Washington high school (WIAA) state basketball playoffs kick off with buzzer beater

Twelve regional-round play-in games took place Tuesday night, but none were more exciting than Stadium's 58-57 last-second victory over Timberline

TACOMA, Wash. - On a Stadium High School basketball team starved for interior rebounders, 6-foot-5 Henry Winskill was a welcomed sight.

Except Winskill thought of himself as a perimeter player.

Good thing Tigers coach Dominic Batten convinced him otherwise.

Winskill's rebound and putback basket just before the buzzer capped a wild ending, lifting the Tigers to a 58-57 victory over Timberline on Tuesday night in a Class 3A regional-round play-in game.

Stadium meets Rainier Beach on Saturday for the right to go to the Tacoma Dome.

After Timberline's Kaydn Ward missed two free throws with nine seconds to go, Tigers' point guard Baaroc Rivers went into attack mode, slicing his way down the right side of the lane for a clean look at a layin.

The shot spun out, but right Winskill, who dipped to the other side of the basket for the putback game-winner.

"The crazy thing, we thought (Winskill) was going to start at the beginning of the season," Batten said. "Once we realized he wasn't where we needed him to be (in his development), and that we could use our long, athletic guards, he came off the bench,"

Batten did point out that Winskill - who is usually the seventh or eighth player in the rotation, has some of the team's best hops.

"He was in the perfect spot," Batten said.

(Photo courtesy of Stadium athletics)