ball 0, Colby SHaw 9, Parker Ball 0, Ben Kelley 0, Tobey Deemer 0, Evan Norris 15, Avery Seter 14, Matt Bryant 7, Hunter Ecklund 13, Jeremy Humprey 0, Riley Fender 0. Totals 27 (6) 1-2 63.
Deer Park 17 9 13 6 – 46
La Center 16 11 23 13 – 63
