WP Men Face Grizzlies In Final 8

SPOKANE - In their playoff game against the Brewster Bears Friday, the Cardinals showed it once again. They have a number of strategies to get their buckets.

The men have tireless rebounding from the likes of Matt Hamilton, Kris Cady and Guillermo Hern andez. They have fast breaks and la- yups from Dustin Wooderchak and T.J. Hofer. They have treys from Wooderchak, Hofer and now Tyler Baxter. They have everything in Zach Bartlow's bag of tricks - long distance, fast breaks and rebounds.

Now they will need all that and then some in their first game of the Final Eight state tournament against the Bear Creek Grizzlies in Spokane Thursday. Tipoff at the Arena downtown is at 2 p.m.

"Defense is our calling card," Grizzlies head coach Scott Moe said in a telephone interview from his school in Redmond Monday.

Bear Creek beat Northwest Christian of Lacey 73 - 49 Saturday to make it to the final eight and face Waitsburg- Prescott, which beat Brewster 63-50 on Friday night.

A team that likes to challenge itself by playing 3A and 4A teams, Bear Creek allowed an average of only 40 points per game, the secondbest record in their 2B class.

"Right now, we're going to find out how good we are," Cardinals head coach T.J. Scott said. "We're excited for the chance to compete at this level."

Seven of the eight teams that made it to the Final 8 were first seeds, Scott said. Only Colfax was seeded second and they were ranked first during the season.

Moe, who has been credited with reshaping the Bear Creek basketball program into its current successful form after assuming the head coaching job five years ago, said expectations for the team WP faces were relatively modest this year.

In 2010, three key starting seniors, including highscoring star Jamie Meyer, graduated from Bear Creek, leaving only two new starting seniors to take their place, 6'6" post Ryan Strandin and guard Lucas Peterson.

"We're a very young team still," Moe said. "But some of the younger players really stepped up. The team really exceeded all our expectations. We're coming together just at the right time."

Aside from Strandin, who averages about 15 points per game, the Grizzlies have players who tower at 6'5" and 6'3," he said. From there, it's all over the map.

By comparison, WP's Hamilton is 6'4," Baxter is 6'3" and Hernandez measures 6'2."

"They probably have a height advantage on us," Scott said. "But it's not like they will tower over us. We'll have to use our quickness to outflank their height. The only thing you can do is outwork them."

Bear Creek placed fifth at state in 2010 and in 2008. The Grizzlies' success has created a basketball culture at the school, said Tim Watanabe, sports reporter for the local Redmond Reporter who has covered the team for three seasons now.

"Before Moe took over, they were struggling," Watanabe said. "Now basketball is tops at Beak Creek. On the team, they all get along really well. They're very tight-knit. They're blowing teams out of the water."

Sound familiar?

You could almost call it the mirror image of the Cardinals, whose chemistry and appetite for victory is unlike few other teams in the WP program's history. They too have a relatively new coach in Scott, who has steadily improved the program that struggled as recently as half a decade ago .

Both teams like to adjust their particular court strategy based on opponents. The Cardinals usually take at least a quarter to feel out the other team and learn how to be most effective against them.

Athletic Grizzly players such as Strandin, Peterson, Luke Blankenbeckler and Aaron DiGenova will be a good match for their nimble counterparts Bartlow, Cady, Wooderchak, Hernandez and Hofer.

"It will be interesting," Scott said. "If we play good intense defense, we'll give them problems."

Both teams have good depth on the bench, not overly reliant on just one or two star players to carry the day.

In their playoff game against Northwest Christian, the Grizzlies' point spread underscored that: Blankenbeckler with 14, DiGenova with 14, Strandin with 14 and Peterson with 11. On Friday, Barlow had 21, followed by Hamilton with 13, Wooderchak with 8, Hofer with 8 and Cady with 6. But the Cardinals' averages are often closer.

The Grizzlies are as competitive in the trey department and they come out strong, scoring 28 points in the first quarter against Lacey, followed by 17 points each in the second and third and 11 in the fourth.

That will be something the Cardinals have to watch for, though WP hasn't yet buckled under catch-up pressure.

"We just have to play our game," senior Cardinal Hofer said. "I think we can get it done."