Pullman boys hunt down the Stags in boys hoops

PULLMAN — The Pullman boys basketball team ended the month of January with its fifth straight victory Friday with a 2A Greater Spokane League win over Deer Park at Pullman High School.

The Stags took the victory in the girls game as both teams featured similar scorelines. The Pullman boys won 70-44 and the Deer Park girls were victorious 66-43.

The Greyhounds had the leading individual scorer in each contest as Grace Kuhle finished with a cool 25 points for the Pullman girls to lead all scorers who played on the night and Daniel Kwon led the boys game with 22 points.

Both teams that entered Friday’s showdown with the better record came out on top. Here’s how the games rounded out:

Never a doubt for Pullman boys

Before the opening second ticked off the clock, Kwon had two points and the Pullman Greyhounds (12-4, 7-1) had an early lead thanks to the refs assessing Deer Park (2-14, 0-8) a technical foul for an error in the scorebook.

Kwon and the Hounds used that early advantage to take an 11-0 lead in the opening minutes, a lead that blossomed into a 16-2 advantage before the opening quarter ended and eventually a 34-16 lead at halftime thanks in part to sophomore guard Vaughn Holstad’s 13 points.

As the third quarter came to a close, two players on Pullman had outscored the entire Deer Park team. Despite not scoring in the entire quarter, Holstad’s 13 points combined with Kwon’s 19 to give the Greyhounds a sizable advantage.

The duo of Holstad and Kwon were not alone atop double-digit scorers; guard Cade Rogers finished the night with 12 points, exclusively coming from beyond the arc in a 4-of-6 shooting performance from deep for the sophomore.

Eventually the final buzzer ended a game long decided, Pullman exiting the gym with a dominant 26-point victory over the still winless-in-league Deer Park Stags.

“The boys focused up today. We know we’ve got a big game coming up on Tuesday (against West Valley) but we stayed focused on the one ahead of us first,” Pullman coach Craig Brantner said. “Now we’re excited to get started prepping for a matchup against the top of the league.”

Stags flip scoring switch at halftime to take down Pullman girls

Entering halftime of the girls game, Deer Park (16-0, 8-0) had a 24-21 lead over Pullman (9-7, 4-4) despite forcing turnovers on half of the Greyhounds’ first-quarter possessions and having several open looks on fast-break opportunities.

Despite the Stags’ undefeated record, the Greyhounds looked primed for an upset opportunity as they continued to keep the score within a single possession as the buzzer sounded for the teams to head into the locker room.

Deer Park coach KC Ahrens said the team knew it was a game it should be winning, and that is what he told his team during the break between halves to get them back on track.

“The pressure (of being undefeated) ramps up as the season progresses. It’s good to get these games with adversity where we prove we’re as good as our record,” Ahrens said.

Quickly in the third quarter, the tandem of senior guard Brooklyn Coe, junior guard Jacey Boesel and sophomore guard Ashlan Bryant began scoring in bunches. By the end of the quarter, the Stags had doubled their points to take a commanding 48-32 lead — a lead they held onto for a 66-43 win.

Pullman’s Kuhle had done all she could to keep her team in the game, entering the fourth quarter with 20 points in her individual effort and finishing with 25 overall to lead all players on the floor.

Halftime adjustments to meet expectations

In both games, teams and players had to make halftime adjustments to meet the expectations they held themselves going into the contests.

For the girls, it was Deer Park’s entire team executing transitions and staying out of foul trouble.

“We had foul trouble early, but after the half, I felt like we were able to play our best players more and just got in our flow off that,” Ahrens said.

As for the boys game, the biggest adjustment came at the individual level. After finishing the first half noticeably more passive than usual, Kwon constantly found himself near the rim and scoring the ball in the third quarter.

“Coach Brantner was telling me to be more aggressive at half,” Kwon said. “All my looks in the first half were forced, but I stopped thinking about when to take shots and started just playing the game, having fun.”

Brantner said it’s unusual to see Kwon not be aggressive so it was just about getting him back into his playstyle.

“He kind of just started playing like he normally does, and did a good job at that,” Brantner said. “We need him to score like he can and today he was.”

Both the Pullman boys and Deer Park girls have league title opportunities ahead of them and have high ambitions for the state tournament at the end of the year, something their halftime adjustments will be necessary for them to find success in.

“We try keeping the same mentality, trying to play the same way against the best team in the league and the worst team in the league,” Kwon said. “Keeping that mentality is going to help us in these big league games and at State.”

BOYS

Pullman 70, Deer Park 44

DEER PARK (2-14, 0-8)

Cooper Rich 0 0-0 0, Adam Dennis 2 0-0 4, Sam Bates 1 0-2 2, Kruz Kreuss 1 0-0 3, Devin Kemano 2 5-6 11, Jayden Wilson 0 2-2 2, Aidan Martin 4 0-0 9, Abdu Isakh 1 0-2 2, Rudy Phillips 1 0-0 2, Brody Chapman 3 0-0 7. Totals 15 10-15 44.

PULLMAN (11-4, 6-1)

Gavyn Dealy 4 0-0 8, Cade Rogers 4 0-0 12, Daniel Kwon 7 8-10 22, Vaughn Holstad 5 0-0 13, Daniel Liaina 1 0-0 2, Owen Brannan 4 0-0 8, Ryan Ha 1 1-2 4, Evan Anderson 0 1-2 1. Totals 26 10-16 70.

Deer Park 8 8 14 44—44

Pullman 21 13 20 16—70

3-point goals — Kemano 2, Chapman, Martin, Rogers 4, Holstad 3, Ha.

GIRLS

Deer Park 66, Pullman 43

PULLMAN (9-7, 4-4)

Bri Rasmussen 1 1-4 3, Grace Kuhle 6 11-15 25, Olivia Whitworth 0 0-0 0, Ada Harris 0 0-0 0, Taylor Darling 0 0-2 0, River Sykes 4 3-6 11, Taylor Cromie 1 0-0 2, Eloise Clark 1 0-0 2, Inara Driskell 0 0-0 0. Totals 28 6-15 43.

DEER PARK (16-0, 8-0)

Olivia Gannon 3 1-2 10, Brooklyn Coe 6 0-0 16, Berlyn Zimmerer 2 1-2 6, Jacey Boesel 5 6-8 18, Ashlan Bryant 4 2-4 11, Kaylee Reiter 0 0-0 0, Kaitlyn Scott 0 0-0 0, Emma Bryant 1 3-6 5, Katelyn Reiter 0 0-0 0, Kaycee Haney 0 0-0 0, Erin Kanrilak-Wolf 0 0-0 0. Totals 21 13-21 66.

Deer Park 11 13 24 18—66

Pullman 11 10 11 11—43

3-point goals — Coe 4, Gannon 3, Zimmerer, Boesel 2, A. Bryant, Kuhle 2.