West Valley of Yakima stuns 4A No. 2 Davis for CBBN district title, 3 takeaways
YAKIMA, Wash. – Seconds after clanging a pair of free throws that would’ve given unranked West Valley of Yakima a last-minute lead against 4A No. 2 Davis, Rams sophomore Parker Hill got a shot at redemption.
He didn’t miss.
Hill’s 3-pointer in the waning moments and Parker Mills’ game-high 28 points capped West Valley come-from-behind 55-52 victory to nab the CBBN district title and a berth in the regional round of the state tournament next weekend.
It also reversed a 22-point thumping on their homecourt the Rams took from the Pirates just five days earlier.
“The guys did a good job picking him up mentally after that.” West Valley coach Tyson Whitfield said. “Shooters shoot it. I tell them if you get a rhythm 3 wide open shoot that thing, I don’t care how much is left.”
The victory sends Rams (14-7) to their second straight state tournament and third in the last four events. West Valley, which is 15th in the RPI after the victory, likely won’t be a protected seed and will need a regional win to advance to the Tacoma Dome.
Davis (20-2) dropped a spot to third in the RPI and will host Sunnyside on Saturday in a winner-to-state contest. The Pirates have been to the past two state tournaments.
Here are three takeaways from the West Valley-Davis game:
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WEST VALLEY’S ONE-TWO PUNCH CONNECTS
Rams junior Landen Birley and Mills, a sophomore, rank first and third, respectively in the CBBN in scoring at nearly 25 and 20 points per game.
And as usual they carried the load with the stout Mills dominating down low and with a mid-range game. Birley added 18 points and the two rediscovered their pick-and-roll magic that was missing in last week’s loss to the Pirates.
“Saturday, we tried some things out just to see if we could do some things differently and we found out resoundingly that we couldn’t so we went back to our original strategy,” Whitfield said.
Mills alone outscored Davis 18-17 in the second half, while Birley scored 11 points before the break when the Rams wouldn’t let the Pirates run away, staying with nine – 35-26 – at the intermission.
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RAMS STILL SMARTING FROM LOSS
The memory of Saturday’s 72-50 loss at home to Davis was still fresh in the minds of West Valley players and coaches, and they used it as a rallying point.
“We took the whupping last Saturday that motivated us and galvanized us,” Whitfield said. “Davis is such a good team, we knew the runs were gonna come, we just had to stick together and trust each other and we pulled it out in the end.”
The Pirates used a 13-0 run in the first and led by as many as 12 points in the first half to seize early control, but could never deliver the knockout punch.
Davis connected on just one shot in the third quarter and the Rams whittled the lead down to two (37-35) heading to the fourth quarter.
Mills would give the Rams their first lead with 1:48 left in the game, and the teams went back and forth before Hill’s heroics.
“We have so much confidence in him,” Mills said. “We said in the huddle, we knew he was going to get one.”
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PIRATES STUNNED
The loss ended a 14-game win streak for Pirates, who last fell to Class 3A contender Eastside Catholic on Dec. 18.
“Today you were knocked down, so let’s see how you get up and that’s what’s important,” Hall of Fame Davis coach Eli Juarez said. “Championship teams get up and respond that next game.”
Standout junio Cesar Hernandez topped Davis with 18 points.
