A battle tested mentality benefitted the Eastside Catholic Crusaders boys basketball team immensely against the Wilson Rams with the season on the line.
The Crusaders, who defeated West Seattle and Franklin in loser-out games at districts, had to dig deep in a winner-to-state, loser-out regional playoff game against the Rams.
Eastside Catholic senior point guard Mandrell Worthy buried two free throws with 41.3 seconds left in regulation, giving the Crusaders a 52-51 lead. Worthy extended the Crusaders’ lead to 53-51 on a free throw with 3.2 seconds left in the game but missed his second attempt.
Wilson secured the rebound and called a timeout with just 2.6 left in the contest. Wilson’s Ezaias Ruebel-Harris inbounded the ball to Wilson guard Dominique Hammond. Hammond dribbled down the court at a rapid speed down the left side of the floor before hoisting a three-pointer toward the basket.
The shot attempt, which was from about 30 feet away as time expired, caromed off of the backboard and fell harmlessly to the hardwood as the Crusaders hung on for a dramatic 53-51 victory on Feb. 28 at Mount Tahoma High School in Tacoma.
Worthy, who scored a team-high 20 points, wasn’t worried despite trailing the Rams 48-43 midway through the fourth quarter.
“Our coaches have been stressing all year that we have to be resilient. Our last two games (Lakeside, Franklin) we started the game down and came back to get the win. We were ready for this and we were prepared. We stayed poised because we have been through it before and we got the win,” Worthy said. “Our coaches have prepared us very well.”
The Crusaders survived a second half which saw the Rams catch fire from the perimeter.
Wilson knocked down seven three-pointers in the final 16 minutes of regulation.
“They got hot and we just had to man up at the end and just finish the game off,” Worthy said.
Eastside Catholic head coach Bill Liley was proud of his team for coming through in the clutch.
“This team showed a lot of heart. We’ve been battling trying to be resilient for about a month now. These kids were the definition of that tonight. We just battled and battled. These kids didn’t want their season to end. When that’s on the line you have guys do special things. We talked about that before the game, having people step up and do anything that it took to make sure we were able to continue our season,” Liley said. “This is a special team. I hope we can keep it rolling.”
The Crusaders (23-6) will face the Marysville-Pilchuck Tomahawks in the first round of the Class 3A state playoffs on March 5 at the Tacoma Dome.
The Crusaders, who lost to Rainier Beach 47-45 in the state title game last season, are determined to bring home a Gold Ball (state title) to the Sammamish plateau.
“When you get there the goal is to win it. We have been there before. These guys have played in some big basketball games down in the Tacoma Dome. They absolutely want to make sure that we give ourselves a chance to play on TV (state title game) again,” Liley said with a smile.
Thybulle said last year’s loss to Rainier Beach in the title game has driven his team for the past 12 months.
“We’re hungry as hell. Those two points hurt last year. We’re going to try to make sure that doesn’t happen again this year,” Thybulle said.
Worthy eagerly anticipates the chance for his team to shine at the Tacoma Dome this weekend.
“We got a lot of seniors on our team and have a lot of experience from last year. I feel like we’re ready because we’ve been through a lot of adversity. We’re very excited about the opportunity and are ready,” he said.
Shaun Scott: 425-453-5045; sscott@bellevuereporter.com
