Jacks make a stand

Quincy defense lands a win in state tournament

YAKIMA — Smokey Baughman's stat line won't tell you much about his role in Quincy's 36-32 win over Castle Rock.

The 6-foot-1 forward for the Jacks scored six points, pulled in six rebounds, had two blocked shots and one steal. He did all that working in the paint while giving up four and seven inches respectively to the Rockets' two forwards.

"When we first found out who we were playing, I was a little intimidated," Baughman said about the Castle Rock matchup. "I mean, we are Quincy, the tallest person is 6-foot-1."

The Jacks came out fighting against the No. 2 2A team in the state in the first round of the tournament and fell behind early. But defensive pressure throughout the second half put the Jacks in position to clinch the win.

Although, it was a game Quincy should have lost.

The Rockets held the Jacks to 25.6 percent shooting for the game, were outrebounded 31-21 and at one point, took nine consecutive shots in the first quarter without making a basket.

Castle Rock, on the other hand, shot 47.4 percent from the field in the first half, only to lead 20-18 at the break, partly due to missing six straight free throws. Quincy did manage to hold the Rockets to 21.1 percent shooting in the second half and scored 19 points off turnovers for the game.

"Defensive ball is what it is going to take to win at this level," Baughman added.

Brandon Swanson opened the first quarter with a 3-pointer and Matt Medina, who led all scorers with 18 points, followed with a 3 for the Jacks. From there, Castle Rock scored on two of its next six possessions to build a 7-3 lead over Quincy.

Baughman grabbed an offensive rebound and scored with less than a minute to go in the quarter, trailing 7-5 to the Rockets.

Medina scored a 3-pointer with 4:35 to go in the second to trail Castle Rock 11-10, then hit two free throws to give the Jacks their first lead at 15-14. Josh Wenger followed up with a 3-pointer and the Rockets' leading scorer, James Gehring, scored two of his 10 points at the buzzer to send Castle Rock into the break with a 20-18 lead.

Quincy came out firing in the third quarter with Medina hitting a shot behind the arc for the second lead of the game and Chris Pontarolo-Maag added a basket to put the Jacks up 23-20.

Medina followed a Quincy timeout with another 3-pointer and the Jacks ended the third quarter ahead 28-24 over Castle Rock.

The Rockets cut the lead to 30-27 then watched Clint Burgoyne tie the game with 3:17 to go in the fourth quarter. Medina later got fouled on a 3-point attempt and converted two of the three free throws and the Jacks held on to win 36-32.

"It is a huge boost, the kids didn't know if they deserved to be here," head coach Wade Petersen said.

Petersen came into the tournament inspiring his team by telling them they had a shot at the state title and after pulling off a win over Castle Rock on Wednesday, those beliefs have gotten stronger.

"I feel like this thing is wide open and anyone can do it," Petersen added. "I think it is kind of up in the air."