Wahluke boys upset Royal in hoops

MATTAWA - It's been a tough year for Wahluke's boys in South Central A Conference East basketball.

Saturday they made amends with a thrilling 59-58 upset of Royal in the Warrior gym.

"Playing the No. 2 team in our league, they showed a lot of heart and proved that they can play with the top teams in our league," coach Cody Marlow said.

Everything pointed to a Royal victory. The Knights had won five SCAC East games in a row and had knocked off Mabton the night before.

Wahluke had won only one SCAC East contest and had lost a 52-51 barn burner to River View on Thursday and a 79-32 shellacking by Burbank on Friday.

But the Warriors came out with an attitude - nothing to lose. They turned the opening tip into three-point goal by point guard Oscar Onofre and built a 21-11 first quarter lead.

Royal came back in the second period, making nine of 12 free throws, and the two teams staged a dazzling affair the rest of the way. Like all good classics, it went down to the last second.

Royal's Danny Vermeer hit a three-pointer off his own steal and tied the score at 58-all with time running out. Fighting the clock, Onofre pushed the next possession up the court and dished to Dario Prudente for a shot with 1.2 seconds remaining.

Prudente missed, but he was fouled and went to the free throw line. He made the first shot for the winning margin.

Guard Saul Juarez led the Wahluke attack with 24 points. He connected on nine of 10 field goals, including four three-pointers.

"Saul finally showed the rest of the league what kind of shooter we all knew he was," Marlow said.

Marlow also praised the defensive effort of Rafael Mendoza against Kent Christensen and Reed Lefler of the Knights. They combined for 29 points in the first meeting of these two teams. This time they had 17.

Sophomore point guard Oscar Onofre controlled the tempo of the game. He scored 17 points, made seven assists and repeatedly broke Royal's press. And he nailed three three-pointers.