Frustration set in as the third quarter clock wound down.
Foul calls, traveling violations and turnovers piled up for Issaquah. By the end of the quarter, a comfortable double-digit lead shrank to seven.
“I think that we were just a little nervous — kind of playing more for not to lose than to win,” senior Ross Zuhl said. “Sometimes that’s when you get in trouble and I think that’s what we were doing a little bit. I tried to fix that in the fourth quarter.”
The 6-foot guard played the role of mechanic to perfection Tuesday night, helping Issaquah to a 60-41 home victory over Ballard in the first round of the KingCo 4A playoffs.
Zuhl erupted for 10 of his game-high 20 points in the final quarter. His largest spark came at the 6:42 mark of the fourth. In a one-on-one situation, he dribbled under the basket, hung in the air, and reversed a shot up and in — all while being fouled. The play drew “oohs” from the crowd, and some amazement from Zuhl himself.
“I didn’t think it was going to go in,” he said. “I was directly under the hoop. I thought I was going to look like a fool and hit the bottom of the rim, but somehow it miraculously went in, so that was kind of cool.”
The shot ignited the Eagles, who went on a 16-3 run in the first five minutes of the fourth. Zuhl was 4-for-4 in the quarter and 2-for-2 from behind the three-point line. He was 7-for-10 from the field for the game.
“What can you say, Ross Zuhl had a great game,” head coach Jeff Altchech said. “He’s a competitor. He hit some big shots.”
Issaquah struggled early, leading just 9-8 after the first quarter. The Eagles bumped their lead to 25-17 at halftime, but were allowing too many Ballard offensive rebounds for Altchech.
“Let me just say the conversation in the locker room we can’t print in the paper,” he said. “I’m really proud of the way they responded in the third quarter to get a lead.”
Also key was the defensive play of senior Connor McClain. According to Altchech, the 6-foot-2 forward had a 103-degree temperature the day before the game. He played a large chunk of Tuesday’s contest, holding the Beaver’s leading scorer, Eric Taylor, to just six points. Taylor averaged nearly 15 points a game in the regular season.
Issaquah senior Robby Primrose added 13 points for the Eagles and senior Sean Stuby contributed seven, along with a handful of key rebounds.
Issaquah improved to 13-8 overall with the victory and moved into a winner-to-state game with Inglemoor this Friday. Tip off is set for 6:30 p.m. at Juanita High School. The Eagle’s last trip to the state tournament was in 2005.
“We’re one game from state so that’s the most important thing right now,” Zuhl said. “It’s a really big boost for us and it’s just a huge thing because this team hasn’t been to state in a while, so we want to make a statement the next game and come out and get to state.”
The winner of Friday’s game will face the winner of Garfield-Redmond for the league championship at 8:15 p.m., Friday, Feb. 27 at Juanita. The loser plays at 4:45 p.m., Tuesday, Feb. 24 at Juanita against either Woodinville or Roosevelt in a loser-out game.
