Jacks win CWAC tournament title
SUNNYSIDE, Wash. — The Quincy Jacks boys basketball team won the school’s first Central Washington Athletic Conference (CWAC) tournament title in 25 years when the rolled past regular season champion Wapato 67-55 Saturday in Sunnyside.
The Jacks punched their ticket to the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association (WIAA) 2A boys basketball tournament as the CWAC’s No. 1 seed with the win over the Wolves.
Quincy head coach Wade Peterson said the victory gives his team confidence heading into this week’s state tournament.
“We haven’t won one of those in 25 years,” he said. “The district championship is great, but we want the gold ball.”
The Jacks managed to build an 11-10 first-quarter lead over the regular season champs.
Peterson said his team battled through the first quarter.
“The first quarter was real tight,” he said. “Wapato jumped out to a 6-0 lead. We calmed down a bit and managed to take the lead.”
The Wolves responded in the second quarter, erasing the Quincy advantage and building one of their own.
Peterson said Wapato capitalized on two late possessions to take the lead heading into the half.
“They got back-to-back baskets in the last 30 seconds,” he said.
Wapato took a 28-25 lead into the break.
While the Jacks trailed at halftime, the second half was all Quincy. The Jacks scored 21 points in each the third and fourth quarters to roll past Wapato for the tournament title.
“We played real solid in the second half,” he said. “We were able to withstand the rally.”
With the victory, Quincy earned the conference’s top seed to the WIAA state tournament and will play the Anacortes Seahawks at 9 a.m. Wednesday morning in the opening round.
The Seahawks should challenge the Jacks in the first round Wednesday morning, Peterson said.
“They are a really good team, really solid,” he said. “They will be a great challenge for us. I think our kids fell pretty confident they can do it.”
Should the Jacks win their state opener, they will meet the winner of the Hockinson-Fife game Thursday at 4 p.m.
This is Quincy’s first trip to the WIAA state tournament since 2005 when the Jacks lost 44-41 in the state championship game.