The Auburn Riverside boys basketball team punched its ticket to the postseason last Friday with a 67-65 win over district rival Auburn in South Puget Sound League North 4A action.
The Ravens (9-7 league, 12-8 overall) finish the regular season in fourth place in the SPSL North 4A, just ahead of Auburn (8-8, 12-8). Both teams will play in the SPSL 4A tournament, beginning Thursday at the Showare Center in Kent, as well as at Bethel High School in Spanaway.
The Ravens shot off to a quick lead in the game, stretching it to 16 points before letting the Trojans claw their way back into the game. Up just 39-34 at the half, Auburn Riverside managed to hang on despite being outscored 31-28 in the second frame.
Senior Ryan Rogers led the Ravens with 20 points. Rogers also was instrumental in help shut down Iszia Johnson, Auburn’s leading scorer on the season. Johnson was held to just 13 points, much less than the 28 points the Auburn junior dropped on Auburn Riverside in their previous matchup.
“Oh, man, it feels great,” Ryan said. “Everybody had a lot of intensity before the game in the locker room. We were pumped, everybody was ready. It feels really good, because of course they’re our rival. We’re just excited to get the win, we’ve got a spot in the playoffs.
“We had a great game against Auburn last time, they got us by three though,” he continued. “But it was the same game plan as last time, let Zeke (Iszia Johnson) shoot. And just play good D. We knew we had to play good defense, that was the only way we were going to win this game.”
“It feels good,” coach Shawn Killgallon said. “We made a ton of mistakes down the stretch, but they still recovered. But that’s what I’ve been telling them all season. It’s a game of mistakes, it’s 32 minutes of mistakes. But it’s whoever can recover the quickest that usually wins. They did a good job of recovering from the mistakes though, which at times were incredibly stupid and not reflective of this style that we play.
“But it was nice to come in here and get a ‘W’ against our rival and a good team,” Killgallon continued. “We needed one like this.”
Cameron Grad added 19 points for the Ravens and Cole Luckett chimed in with 12 points.
“Another kid that did a good job was Dustin (Hegge),” Kilgallon said. “I thought Dustin played as hard as he possibly could. I had to run him at a one (point guard) and he’s not used to being a one. He had to deal with one of the best pressure backcourts around.”
Both teams will begin postseason in the SPSL 4A tournament. The teams will play for seeding into the West Central District III tourney.
The Trojans will play again at 6 p.m. Feb. 12, Friday, versus the SPSL South 4A No. 5, either Rogers or Bethel, at Bethel High School.
Auburn Riverside will play the SPSL South 4A No. 4 team, either Beamer or Decatur, at 11 a.m. next Saturday at the Showare Center in Kent.
