Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
Wednesday morning at state started out trouble for Whitman County as the Garfield/Palouse boys tipped off at 9 a.m. against Muckleshoot Tribal School – a taller, heavier team from off-reservation trust land near Auburn.
Trailing late in the game, Vikings junior guard Austin Jones – playing his last game with his brother, senior star forward Blake, pushed the ball but he nor the rest of the team could make enough shots.
Gar/Pal led into the second half, 28-22, on an outside shot by Jaxson Orr, then Muckleshoot's Brendon Brown scored and the Kings' big number 42, 6'5” Lamont Nichols, scored off two offensive rebounds to put his team up 31-30.
Muckleshoot freshman Tyrell Nichols then scored off two more offensive rebounds.
Opening the fourth quarter, Austin Jones got a steal and sent the ball to Dugger, 38-37 Garfield/Palouse. Muckleshoot senior Carlos Bennett answered from the corner, then Bennet again from outside.
The Kings kept at it, Jordan Mathias from outside, then he bulled over Ethan Hawkins after a Blake Jones miss. Mathias made both free throws. Then Mathias with a nice move, score and another foul.
He converted, Muckleshoot up by four with 4:44 left.
Blake Jones drove and missed, Mathias took off on the fast break and scored.
Then Brown from the perimeter, three points, and Muckleshoot was suddenly up by eight, 54-46.
Two Blake Jones free throws followed, then a driving answer from Tyler Nichols, Orr for two on a Gar/Pal fast break, the Kings' big man not even on the floor.
The game was now against Muckleshoot and the clock.
Jones to Dugger in the corner, no. Jones length-of-the-floor, yes, a seven-point game with 1:30 left. Gar/Pal pressing, a Bennett lay-in. Jones length-of-the-floor, fouled, he made both, still seven points down. Lamont Nicholls checked back into the game.
Another Austin Jones drive, with a pass off to junior post Jacob Anderson for a score – a glimpse of next year.
A Jones three-pointer, no. A lost ball on an inbound and a crowd of Vikings chased. Nothing to reap but a foul to stop the clock.
The Kings' freshman Brown made both shots and the Jones boys era of Garfield/Palouse basketball was over, 62-58, the Vikings playing at state the second consecutive year, eliminated in the first round.
Blake Jones led Gar/Pal in the loss with 16 points while Austin Jones and Ethan Hawkins both scored 10. Dugger had nine points and eight rebounds. Bennett led Muckleshoot with 19 points.
Garth Meyer is a former Whitman County Gazette reporter.
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