TUMWATER — Two-and-a-half weeks into the boys basketball season, Tristan Deville was getting up shots five days a week.
Nearly two months after another all-area and first team …
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TUMWATER — Two-and-a-half weeks into the boys basketball season, Tristan Deville was getting up shots five days a week.
Nearly two months after another all-area and first team all-league season at wide receiver, the Black Hills High School senior was feeling the competitive itch.
It had to be scratched.
So after two years away from competitive basketball, Deville returned to the hardwood and immediately found himself in the thick of everything.
“At first, I didn’t want to, honestly,” Deville admitted. “I thought that adding another sport to my list would grow my character. That was my main reason.”
Behind six straight points from Deville, a go-ahead three-pointer from James Morgan and a pair of defensive stands, the Wolves rallied down 10 points in the fourth quarter to triumph over Tumwater 53-48 on Tuesday night in a battle of previous unbeatens in the Evergreen Conference at Black Hills High School.
It took a 22-point onslaught to erase the deficit and stand as the last group with an unblemished league record.
“I get a lot of alerts on my watch saying ‘Check your heart rate,’” Black Hills head coach Jeff Gallagher said. “Think I got about seven of those tonight.”
Deville lifted the energy with a breakaway dunk to make it 41-35, then he converted back-to-back layups. After Tumwater bumped the cushion back to four, Morgan buried a 3-pointer to force a T-Birds timeout.
Morgan fired another triple from the corner on the next possession and put the Wolves ahead for good. Talon Morrill added a stepback 3-point shot and Deville scored again.
In the blink of an eye, Black Hills (8-5, 3-0 EvCo) went from down 10 to up seven with 46 seconds left in the final period.
“As a role player, I want to support my team however I can,” Deville said. “I just want to do my job. I’ve impacted our team more than I thought. We absorb each other’s energy.”
Gallagher didn’t know how much the 6-foot-3 guard that went 1-for-2 on dunks would leave his fingerprints over games. The last two league showdowns – against the two teams the Wolves usually are jostling for league supremacy in Tumwater and W.F. West – Deville has made his presence felt.
Deville finished the night with 13 points, 10 in the last stanza, and five rebounds.
“He is such a difference maker,” Gallagher said. “He makes a huge difference. We don’t win tonight without him, 100 percent.”
Tumwater made the final 46 seconds count in an attempt to silence the celebration.
Sahara Anthony III hit a wing 3-pointer and after forcing a five-second inbounds violation, Jake Dillon was fouled on a deep trifecta and made two free throws. All of a sudden, the Thunderbirds were within a score.
“We figured out how to make the most of that time,” Tumwater head coach Josh Wilson said.
What followed were timeouts that Black Hills ended up on the right side of.
Another five-second violation happened, but Gallagher got the timeout called just before the whistle. Wilson called a timeout with under five seconds left, just before a 3-point shot swished through the net.
It would have made it a two-point game. Instead, Tumwater got just one look and Black Hills’ players rushed towards the student section.
“I wish I wouldn’t have called that timeout,” Wilson said. “I wanted to try and get the ball advanced and a lot of time ran off the clock. (It) seemed like it went pretty quick. All of our goals are still in front of us.”
The T-Birds used a 9-0 run that ballooned the lead to seven in the first half. Black Hills cut into the margin by going 5-of-8 from the free throw line in the second frame. Morgan led the Wolves with 19 points and Jake Dillion buried five 3s to pace Tumwater with 19 points.
Yet Gallagher believes the difference was the mental and physical strength the Wolves showcased in front of a packed gym behind a newly formed strength program.
“You saw tonight we were able to physically match up,” he said.
The two sides return to the court on Thursday with Tumwater hosting Aberdeen and Black Hills making the trip to Ron Brown Court and taking on Centralia.