By CHRIS CHANCELLOR
cchancellor@soundpublishing.com
UNIVERSITY PLACE — The writing on the white board was succinct: “It’s our turn.”
But Olympic coach Devin Huff’s message did not translate into reality until senior guard/post Marcus Harris hit a 3-pointer with 7 seconds remaining to lead the Trojans to a 61-59 win Tuesday night in a loser-out contest against Clover Park in the Class 2A West Central District III Championships at Curtis.
“I just saw the guy overplayed me,” said Harris, whose team was eliminated by the Warriors during the playoffs in each of the last two seasons. “There was an open shot and I took it. I was tired of losing to Clover Park and getting knocked out of the playoffs. I just had to let it go for my team and my senior season.
“It felt pretty good when it left my hand.”
After CP’s Rob Miller missed a pair of free throws with 24 seconds remaining, Huff scripted a play for senior guard Makaleb McInnis, who scored a team-high 24 points.
“We were trying to get a high screen on that side of the zone, so that way Marcus was supposed to push down and Makaleb could come off of that,” Huff said. “If they hit him, we could either get a roll inside or a kick to someone on the baseline. I don’t think we got the screen. I would love to tell you that’s how we drew it up and everything went as planned, but it’s not.
“A lot of times when you win a game like that it typically isn’t. I’d love to say how smart we were, but we’re not.”
Huff acknowledged that Harris was not the player he hoped would thrust Olympic (16-6) into Thursday’s winner-to-regionals, loser-out contest against Sequim. But that was McInnis’ decision.
“His dude was sagging down, so I kicked it to the corner and he knocked it down,” McInnis said. “I knew he could. I trusted him.”
It was an opportunity McInnis refused to relinquish. He said he began to suffer flu-like symptoms during the last game and Huff reiterated to him that he should sit out the game if he did not feel well.
“You just tell me what you want to do and I’m not gonna think less of you,” Huff said. “That kid doesn’t have anything to prove to me.”
McInnis said sitting out was not a consideration for him.
“[Huff] needs me,” he said. “I’m here so I’m going to play.”
And put on a performance that made Huff emotional afterward.
“Special kid,” he said as tears streamed down his face.
It was the second meeting of the season between the teams. The Trojans’ first performance against CP — a 57-40 loss Dec. 30 — made Huff emotional for different reasons.
“It really was an effort that, at best, was lackluster on our part,” he said. “I would tell you that the conversation in the locker room after that game was to the point.”
Huff responded with a “pack line” man-to-man defense that was popularized by former Wisconsin and Washington State coach Dick Bennett. The idea is to sag inside to prevent dribble-penetration. One variation, Huff said, was to keep a defender on Miller at all times.
“He’s open from like two or three steps from the half-court line,” he said. “That was one of our main things — you never leave [Miller]. For the most part, I thought we contained him pretty well.”
Despite that, Miller scored 16 points and senior guard Bryce Porter added 26. Warriors’ coach Mel Ninnis lamented his team’s free-throw shooting woes. CP converted 17 of 31 shots from the stripe.
“When you shoot 55 [percent] from the free-throw line, you’re going to lose close games,” said Ninnis, whose team finished 14-9. “It’s what happened again.”
Huff, who did not use 6-foot-6 junior post Jumier Johnson for “in-house reasons,” had his own frustrations.
“I was pulling my hair out on the bench,” he said. “I don’t know how many layups we missed, but I think if we convert on half of them we win pretty easily. It was just alligator arms. It was trying not to miss.”
But Olympic also overcame several challenges, including an 11-point deficit during the second quarter. The Trojans trailed 28-25 at the intermission.
“We wanted to make sure we stayed poised,” McInnis said. “The intensity was really loud. We wanted to keep control of the game.”
That is until the final buzzer sounded and the Trojans celebrated with a sea of their blue-and-white clad classmates.
Class 2A West Central District III Championships
at Curtis
Olympic 61, Clover Park 59
Olympic 12 13 25 11 – 61
Clover Park 15 13 14 17 – 59
Olympic-Keshun McGee 8, Erik Turnquist 3, Jaiden Mosley, Marcus Harris 8, Makaleb McInnis 24, Tyler Yost 3, Damarius Johnson 15.
Clover Park-Davien Harris-Williams, Mehki Hughes 6, Trey Martin 2, Smith, Rob Miller 16, Morris, Eric Obee 4, Dakari Jefferson 5, Bryce Porter 26.
