The W.F. West Bearcats showcased a powerful defensive performance on Tuesday, defeating the Centralia Tigers 59-39 in the first Swamp Cup meeting of the season at Ron Brown Court.
At halftime, the Bearcats held a six-point advantage, but W.F. West coach Chris White was more focused on the fact that five of his players had only one foul each. He encouraged them to exploit this situation in the second half, stating, “Try to find the line out there. Be physical on defense and make them blow the whistle a little bit.”
Responding to his call, the Bearcats came out with an aggressive defensive strategy that stifled the Tigers throughout the second half. White expressed satisfaction after the game, saying, “It paid off for us.”
Both teams started strong offensively, combining for 29 points in the first quarter. However, the Bearcats” defense began to take control in the second quarter, forcing five turnovers within the first three and a half minutes and going on a 7-0 run to build their lead.
While W.F. West maintained its defensive dominance into the third quarter, the offense struggled to pull away. With 3:23 remaining in the third, the Bearcats led by just five points, prompting White to call a timeout. Shortly thereafter, Fox Rogerson hit one of three three-pointers during a four-minute span, with the final shot pushing the lead to 16 points. Rogerson finished the game with 12 points.
In the fourth quarter, Blake Hampton scored eight consecutive points for the Bearcats, leading to a team-high total of 14 points. Race Rockey contributed 13 points, and Hayden Rooney added nine. Wyatt Hoffman chipped in with four points.
White noted, “We”re starting to execute better all over the place. It”s really helping us out a lot. That”s been our Achilles” heel, turnovers and poor execution. We”re really starting to put a lot of eggs in that basket, and it”s paying off.”
Off the bench, Alex Stafford added four points and provided constant defensive pressure, while Collin Elder made a putback in the waning seconds of the third quarter. White remarked, “Those kinds of things are fun when the bench feels involved in what”s going on. And I feel like we got those guys in at times where it really mattered still … We trusted them to do a lot pretty early, and they did a good job being gritty out there.”
For Centralia, Johnny Ruiz led the scoring with 15 points, including three three-pointers. Coach Jordan Thomas praised Ruiz”s performance, saying, “He”s gonna play 100 percent, and he”s going to score. I really liked how he got to his shots. I liked how he got downhill and stopped off of two feet.” Braden Baine added eight points, while Trevor Griffis and Alfonso Villaba contributed six and five points, respectively.
Thomas acknowledged that there were adjustments he could have made to improve his team”s offensive positioning but also commended White and the Bearcats for their defensive prowess. “They took us out of what we wanted to do really well,” said Thomas. “They didn”t make things easy for us at all … I gotta give them a lot of credit.” He expressed pride in his team”s resilience despite their struggles, stating, “I can sleep good at night thinking about that.”
As the league season reaches its midpoint, the Tigers find themselves in fifth place in the EvCo standings with a record of 3-9, 1-4 in the 2A EvCo, one game behind W.F. West for the final district playoff spot. Centralia will begin the second half of league play on Friday against Aberdeen.
Currently, W.F. West holds that final playoff position with a record of 4-9, 2-3 in the 2A EvCo, and they have won their last two games. The Bearcats will continue their league schedule on Thursday at home against Tumwater, followed by games against Black Hills and Aberdeen on January 27 and 29. They will look to avenge previous losses to all three opponents.
White concluded, “We got a heck of a stretch now. We”re trying to pay back all those losses. Real tall task, but we”re gonna give it our best. We”re excited.”
