SPOKANE – A steal by junior point guard Jerome Toby, his fifth of the game, with 10 seconds left in the game helped seal the 1B State Championship as the Blackhawks defeated top-seeded Almira Coulee Hartline 53-50.
Lummi Nation was down by three points entering the fourth quarter, and were still down by three with less than three minutes left in the game.
The momentum began to sway the Blackhawks’ way when sophomore guard Landon LaFontaine took a charge in the paint with 2:17 left. Not only did it give possession back to Lummi Nation, but it also erased the basket that was made on the play, which would have put the Warriors up five.
On the following possession, Toby grabbed a loose ball under the basket and put it up for two points to cut the lead to just one point, 48-47, with exactly two minutes to go.
A foul on the other end of the floor 20 seconds later sent Almira Coulee Hartline to the line, and both foul shots were made, which bumped the Warrior lead back up to three points, 50-47.
Toby then spun past a defender at the top of the key and put up a 16-footer but missed it. It was rebounded by sophomore center Deandre James who put it back up to close the gap back down to one point, 50-49 with 1:07 left.
Toby stole the ball on the following possession and was immediately fouled, but they were still far from being in the shooting bonus at that point, which would come in crucial later in the later stages of the game.
Blackhawk senior guard Karson Revey then penetrated the zone defense, up-faked two defenders in the air, and fed James down low for another two points in the paint and Lummi Nation took a 51-50 lead with 27 seconds left in the game.
The Warriors drove the ball down the court, and a timeout was called with 13 seconds left in the game. Down by one, they had a chance to draw up a game-winning shot, and use all the clock by doing so. However, Toby had a different idea.
That was when he grabbed his fifth steal of the game and raced down the court before being fouled with 8.7 seconds left. ACH was still two fouls away from being in the bonus, so Lummi Nation was able to inbound the ball to Toby twice more, which ran a little bit more of the clock, and when he was finally sent to the line with the one-point lead, there was 5.1 seconds left.
Toby drained both of his foul shots to give the Blackhawks the three-point advantage, 53-50. The Warriors threw up a desperation shot at the end that went out of bounds, and Lummi Nation claimed it’s second state title in school history, and the first in 10 years.
Toby finished with 23 points (which surpassed 500 points for the season), five steals and three assists to lead his team. James, who is built more like a football player than a basketball player, muscled his way to 10 points and a team-high eight rebounds, and LaFontaine was 3-for-5 from beyond the arc and added nine points.
Lummi Nation 53, Almira Coulee Hartline 50 LUM 12 11 17 13 - 53 ACH 10 16 17 7 - 50
Lummi Nation: Toby 23, LaFontaine 9, Edwards 6, Abrams 0, Lee 4, Revey 1, James 10.
Almira Coulee Hartline: N/A.
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