When W.F. West lost in Aberdeen two weeks ago, they couldn’t hold onto the ball. The Bearcats turned the ball over two dozen times, which made a massive difference in the 11-point game.
There was a late sense of déjà vu in the rematch in Chehalis on Thursday, when a 12-point W.F. West lead quickly dwindled to three late in the fourth quarter after a flurry of giveaways.
W.F. West coach Chris White quickly called a timeout to try and settle things down.
“It was like, man, we gotta calm down,” White said.
The Bearcats gathered themselves during the timeout before scoring 12 straight points to extend the lead and pull away for a 65-50 victory.
“We just had to pick the intensity up,” Fox Rogerson said. “You gotta go hard.”
Rogerson played a big role in the second half, scoring all 12 of his points in the final two frames to help W.F. West build its initial lead.
He capped a seven-point third with a three-pointer, and moments later, Luke McMillan hit a three of his own to put the Bearcats up 45-38 after three.
Gage Grisham hit a three of his own to open the W.F. West scoring in the fourth, then Rogerson followed with another three to push the lead to 12 and ignite the Bearcat bench.
“It’s great when everyone can pitch in and hit a three,” Rogerson said. “It gets the intensity up, and it’s great.”
Within two and a half minutes, Aberdeen went on its 9-0 run to trim the deficit to just three. On multiple occasions during that stretch, the Bearcats would pick up or win a race to a loose ball, only to rush the next play and turn the ball over anyway.
“You hate to see that,” White said. “They’re such good shooters and such good attackers, we can’t be making those kinds of mistakes.”
It took the Bearcats less than a minute to push the lead back to nine. Blake Hampton scored out of the timeout, and on the next possession, Hayden Rooney added a layup of his own. On Aberdeen’s ensuing inbound, Rogerson nabbed a steal and got a quick layup.
Hampton finished with a team-high 16 points, including 12 in the first half.
“He really got us off to a good start,” White said.
Hoffman added 12 points, while Race Rockey scored eight and Rooney tallied seven. Grisham finished with five, while McMillan finished with his three and Collin Elder added two in just a quarter of action.
“The balance scoring, It’s kind of fun to see that,” White noted.
In addition to snapping a two-game skid, the win also sets the Bearcats up nicely in regards to playoff positioning. W.F. West and Aberdeen are now tied at 3-5 for third place, and with Centralia’s loss to Shelton on Thursday, both the Bearcats and Bobcats have a game on both the Tigers and Highclimbers.
Whoever gets the No. 3 seed out of the EvCo will not only get a home pigtail game, but it will also be on the opposite side of the district tournament bracket as R.A. Long, which currently sits at a perfect 18-0 atop the GSHL.
This all comes at a time where White and the Bearcats are gaining confidence as the regular season comes to a close.
“We feel like we’re so close to kind of figuring this out a little bit,” White said. “(Tonight) was a step in the right direction.”
W.F. West (6-12, 3-5 2A EvCo) will wrap up its regular season with three games next week. The Bearcats will head to Shelton on Tuesday before hosting Prairie on Wednesday and Centralia on Thursday. If they are able to finish as the three, the second Swamp Cup meeting won’t be their final home game of the year.
“The home pigtail would be really nice,” White said. “We’ll try our best to do what we can.”
