Seton Catholic boys basketball coach Donald Wilson describes his team as a mix of young and old, newcomers and experienced players alike who make up the Cougars’ roster.
From last year’s Class 1A state playoff run to this season, the Cougars showed every bit of their big-game experience Friday when they were tested against Montesano in the 1A District 4 semifinals.
The Cougars deftly maneuvered a strong push from the Bulldogs in the second half to claim a 58-46 win at home, which earned them a spot in 1A district championship game and a berth to the 1A state tournament.
Seton Catholic junior Lance Lee scored 11 of his 19 points in the second half and freshman Kaiden Wilson added 14 points for the Cougars, who will return to the district championship for the first time since 2020. Last season, the Cougars had to win three loser-out games in the district playoffs to reach state.
“For the returners, we lost our first (district) game last year, had to go through the loser’s bracket and get to state that way,” Lee said. “And now, we’re playing for the district (championship). It means a lot, all the hard work we put in, it feels good.”
After opening the district playoffs Wednesday with a 71-56 win over Hoquiam, the Cougars picked up right where they left off Friday. A hot-shooting first half, led by junior Brady Angelo (12 points), junior Rico George (seven points), Wilson and Lee, helped Seton Catholic take a 38-23 halftime lead.
The Bulldogs bounced back with a 9-0 run to start the third quarter by using their size inside and upping the physicality. Delon Chan’s 3-pointer brought Montesano within 38-32, before Lee stopped the run with a layup on the other end near the four-minute mark.
“I just felt like the intensity really picked up,” Lee said. “They’re fighting for a berth to the championship too, so they came out with intensity and we just had to match it.”
Lee and Wilson combined to score the Cougars’ next 15 points, which carried them through to the final three minutes of the fourth without giving up the lead. After Chan (14 points) hit a 3 at the 3:18 mark to get Montesano within 50-44, Seton Catholic held the visitors without a field goal for the remainder of the game.
“Our guys are battle-tested,” Donald Wilson said. “We’ve been through a lot this whole year. Our preseason (schedule) was pretty tough. Similar in the physicality and the situations, and they learned from those. We pulled through today. I could’ve called a timeout to help them, but watching them and looking at their faces, I understood that they had it.”
Kaiden Wilson, who finished the regular season as the fourth-leading scorer in Southwest Washington (18.5 points per game), provided the exclamation point with under two minutes left by throwing down a powerful one-handed dunk to bring the Cougars’ bench and fans to their feet.
“It felt good, and I feel like that was the dagger just to put it away,” he said, “because everyone got hyped and the net got stuck, so we had to take time off.”
Seton reached the 1A state Round of 12, and made it a goal to return this season with a core group of holdovers including Angelo, George, Lee, Tyler Tran, plus the addition of Wilson.
Friday’s win means they’re one step closer, but first comes the district championship Feb. 17 against Tenino at Hoquiam High School, and a chance to capture the program’s first district title.
“Last year, we started changing how we want to do things and the goal was to get to the district championship game,” said Donald Wilson, an assistant coach on last year’s team. “… This year, our goal was just to get back here to this point, to actually get to the (championship) game. The boys did it.
“It’s a good group of guys and they want it bad, so they came out there and did what they were supposed to do and just kept going from there. It was exciting to see.”
SETON CATHOLIC 58, MONTESANO 46
MONTESANO — Carter Crites 0, Jaxson Wilson 6, Gabe Bodwell 5, Delon Chan 14, Peyton Damasiewicz 11, Tyce Peterson 6, Spencer Lovell 0, Soren Cobb 4, Camden Taylor 0. Totals 14 (2) 14-17 46.
SETON CATHOLIC — Tyler Tran 3, Mason Glassmire 3, Brady Angelo 12, Rico George 7, Lance Lee 19, Kaiden Wilson 14. Totals 23 (5) 7-9 58.
Montesano 11 12 15 8—46
Seton Catholic 23 15 8 12—58
