Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
With four minutes remaining in a 1B Regional boys basketball playoff game in Walla Walla Saturday night, LaCrosse-Washtucna’s Darcy Stamper stood at the free throw line.
Lacrosse-Washtucna senior Jed Zimmer takes the ball up for a shot in last Saturday’s Regional win at Walla Walla High School.
He took the shot, the ball bounced off the rim and Justin Wargo slipped by the man boxing him out and stole the rebound.
Three minutes later, with 24 seconds left, L/W’s Austin Summers stood at the line, his team up by four points trying to close out the game. Summers took the shot, the ball bounced out and Wargo, a senior forward, slipped around the man in front of him and did it again.
High in the air, he grabbed the ball away from a flurry of hands, landed flat two inches from the baseline and threw the ball out to safety.
It was the last real gasp for the Wellpinit Redskins in a 59-52 loss to L/W.
“I thanked him so many times,” said Stamper of Wargo after the game.
Wargo was surely just as appreciative as Stamper led LaCrosse-Washtucna with a career high 29 points while Jed Zimmer scored 10 and Wargo added seven.
On a nervous night in which L/W jumped to a big lead and watched it dwindle over the course of the game, Stamper, a junior forward, was like a manager on the floor, letting his co-workers do what they do best while not interfering. When there was any sign of slack, Stamper was there, drawing a charge, making an assist, claiming a loose ball.
“It’s been the Tigercat way,” said Stamper. “We always find a way out of it.”
“Darcy did a really good job in the game,” said L/W Coach Mike Jones. “Not only scoring but miscellaneous categories. I was really happy with the way he played, and really thankful.”
The night began with the national anthem sung by Lacrosse-Washtucna cheerleader Gail Harder.
With that, L/W opened with a 12-0 lead as Stamper hit three-pointers and took a steal the length of the floor.
Stamper hit another three to make like the Colton girls, 15-2.
It was 20-4 at the end of the first quarter.
In the second, Matt Stubbs ran the point like a tailback, finding holes and finding Stamper, who threw to Zimmer underneath for 22-11.
Stamper added another three-pointer for 28-17 before Wargo rolled in a shot off a pass from Sam Harder.
Nonetheless, Wellpinit scored four points quickly to cut the lead to 30-24 at halftime.
In the third quarter, the L/W lead quickly dropped to four before Stamper hit a three-pointer and Welpinit’s A.J. Kieffer drove for two, 33-28.
With the Tigercats up 35-30, Alec Fleming pulled down a rebound, threw to Wargo who passed to Zimmer for a pretty fast break and seven-point lead.
Wellpinit took the ball up the floor and Stamper drew a charge.
The Redskins’ Brodie Ford then scored on a nice move in the lane and then hit a three-pointer to cut the L/W lead back to four.
Next the Tigercats began to falter as Stamper kept missing shots in close and Wellpinit’s James Best downed a three-pointer to cut the L/W lead to one.
Zimmer answered though, with a drive to the hoop and a two-footer for 43-40.
In the countdown to the fourth quarter, the Lacrosse-Washtucna students yelled out the 8,7,6,5… as L/W threw the ball around patiently, perfectly for the last shot, which bounced out.
Starting the fourth quarter, Wargo scored, was fouled and made the shot for 46-40.
Then a referee blew a whistle for Zimmer’s fourthfoul with 7:40 left. Sam Harder came in to take his place.
His team needed him and his mission was simple; to play as well as his sister sang the national anthem.
Wellpinit’s Kieffer scored to cut the lead back to four once again though soon after he fouled out of the game on a charge into Stamper.
After a Stamper assist to Austin Summers, Wellpinit cut the lead back to four with a spin move by Ford for a score and a foul, making it 48-44.
Then, with four minutes to go, Stamper went to the line, and Wargo took position in the second slot from the basket on the left side of the key.
He stole the first of his two late free-throw rebounds before Stamper drew a charge on the next possession as Wellpinit pushed the ball to the basket. With 3:57 left, L/W led 51-44 and spent a timeout.
Back on the floor, Zimmer was called for his fifth foul on a scramble for a loose ball.
Zimmer was gone and Harder went back in.
The Redskins’ Ford scored on a putback to bring them within three points, 51-48 at 1:34. Wellpinit called time.
Back on the court, L/W quickly called their own timeout on the inbound.
The Tigercats finally got the ball back in play and then were called for 10 seconds – too much time taking the ball past the half-court line.
Thus Welpinit took possession with 1:04 left, down by three.
They spent the opportunity on a bad shot and fouled Stamper in the aftermath.
Down five after two Stamper free throws, a Redskin player drove into nowhere, Stamper ended up with the ball once more and was fouled again.
He made one to keep L/W up by six before Wellpinit’s Best hit a three-pointer to answer.
Austin Summers went to the line next for the Tigercats and Wargo came through with his second steal of a rebound off a missed free throw.
From there, Stamper and Fleming both made two free throws to seal it.
“On to State! On to State! On to State!” chanted the Tigercat fans while the whole team, and the whole gym heard it.
“It was the most amazing feeling I’ve ever felt,” said Stamper of the sound of those words. “We’ve been playing together since second grade working on this.”
“Our kids have really enjoyed our fan support,” said Coach Jones. “We had a large student section in Walla Walla and the fans were keeping us going. We were fortunate to get through there.”
The Tigercats now advance to the eight-team state tournament in Spokane. They open Thursday night at 7:15 p.m. against Soap Lake in the first round at Spokane Arena.
Garth Meyer is a former Whitman County Gazette reporter.
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