Warriors bounce back, move on to Spokane, final eight
Scott Isaak (right) watched as his Almira/Coulee-Hartline Warriors basketball team survive its first loss of the season to advance to the Class 1B state quarterfinals which begin Thursday.
WALLA WALLA - Once in a great while it is always good to be
reminded of one's ability to fail.
As long as there is another opportunity to improve and learn
from that failure.
WALLA WALLA - Once in a great while it is always good to be reminded of one's ability to fail.
As long as there is another opportunity to improve and learn from that failure.
Heading into the Class 1B state regional round this weekend, the Almira/Coulee-Hartline Warriors basketball team entered play as the state's top-ranked squad and an unbeaten power.
Well, ACH will indeed advance to the state finals in Spokane which start Thursday, but the veil of invincibility is no more.
On Saturday, the Warriors slipped past Cusick 74-59 to advance to Spokane but not before dropping a 70-64 overtime decision against Rosalia in Friday's regional title game.
The Warriors (24-1) play Mt. Rainier Lutheran at 3:45 p.m. on Thursday in the Class 1B quarterfinals at the Spokane Arena.
Lummi and defending state champions Sunnyside Christian are on their side of the bracket.
"I think Rosalia is a very good team that came with a very good game plan," ACH head coach Scott Isaak said. "My spin on the whole thing is that they came out and guarded Derek (Isaak) tight to see if anyone could hit any shots and we didn't. For us to be beat in overtime I am okay with that. I told the team we had a legal mulligan since WIAA said we can lose that game and still play for the golden ball."
In the loss against Rosalia (22-1), the Warriors held an eight-point lead going into the fourth quarter despite not being able to get top scorer, junior Derek Isaak, all the shots he wanted.
He still finished with a team-high 24 points but Brandon Boutain was the only other Warrior to score in double figures with 15 points.
"The kids got to learn from their mistakes and still have a chance to win it all," coach Isaak said.
That's because the next day the Warriors took out the frustrations of their first loss this season against Cusick the next day.
"We bounced back well," Scott Isaak said. "There was a different resolve to our kids. Prior to Rosalia we had a happy, almost hyper energy. Against Cusick you could look in their eye and know they would bring it. They come out and put it on."
ACH led 15-7 after the first quarter and 32-17 by halftime as they were well on their way to their third win against Cusick this season in as many games.
Cody Jess led ACH with 25 points, Boutain added 16 points, Derek Isaak finished with 13 points and Robert Hurka added 11 points.
It was a spread out Warriors' attack that the coaching staff had hoped for a night earlier.
Still they live to see another day and they will move on to the Spokane Arena needing three wins to claim that coveted state title which may have alluded them in last season's narrow quarterfinal loss to eventual champs, Sunnyside Christian. ACH led that game by 19 points before falling by one.
"You have to have all the things that you say 'almost' to and have them all be done now," Scott Isaak said. "We then have to put the ball in the hole. I think we walked into Rosalia and did what we did and just came up short. I love the team that I have and our chances. We picked the best night to have a night off and got that mulligan. For us we're looking forward to this tournament and there is no other attitude."