by Ed Shepherd
SPORTS CORRESPONDENT

Playing against Lummi Nation, the No. 1, state-ranked, team in the 1B classification, the Seattle Lutheran boys basketball team led by five points late in the third quarter, had the momentum, but could not hang onto it, losing, 62-48, to the Blackhawks in a 1B Tri-District Tournament semifinal game Thursday.
"We played tough," said Saints' coach, Brett Kapels. "Proud of my team."

This game was only for seeding purposes, there's another seeding game now, Friday, 6:30 pm versus Tulalip Heritage, and, one more seeder to follow after that Saturday before the following weekend's regional game, Saturday. That last one is a loser-out, with the winner to go to the state tournament that starts March 5 in the Spokane Arena.

And, though, neither the Saints or Blackhawks immediate season future was in doubt for this game's outcome, this game carried playoff atmosphere, with both team's going all out, neither wanted to lose this one, as, one fan from the Blackhawks' side, shouted, afterward, "Best game all year."
That's quite a compliment, considering the Saints came into the game 18-6, overall, while the Blackhawks came in an undefeated, 21-0.

But, what happened in that span of the game, that the Saints led the Blackhawks, 36-31, with 3:00 on the clock in the third quarter? What happened to the Saints' cheering throng of fans, and, good showing of its student body, in the game, enthusiastically supporting its school, from that good time of being ahead, to the end of the third quarter, when the Saints trailed the Blackhawks by one point?

"They hit some big shots," said Brett Kapels, whose team plays a seeding game this Friday at 6:30 pm back at Mount Vernon Christian before it will play a loser-out, regional game a week later, Saturday at a site and time to be determined.

"We let momentum go back to their side," said Kapels, answering.

Talking about that unfortunate swing back of momentum a little later on, the start of this game was back and forth, two teams coming out at the whistle, swinging, so to speak.

"I was ready, and, the team was ready to play this game," said Meyers, who scored seven of the Saints' 14 points in the first quarter, getting them off to a good start in keeping close to the stellar Blackhawks' team in the first quarter. It was 16-14, Saints down, after one.

In the second quarter, again, close scoring, but, the Blackhawks outscored the Saints by four points, 11-7, so, compound those two amounts with the two teams' first-quarter scores, and, the Blackhawks led the Saints, 27-21, after the second quarter, going into halftime.

The third quarter was fast and furious action, throughout, as, the two team's exchanged baskets through the first minute of the third, but, that meant, the Saints' trailed, 29-23, after the Saints' Meyers made a pull-up, leaning, jump shot, in the paint, showing skills for a 6-4, big man, including, being a sophomore, too.
With 5:25 showing on the clock in the third quarter, the Saints' Xavier Turner hit a big three-point shot, that cut the Blackhawks' lead to 31-26. Then, Turner, fired in a shot again, scoring a three-point blast, so, cutting the lead, 31-29, of Blackhawks. And, that Turner bomb came off good defense by the Saints', to note, as, they all created a turnover. That came from the likes of Isaiah Dowding-Albrecht, Ryan Okabayaski, Roberto Duenaz, Garret and Grant Ball, Turner, Meyers. That's more than five players listed, which, is how many players are on the court for a team during a game, but this Saints' team played great team defense throughout by those guys, played defense, staunch, against a Blackhawks' team that seemed to score at will, sometimes, in this game.

Then, the Blackhawks players were obviously frustrated, getting a technical foul on the next play, first, the Saints' team 'D' created another turnover. And, then, a Blackhawks player, on the Saints' end got whistled for talking back to the referee after Meyers had, beautifully, scored inside with a move, tying the game, 31-31, with 4:05 showing on the clock in the third quarter.

So, hanging tough were the Saints, getting completely back in a game, now, knotted, even, in a game that the Saints had trailed by seven points just three minutes earlier.

"Being reslilent," said Kapels, after the game, of what he liked of his team in this game.

