By Chuck Mingori

CONTRIBUTING WRITER

The Ballard Beavers rallied in the second half  Tuesday night to knock off Chief Sealth, 61-56, in a hard-fought 3A Metro League boys basketball game that wasn’t decided until the closing seconds.

Chief Sealth led for much of the first half and went into the locker room with a 30-27 advantage before Ballard used a strong third quarter to take the lead and then hold off a late surge by the Seahawks. 

“That was a tough one to lose. I’ve been in a lot of those over the years,” said Chief Sealth coach Colin Slingsby of his team’s heartbreaking loss. Chief Sealth  had the ball inside 25 seconds trailing by only three points,  but could not take advantage of the key possession after a steal as the Seahawks lost the ball after stepping out of bounds with 18 seconds remaining while attempting a potential game-tying, three-point shot.

Ballard’s Ty Herrman made one of  two free throws with 12.5 seconds remaining and teammate Tim Gaston hit another with 2.9 on the scoreboard clock to end the final threat.

“I think we just start out (second) halves really well. Not so much games, we get a sluggish start. But I think (Beavers coach Mike) Broom gives a good halftime talking- to- us and then we’re ready to go in the second half,” said Ballard sophomore guard Ian Macpherson, who was the second leading scorer on his team with 14 points and played the whole game after coming back from a recent concussion.

Junior guard Justin Burceag scored nine of his game-high 18 points in the third quarter for Ballard, with fellow guard Hermann also reaching double figures with 12 for the game.  Sophomore Taien  Jackson led Chief Sealth  in scoring with 12 points followed by  Cortez Graham, Raquib Hassan, Daniel Wondie and Alex Greenlea with nine apiece and Sean Brown with eight.

The Seahawks jumped out to an 18-13 lead in the first quarter due to some pinpoint three-point shooting and aggressive offensive rebounding. Greenlea nailed two three-pointers in the opening period and Graham and sophomore Jackson also were dialed in from long range with one apiece.   Brown crashed the offensive boards for a putback basket after a Graham steal as the young Seahawks seemed to be in command. 

 Gaston narrowed the Chief Sealth lead to 18-15 after one, but sophomore  Wondie went for three to open the second quarter for the Seahawks. Brown powered his way inside on a putback basket while being fouled and then sank a free throw for a 24-17 Chief Sealth lead.  Sharp free-throw shooting by Macpherson, who was 6-for-6 in the quarter, kept his team close as Ballard struggled to find the bottom of the net due to aggressive Chief Sealth defense that forced a shot-clock violation on one Beavers possession.

Brown sank all eight of his points in the first half, including another putback, that gave his team a 26-19 edge in scoring. A breakaway basket by Hassan gave Chief Sealth a 30-25 lead before a bucket by Tycho Streigal of Ballard ended the first-half scoring.

The Beavers turned up the heat to start the third quarter as Burceag scored eight quick points. His drive to the hoop and free throw following a foul gave Ballard a lead at 39-37. Brandon Cooper’s steal and layup forced a Chief Sealth timeout as the Seahawks trailed 44-37. A three-pointer by Gaston gave the visitors their biggest lead at 47-39 before a goaltending call on a breakaway lay in by Jackson ended the third quarter scoring with Ballard leading 47-41.

Seahawks coach Slingsby, now in his 17th season at Chief Sealth , said his team “came out flat” in the third quarter, but the home squad rallied in the final quarter.

“We changed some defenses and tried to turn up the volume a little bit with some pressure and that served us a little better toward the end of the game,” he said.

Chief Sealth was down 52-44 after Burceag scored on a putback and converted a free throw on the foul prior to a three-point bomb by Wondie that  narrowed the gap to 52-47. A pair of free throws by Graham made it 53-49 with 3:13 to play. Wondie’s third three-pointer of the game shaved the margin to 55-52. An intentional foul by Graham of Chief Sealth on Macpherson resulted in a 59-54 Ballard lead with 35.5 seconds in the game.

After a basket by Hassan the score stood at 59-56 in Ballard’s favor with 27.5 seconds in the game. Following a time out, the Seahawks’ Greenlea tapped the ball loose as Ballard brought the ball up court and Jackson came up with it. But a stepping on the sideline infraction as the Seahawks prepared to get the shot off ended the Seahawks’ hopes. 

“Those are fun games to be in as far as playing, watching and coaching,” the Seahawks’ coach said. “It’s just tough to come up on the short end.”

The coach added that losing two key players to fouls hurt late in the game as did some turnovers throughout. 

“We have to address our passing miscues that hurt us tonight,” he said, but added his young team should benefit from the experience it gained in the tough loss. “It’s a long process when you have a young team.”

Chief Sealth (0-5) takes on Mount Rainier Saturday in non-league play and will play at Kennedy Catholic Dec. 26 before resuming league competition Jan. 3 at home against Lakeside. Ballard, 2-3 overall and 1-2 in league play, resumes fMetro League action at Seattle Prep on Jan. 4.

Additional scoring for Ballard came from Gaston with seven, Streigal five, Nate Leibold three and Brandon Cooper with two.

chief sealth boys vs. ballard .docxhttps://d.docs.live.net/761bd50ace33f18e/Documents/chief%20sealth%20boy…

x