Richard Jensen and Cody Miller combined for 35 points to pace the Seattle Christian Warriors to a 66-63 defeat of visiting Chimacum in Nisqually 1A boys' basketball on Friday, Jan. 27.
Seattle Christian (12-3 overall) is in a three-way battle for first place in the league standings. The Warriors are in a first place tie at 7-1 with Cascade Christian while Life Christian lurks closely behind at 5-2. Chimacum dropped to 4-4 and 10-6.
"We battled all the way after a slow start," SCS head coach Shaun DeYager observed. "We took an early time out to talk about battling, sharing the ball and did better in controlling the game. This was how we respond to adversity. I like our chances, but it will be a dogfight to the end."
SCS led most of the way, but Chimacum kept the deficit less than 10 points due mainly to three-point field goals, scoring 33 points on 11-of-35 shooting from beyond the arc.
Leading 62-56 with 3:26 remaining in the fourth quarter, the Warriors matched a scoreless stretch of nearly two minutes with their foes before Richard Jensen did what he had been doing the entire game; he converted a basket at a key moment. In this case the time was at 1:49 to give Seattle Christian a 64-56 breathing space.
The Cowboys kept riding back to make the situation interesting.
With 18.5 seconds remaining, Chimacum closed within 64-60 and fouled Joey Gracheck one second later. With confidence, Grachek buried both charity tosses. Inside of 12 seconds later the Cowboys' Rafael Pagasian drained a three-point goal to create a 66-63 score.
Although SCS missed two free throws near the end, Chimacum had only enough time for a desperation heave that fell way short of the mark.
"It was nerve wracking at the ned, but I just did what I can do," said Grachek, who scored only four points but corralled eight rebounds while dishing out four assists.
In the first quarter, the Warriors were able to deliver the ball into the post where six feet, four-inch Chaise DeVries was a force while scoring seven of his game total of nine points. He also claimed five rebounds.
After moving away to a 10-6 first quarter lead on Cody Miller's three-pointer, Seattle Christian fell back to a 13-12 deficit after one quarter.
Defense keyed a 7-0 run that established a 19-13 SCS lead in the second quarter.
Buoyed by three-point goals, the Cowboys constantly came back to stay within three to five points to trail 34-29 at the half. Most of the time, Chimacum was forced to play in perimeter position by the hounding Seattle Christian defense.
The strength of three-pointers made turned into a weakness when the three-pointers were missed by Chimacum. SCS began forcing more one-shot and miss possessions from the Cowboys, although each time a significant lead was created Chimacum pared it down. On the one-shot possessions, the Warriors were able to rebound and send outlet passes for the running game.
Midway through the third quarter Shawn Abe's two free throws pushed SCS to a 47-39 lead. Quinn Eldridge's three-pointer for Chimacum immediately brought the Cowboys within 47-42 and the Warriors led 49-45 after three quarters.
Releasing from the pack on break, Jensen took an outlet pass and turned it into a lay up and a converted free throw to give the Warriors a nine-point margin of 56-47 at 6:27 of the fourth quarter.
A three-point goal by the Cowboys ignited another rally that eventually brought the Cowboys within 62-56 as the final drama unfolded.
Jensen finished with 21 critical points with Miller also being a key component with 14 points and six rebounds. Rebounds favored SCS, 42-29. The Warriors were 11-for-16 from the free throw line. Chimacum was 2-for-3 due to little penetration towards the hoop.
Four players scored in double figures for Chimacum. Pagasian pored 22 points, including 4-for-8 from three-point range. Quinn Eldridge had 14 with Lucas Dudek earning 12 and Landon Cray posting 11.
Senior night featured Tyler Stein, Kyle Pierotti, DesVries, Grachek, Jensen and junior varsity player Calvin Freatman.
