.JPG)
Two huge individual quarters powered the Morton-White Pass boys basketball team to another big win in Central 2B League play, as the Timberwolves flexed their muscles in an 83-50 win over a short-handed Toledo squad in Randle.
Two days removed from being led by guard play, the T-Wolves came out of halftime and fed the ball to 6-foot, 7-inch center Josh Salguero, and the big man ate.
“From the very first set, we were going to get him the ball,” MWP coach Chad Cramer said. “He got going. We did a good job of finding him, and he did a good job of finishing.”
Salguero finished to the tune of 17 points in the third quarter alone. He ended his night — at the end of that third quarter — with a career-high 28.
“We had a massive size advantage, and an experience advantage,” Cramer said. “It’s really taking what the defense gives us.”
Early on, it was the MWP defense doing most of the taking. A game after having to man-mark against Toutle Lake’s Zach Swanson, the T-Wolves broke out a harrying half-court zone, and turned the first quarter into a track meet. Hunter Hazen was the primary beneficiary, finishing the quarter with 15 points in the opening eight minutes, nearly all of which came in transition. He finished the night with 25 points.
Cramer called off the havoc-inducing look at halftime, but Toledo still finished with 31 turnovers, to MWP’s six.
“It’s a zone defense that we run, and it’s a little bit different,” he said. “The league knows, we’ve run it for a couple of years. But if you’re not good with the ball, it can be hard on you.”
Rogan Stanley hit five 3-pointers on the night to lead the Riverhawks with 17 points. Kaven Winters scored seven points and had three assists.
Moving pieces around in his lineup, Toledo coach Grady Fallon plugged two freshmen into his starting five. Cooper Fallon scored seven points and grabbed seven rebounds, while also earning the fun experience of guarding Salguero, and Trevin Gale had six points and a steal.
“They’ve been giving solid minutes all year,” Grady Fallon said. “Not dominating, but solid all year.”
Jake Cournyer, playing against his former school for the first time, finished with seven points, while Carter Dantinne had six. The Timberwolves only hit three 3-pointers all night long, but still were able to pull their starters come the fourth.
“A good balance is being able to win in a variety of ways,” Cramer said. “We have to be able to win playing up-tempo, playing slow, playing through our bigs, playing through our guards. To be a good team, a great team, if we want to be a team that goes to State, we have to be able to win in a variety of ways.”
Both Toledo (2-4, 0-2 C2BL) and MWP (3-0, 2-0 C2BL) will hit the road Saturday for non-league action; the Riverhawks will play at Mount Vernon Christian, while the T-Wolves will take on Eatonville.
