Cashmere cashes in late on Jacks

Bulldogs come from nine back in the fourth to force overtime

QUINCY — There was one guarantee heading into Quincy's matchup against Cashmere — there was going to be a loser coming out.

The only thing not guaranteed — who was going to pick up the loss.

No. 3 Quincy (12-2, 3-1) took No. 1 Cashmere (12-2, 4-0) to the brink of a loss, but in the closing seconds of the fourth quarter, gave up the lead and fell to the Bulldogs 56-52 in overtime.

"We knew it was going to be a good matchup," said Cashmere head coach Miles Caples.

For Quincy, it should have been a win.

"Somebody has to win these games and somebody has to lose," said Wade Petersen, head coach for Quincy. "It just didn't pan out for us."

Both teams came in the game ranked in the top three in the state and undefeated in league. While it took Cashmere the full regulation to catch the Jacks, it only took four minutes in overtime to put the game away.

"It was crucial for us to start playing our game and we did that when we tied it up and took it in to overtime," Caples said about the win.

Quincy opened the game on a 7-0 run and Chris Pontarolo-Maag led the way the entire time for the Jacks. Maag, who scored 14 points in the game, led the Jacks to an 18-9 lead in the first quarter and found Alex King darting to the basket for one last shot at the buzzer for a 20-11 lead over the Bulldogs.

In the second, Quincy went cold from the field, which opened the door Cashmere to cut the lead to 22-19 off a five-point swing from Matt Caples, who finished with 17 points for the Bulldogs.

Smokey Baughman filled in for Matt Medina, who sat the bench early in the second half due to foul trouble, gave Quincy some cushion before halftime with a basket, followed by a steal that set up Maag for a basket at the buzzer. Maag and the Jacks led 27-21 on the No. 1 2A team at the break.

Medina opened the third quarter with a basket, but Caples kept the Bulldogs close with a 3-pointer. Dustin Kniep capped off a6-0 run by the Jacks with a 3-pointer with a 1:38 left in the third before Miller drove baseline, scored a basket and drew a foul on Medina. Miller converted the free throw and Quincy led 37-25 after the third quarter.

The fourth quarter proved the downfall of the Jacks, as Cashmere broke apart a 42-33 Quincy lead with 2:02 left in the quarter with a 9-0 run that tied the game. Miller capped off that Bulldog run with a 3-pointer from the corner with 13.2 seconds left in the game.

Miller finished the game with 18 points, of which gave Cashmere its first lead of the game with 3:43 left in overtime.

"Michael is a scorer and usually we are a very good perimeter shooter," Caples said of his leading scorer.

Miller and company continued to eliminate Quincy with 14 points in overtime with 10 of 18 shooting from the free-throw line, including Phillip Frost's free throw with a second left on the clock that gave the Bulldogs a 56-52 lead.

The loss is only the second for the Jacks, but it ends a six-game winning streak. Petersen said his main concern is to make sure it doesn't turn into a two-game losing streak.

"My main concern was, the kids were down after a game like this and I want my kids to be prepared for Chelan on Saturday," Petersen added. "We don't want to drop two games in a row."