'Resilient' means flexible, able to bounce back from adversity, and, the Saints did all of that in this game, and, were just about to do its best bounce through the next three minutes of the third quarter, taking the lead, 34-31, at that four-minute, mark, on the technical assessed the Blackhawks. And, for the 'T,' two free throws were made by Meyers, and, one by Turner. Then, keeping the elasticity to its game going, extending the lead, the Saints went up, 36-31, with 3:00 left in the third quarter on 5-9, sophomore, point guard, Roberto Duenaz drive and bucket off glass.
But, that's where the fun stopped for the Saints, and, unfortunately, began for the Blackhawks, who outscored the Saints the rest of the way in the third quarter, not by a little either, but, by a lot, enough so, that the foe led, 39-38, after the third quarter expired.

And, into the fourth quarter, having done that 8-2 run the final three minutes of the third quarter, the Blackhawks extended its lead on a three-point shot, with 7:00 left in the fourth, so, 42-38, the Saints trailed.
To note, too, the Saints lost Turner to a fourth foul when it was 37-36, Blackhawks with two minutes left in the third quarter, so, that loss hurt , since the athletic, high-flying, scoring, defending Saints players had to ride the pine through the final minutes of the third.

"It hurt us when Xavier picked up his fourth foul and had to go out," said Meyers of that time that the Blackhawks came back. But, also, Turner did not start this game for the Saints and didn't sub in until 3:15 was left in the first quarter, a strategy play by Kapels. And, when Turner had subbed in, in that first quarter, the Saints were tied, 8-8, with the No. 1 ranked, Blackhawks.

"We did great, everyone worked really hard out there," said Meyers.
So, back to the fourth quarter, the Saints weren't done yet, as, Turner was back in for the fourth, and, he was fouled on a drive to the basket and made 1-for-2 at the line, making it a 46-39 with 6:30 left in the fourth.

Then, as the Blackhawks fans, who took a backseat to the Saints' fans, quite energetic with cheers thoughout, including a rousing, 'I believe that we will win,' chant right before the start of the second half, got noisy, saying, 'Blackhawks power,' the Saints fans shot back.
Drowning out the Blackhawks' fans almsot, even, with, 'Saints' power,' shouted.

And, it was game on, all the intensity of a state championship, though, both these teams already knew they were playing for going into the district champonship, and, also, seeding, for the next weekend's regional game that was a loser-out game, to go to state.

The Saints' team defense, then, got a stop, and, with the ball back, Turner got it in his hands and got a rebound and scored it, so, 46-41, with 5:50 left in the fourth quarter. The Blackhawks missed a shot on their end and the Saints scored, not on a basket, but, on free throws, as, Turner was fouled going for a layup. Turner made both free throw chances and it was a game, indeed, the Saints trailed just by three, now, 46-43, with 4:50 left in the fourth quarter.

There's that resilience Kapels spoke of, as, this Saints team, though, young, with the majority underclassmen, were fighting back, again.

"We battled and battled, the whole game," said Meyers.
Then, at 4:30 in the fourth quarter, the Blackhawks scored, making it, 48-43, but, Turner kept firing back, with a layup, with 4:10 left to play, so, 48-45, Blackhawks, leading.

But, that was it, the Blackhawks just stretched its lead more and more, as, maybe, the reality that the Saints were using a lot of energy early in the game to stay close, then, in the third quarter, that burst of scoring, getting them a 5-point lead, and, then, trailing, again, at the end of the third, was a whirlwind of emotion going on in them.

"We were in it most of the game," said Okabayaski, who scored four points but also was tough on the boards, along with Meyers, as both were near double digits in that category, fighting hard for rebounds all game long. "We can hold our heads high."

So, the Blackhawks, ranked as high as they were, highest, actually, and, Saints' coach Kapels had his guys ready to go toe to toe.

No doubt in Kapel's mind that his team could play tough against this Blackhawks' highest ranked team in the state of Washington in 1B.
"Boys believed the whole time," said Kapels. "I was 100% confident we could play with them. I am proud of them."

For the Saints, Turner paced the team with 17 points, Meyers added 12, and, Roberto Duenaz, 10.The Blackhawks were led by Trazil Lane's 23.