KELSO – Evergreen boys basketball coach Brett Henry didn’t mind that his suit was soaked through.
He was too busy soaking up Evergreen’s first league championship in a decade.
Evergreen clinched the No. 1 seed from the 3A Greater St. Helens League and at least a share of the league title Friday with a 56-44 road win over Kelso.
It set off a wild postgame celebration in the Evergreen locker room, where players doused their third-year coach with their water bottles.
It was a celebration a long time in the making. Not since the 2010-11 season had Evergreen laid claim to a league title.
And a program that hadn’t had a winning season since 2015-16 could now don “League Champions” T-shirts, as the players did before exiting the Kelso High locker room.
Evergreen (16-2, 8-0) secured the title with two games to spare. Just one more win clinches the 3A GSHL title outright for the No. 6 team in the state 3A RPI rankings.
Even Henry was slightly surprised which how quickly his program has found success.
“When you lose those first couple of years it’s tough,” Henry said. “But with this group, there’s so much talent and they really play together. So I knew we had a chance, but you just never know.”
Last season, Evergreen was 1-5 in games decided by five points or less. But Henry pointed to a 59-51 win over Battle Ground on Dec. 16 as a moment his team started to learn how to win highly competitive games.
“We believe in speaking it into existence,” Henry said. “We always would talk about it. But when we beat Battle Ground at Battle Ground, we executed a game plan, faced some adversity and made it out alive. … Having that early success gave us the confidence to keep building and building.”
That intense atmosphere was what the Plainsmen faced Friday in a loud gym against a scrappy Kelso squad.
Evergreen used a 12-2 run late in the second quarter to open a 25-19 lead. But the Hilanders (10-8, 4-4) pulled within 30-29 early in the third quarter. To make matters worse, Evergreen starting forward Zyell Griffin picked up his fourth foul less than three minutes after halftime.
But Evergreen responded. Jaden Stanley’s 3-pointer, part of his game-high 16 points, was the key basket in a 9-0 run that put Evergreen up 39-29.
“Our composure,” Stanley said when asked what makes this team special. “We always stay together.”
“Energy and teamwork,” added senior Mario Herring, who had 15 points. “That’s all I’ve really got to say.”
Kelso remained within striking distance, pulling within 43-37 on two of freshman Ethan Mitchell’s 13 points.
But Evergreen didn’t wilt down the stretch. The Plainsmen ended the game on an 11-2 run, including a big 3-pointer by Carter Monda and six points by Isaac Romero.
“That’s been our mantra all year, how do we overcome?” Henry said. “How do we maintain our composure?”
Now Evergreen has two more home games (Hudson’s Bay on Monday and Fort Vancouver on Wednesday) to get ready for the postseason.
“We have enough talent that everybody can do what they want,” Stanley said. “We just have to play together and we’ll be fine.”
EVERGREEN 56, KELSO 44
EVERGREEN – Jaden Stanley 16, Izaac Romero 9, Zyell Griffin 6, Tyler Ricketts 7, Mario Herring 15, Tae Marks 0, Peyton Albers 0, Joey Jack 0, Carter Monda 3, Issayas Yohannes 0. Totals 23 (4) 6-10 56.
KELSO – Josh Webb 9, Gage Tippery 9, Rees Hall 0, Wyatt Brown 11, Ethan Mitchell 13, Drew Tack 0, Dillon Davis 0, Tanner Davis 2, Ethan Moyer 0.Totals 18 (2) 6-10 44.
Evergreen 13 15 11 17—56
Kelso 13 9 11 11—44
JV – Kelso 47-45
