TUMWATER — A second quarter where Aberdeen couldn’t buy a defensive stop was too much to overcome in a season-ending 67-45 loss to WF West on Thursday in the consolation round of the 2A District IV Tournament at Tumwater High School.
The Bobcats (16-6 overall) and Bearcats (10-13) played evenly for three quarters, but WF West created an insurmountable lead before halftime by outscoring Aberdeen 30-6 in the second frame.
Aberdeen head coach Mark Buckman said his team struggled to rotate and cover perimeter shooters.
“We didn’t communicate and our defensive assignments broke down. It just snowballed from there,” he said. “At one point, we felt like we needed to help out down low and in reality our rotation and communication didn’t work well and they got multiple 3-point looks.”
The Bobcats, who have primarily used a 2-3 zone this season, played man defense for most of the second quarter in an attempt to stick with some of the Bearcats’ shooters.
Aberdeen’s defensive game plan didn’t yield the results they were looking for as WF scored on eight straight possessions during one stretch in what proved to be the decisive quarter.
WF West’s Colton Baker was a headache to defend in the second quarter where he scored nine of his team-leading 17 points.
In addition to Aberdeen’s troubles on the defensive end of the court, the Bobcats failed to find any offensive footholds to climb back into the game.
The Bobcats hit two shots from the field in the second frame, with Ben Dublanko accounting for five of Aberdeen’s six points scored in the quarter. The senior point guard led his team with 21 points in what ended up being the last game of his high school career.
Aberdeen’s Derrell Shale, left, and Wyatt Johnson, right, collapse on WF West’s Colby White as he drives to the paint in the second quarter in Aberdeen’s season-ending loss on Thursday. (Hasani Grayson | Grays Harbor News Group)
Buckman said his team had trouble executing the offense with all the troubles it was experiencing on the defensive end of the floor.
“We couldn’t stop the bleeding for their offense and we’d come down and just rush shots,” he said. “Some of the good looks that we did have felt like they were were rushed for whatever reason. The whooping they were putting on us in the second quarter really affected our focus.”
Aberdeen found itself down 42-20 at the start of the second half, causing the Bobcats to get away from its original defensive game plan in search of turnovers.
Aberdeen didn’t let the deficit grow any larger in the final 16 minutes of play but couldn’t do much close the gap.
The Bearcats got some key buckets in the second half from Colby White who scored the majority of 10 points on back-door cuts to the hoop.
“You can’t trade buckets at that point and that’s kind of what we did in the second half,” Buckman said.
Though he is going to lose three of his five starters to graduation, Buckman felt like this year’s team laid the groundwork for what will be a more successful program moving forward.
“This season was very big for the Bobcat program,” he said. “We were 6-14 last year and to turn around and go 16-6 and advance to the postseason was a big positive for our program. We want to keep this rolling and we want to do better next year.”
Aberdeen 14 6 11 14 – 45
WF Wests 12 30 13 12 – 67
Top Players: WF West – Baker (17 pts.) White (10) Leandre Gaines (14 pts.); Aberdeen – Dublanko (21 pts.) Wyatt Johnson (11 pts.), Nick Farrer (8 reb.)
