Boys Basketball: Lakes Eliminates Enumclaw With Hot Shooting, Secures West Central District 3A Berth

When Lakes senior post Zach Banner experienced foul trouble in the first half then fouled out with 6 minutes, 8 seconds to play in the elimination playoff game against Enumclaw, other guys had to step up.

Dequam Walls and Phillip Winston were those guys.

Walls, the 5-foot-11 inch senior drained five 3s in the 3A South Puget Sound League/Seamount sub-district contest as the Lancers (14-7 overall) held off an improved Hornets (7-15) squad with a 78-65 win at home on Saturday in Lakewood.

Winston scored 13 points and added a couple important buckets in the fourth quarter after the Hornets sliced a 17-point deficit to eight points. The Hornets clawed back into the game trailing 64-56 with 4:24 left in the game.

"Dequam kept us in (the game) and Phillip drove the car home and parked it," said Lakes head coach Jojo Rodriguez.

The victory pits the Lancers against the Abes in the opening round of the West Central District playoffs on Wednesday at Franklin Pierce High School.

Walls said the team didn't panic and stuck with the gameplan with Banner on the bench.

"We never had the big guy foul out (this season)," Walls said. "It made it so other guys had to step up. I had some open shots and I knocked them down."

Walls helped keep the Lancers ahead in the first half with his perimeter shooting. He sank three 3s in the second quarter including two consecutive long-range shots in the third quarter to help build a 57-45 lead.

Enumclaw's Perry Rockwood scored a team-high 14 points and Drake Rademacher added 13, respectively. The Hornets double-teamed and sometimes triple-teamed Banner, leaving Lakes guards open from the perimeter when he was on the court.

"If they put two and three guys around (Banner) we got shooters on each side," Rodriguez said. "If they’re knocking them down, they're going to have to come out."

Box Score

Enumclaw    17    15   15   18 — 65

Lakes           22    17   25   14 — 78