Pullman High School senior Champ Powaukee surpassed 1,000 career points Saturday night in a loss to Rogers (Spokane), 63-53.
Both teams struggled to find a rhythm at the start of the game. Pullman did a good job of forcing Rogers off the three-point line and made them drive into the paint where Pullman senior Austin Hunt was waiting for them and Powaukee started creating offense for Pullman, scoring 9 of Pullman’s 16 first-quarter points.
Rogers played all five starters the whole first quarter, with senior Aaron Kinsey and junior Treshon Green scoring all 14 points for the Pirates in the first quarter.
At the beginning of the second quarter, Powaukee had an emphatic two-handed block that he pinned against the backboard. Rogers continued to struggle from three and Powaukee received his second foul with three minutes left in the half that stymied any momentum Pullman had.
Once Powaukee was benched because of foul trouble, Rogers went on an 8-0 run to close the gap and finished the half down two, 30-28.
Powaukee and junior Daniel Kwon each scored 10 points in the first half.
The third quarter was the difference in the game.
In the second half, Rogers took the Pullman crowd out of the game by making threes and they did not look back. They outscored Pullman 21-10 in the third quarter and a buzzer-beater by junior Brady Krebs carried momentum into the fourth.
Fouls started piling up for Pullman which hindered any chance of a comeback. Early in the fourth quarter, Powaukee had four fouls and Kwon and senior Caleb Northcroft had three.
Rogers played seven players throughout the game with junior Daeante Bedford coming off the bench when Green and senior Devin Holyfield were in foul trouble and junior J.J. Trammell seeing a few seconds of action at the end of the third quarter.
Rogers’ leading scorers were senior Hartman Warrick with 20 points, Krebs with 15, Kinsey with 12 and Green with 11.
Pullman’s leading scorers were Powaukee with 17, Hunt with 16 and Kwon with 12.
Pullman has won 12 of their past 14 games, with both losses coming to Rogers.
“Hopefully we get a good seed and hopefully we are on this side of the state and play somebody new, I would love to play somebody I have never seen before,” Pullman head coach Craig Brantner said.
Pullman is seeded ninth and will play sixteenth-seeded Enumclaw in the opening round of State at 6 p.m. Friday at Cheney High School.
This will be Pullman’s 13th appearance in state since the 2000–01 season.
