Lake Washington headed to the Dome | Boys state basketball

Going into Friday night’s 3A state regional game at Rogers High School, Lake Washington had one goal ­– the dome or home. The Kangs boys basketball team accomplished their goal, making it to the second round of the state tournament. The team beat Wilson 51-40 to advance.

By Megan Managan • February 25, 2012 2:58 am
Lake Washington guard Matthew Staudacher hugs a teammate after beating Wilson during 3A state regional play at Rogers High School in Puyallup on Friday.
Lake Washington guard Matthew Staudacher hugs a teammate after beating Wilson during 3A state regional play at Rogers High School in Puyallup on Friday.

Going into Friday night’s 3A state regional game at Rogers High School, Lake Washington had one goal ­– the dome or home. The Kangs boys basketball team accomplished their goal, making it to the second round of the state tournament. The team beat Wilson 51-40 to advance.

“We call it home or the dome. That’s what its been about all this week – home or the Dome,” said Kangs head coach Brian Lund. “During the season there is only so much coaching you can do before you just leave it to them. Matt Staudacher, he hurt himself in practice yesterday, so he was at the doctor last night with his shoulder. He’s a warrior; he went out there today and showed us that. So we’re going to take it easy this week, practice is going to be easy because of that. We saw what could happen.”

Against Wilson, Lake Washington was down most of the first quarter, but pulled ahead at the last second, thanks to a buzzer shot from Staudacher for a 14-13 lead.

From there the team went on a 16-5 run to end the half up 30-18 over the Rams.

“Within the first five minutes I thought eventually, our offense would stay how it is, but our defense is going to work those things out,” said Lund. “We were getting the easy lay ups and so on the bench we just said great look, because we’re not throwing something up and fading it away, where I’d be like uh oh. The kids stuck to the game plan, they are very disciplined.”

After the break, Wilson hit the court strong, outscoring the Kangs 10-8 in the third quarter, but Lake Washington didn’t back down, hitting 13 points in the fourth quarter to take the win.

“What we did at half time is talking about how the score is zero zero,” said the coach. “It wasn’t a good third, but we tried to change their minds the next quarter that it’s about slowing your brain down while the game is going 100 miles an hour, your brain has to slow down. That’s what they did.”

Darien Nelson-Henry had 25 points during the game, with Staudacher adding 16. Cody Bernstein had four points, with Drew Heimdahl, Guy Lynott and Jeff Staudacher all posting two points for the team.

The team moves forward to play on March 1 at the Tacoma Dome in the 3A state tournament. The WIAA will announce draws for teams on Sunday, Feb. 26 at 3 p.m.