BASKETBALL: West Seattle High School boys to play for third place @ state after Garfield’s win tonight on a basket at the buzzer

10:48 PM FRIDAY: Unbelievable ending here at the Tacoma Dome minutes ago – a buzzer basket at game’s end got Garfield the win over West Seattle and the trip to tomorrow’s state-championship game against Nathan Hale. Final score, Garfield 44, West Seattle 43. The Wildcats will play Lincoln for third place tomorrow here at the T-Dome at 1 pm.

This was overall a low-scoring, relatively slow-moving game that neither team dominated, though West Seattle led for much of the last quarter. Both teams were cold-shooting in the first half, neither much above 1-of-4 field-goal success, but Garfield ramped it up with a 64% field-goal percentage in the second half. West Seattle #1, senior Nate Pryor, got his team the lead briefly with their last basket – as shown in our video – and was the game’s top scorer with 19 points.

More to come.

7 AM SATURDAY: The game tipped off at 9:19 pm. Garfield scored first; West Seattle got on the board with a foul shot by Pryor at just over a minute in.

First West Seattle basket was by #5 Abdullahi Mohamed.

The Bulldogs kept swatting the shots away, but WSHS rebounding was going strong, so they got multiple tries.

#4 senior Tyler Lenzie – the Wildcats’s second-leading scorer of the night, with 7 points – put them ahead midway through the first quarter, 5-4. That was up to 8-4 after a Pryor layup with 1:44 to go, but Garfield’s comeback ended the quarter at 8-8.

The second quarter went the same way as the first. Nobody pulled out ahead; things proceeded fairly slowly, especially when West Seattle brought the ball back downcourt and passed it around almost to the end of the shot clock. One such play ended with another Lenzie basket which put WSHS ahead 12-10.

Each team followed with a three-pointer. Then a flurry of fouls slowed things further, and the half concluded with Garfield ahead by one, 19-18.

Both sides came back out defending more aggressively. The pace did not pick up; in the early going, WSHS ran out the shot clock again, and the eventual shot missed. The Bulldogs capitalized on that.

The lead continued changing hands. A basket by #23 Anthony Giomi (who led WSHS with rebounds, 5) provided a two-point edge, 27-25, with just under three minutes left in the third quarter.

While West Seattle continued to control the boards, the shooting difficulties kept them from pulling significantly ahead until the final minute and a half of the quarter, with a Lenzie three-pointer and Pryor basket briefly opening a seven-point lead, 34-27 with :25 left in the quarter, which after a Garfield basket ended at 34-29, WSHS-Garfield.

The early going of the final quarter looked promising.

The Wildcats worked hard to block the Bulldogs. WSHS had an eight-point lead, 39-31, before the quarter was a minute and a half old. But then came seven unanswered Garfield points, 39-38 WSHS with 2:25 to go. Shortly thereafter, two consecutive Garfield dunks took the energy on and off the court to the highest level of the game, and put the Bulldogs ahead 40-39. The two traded the lead – including in the fateful final seconds, when it looked like Pryor’s basket might be the game-winner – and then suddenly, Garfield at the buzzer.

WSHS plays Lincoln (which lost to Nathan Hale last night, 84-60) at 1 pm this afternoon for third place. Ticket info is on the right side of the bracket page.

7 Replies to "BASKETBALL: West Seattle High School boys to play for third place @ state after Garfield's win tonight on a basket at the buzzer"

  • WSAlum March 4, 2017 (12:15 am)

    West Seattle got ROBBED. Blown call by the refs. Last shot should not have counted. Ball was still in the shooters hand at the buzzer.

  • WS Fan March 4, 2017 (12:46 am)

  • Frank March 4, 2017 (1:05 am)

    I was there with a group of friends watching the semi-finals from the West Seattle side Friday night.  It was definitely close but I was fairly sure Garfield had made the shot on time.  I did spot a gentlemen,  about 10 rows below us,  looking at the footage on his cell camera.  I immediately made my way down to him.  By the time I got down there someone else was looking over his shoulder and speaking with him.  I asked if the shot should have counted and he simply said, “Take a look”.  With that, he showed me a frame he had paused the video on showing the Garfield player with the ball in his hand with no time remaining on the clock (the photographer’s angle permitted a shot indicating all zeros.)  

    He seemed like a nice enough fellow, and kind of shrugged as he said, “It’s high school basketball…nothing can really be done at this point”.    I didn’t get his name as my party was leaving but I’m sure his, or at least other shots will surface.  I did hear what sounded like a whistle, not a horn, indicating, perhaps the end of the game after the shot went through the net.  If that’s what it was, according to that picture, it was late.  

  • patrick March 4, 2017 (11:40 am)

    Bum-Mer!  I was there.  And I’m impartial.  I live in WS but my kids go to Garfield.  I wanted to see a great game and a great effort, especially from W.S., and they did not disappoint in any way.  What an effort.  What a team. It was really close at the end, and I honestly thought the horn was a tad late, calling the last basket into question.  But the ref emphatically signaled it was good before quickly leaving the court with the other two refs, so it was pretty evident they weren’t going to reverse their call and that was that.  

    I’ve since watched the replay several times on NFHS, and it does appear that the buzzer/horn should’ve sounded before the ball left the Garfield player’s hand.  I don’t know if it was an inattentive score keeper, bad wiring, or what.  But trying my best to calculate from the crude time clock on the NFHS broadcast, it appeared that the game ran about .4 to .7 seconds too long, which was just enough time for the Garfield player to make an incredible play in less than half a second, even though the scoreboard was showing “0.00” before the ball left the Garfield player’s hand.  

    On the bright side, WS played an incredible game down to the last second, and nobody, and I mean NOBODY is going to beat Nathan Hale for the 3A championship, so WS can still grab 3rd in state instead of 2nd, where Garfield will wind up.  Bummer for WS, but like the other person said, “that’s High School basketball.”  Indeed.     

    • Student March 4, 2017 (12:08 pm)

      Could you please include the link for the NFHS broadcast. Thanks

      • patrick March 4, 2017 (12:45 pm)

        It’s a paid service.  You need an account to get the video. 

  • WSAlum March 4, 2017 (3:40 pm)

    College and NBA all have video replay. Human error comes into play so why not get it right in high school as well and give the refs the opportunity to make sure the right call is made. 

    As far as Nathan Hale winning…nothing is guaranteed which is why they play the games…hello Hoosiers! 3rd place is no consolation when a chance at being #1 was taken from you with no system in place to right the wrong or make sure the right call is made. 

    Whether or not Garfield wins or finishes in 2nd place for us fans of WS the final standings will always have an asterisk next them. 

    To Coach Kef, Nate, the seniors and the other players its been an incredible season, a fun team watch.

    Congrats on your 3rd place finish. 

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