Community Sports

Gig Harbor returning to state basketball tournament

The Gig Harbor boys basketball team clinched a berth in the Class 3A state tournament with a 70-67 overtime win at Mountain View of Vancouver on Saturday, Feb. 11.

The Tides entered the West Central District 3/4 contest with a 19-2 record. Mountain View was just 13-8, but as members of the 3A/4A Greater St. Helens League the Thunder play half their league schedule against larger schools.

The Tides Luke Browne who scored 19 points, hits a last second three to send the game into overtime. Photo courtesy of Howard Hawk Howard Hawk

Early lead for Gig Harbor

The Tides shot out of the gate, with crisp passing and precision plays leading to open shots. The Tides’ match-up zone forced successive turnovers on their way to leads of a 10-0 and 15-4.

The Thunder looked dazed, but not confused. The veteran, poised team chipped away at the lead with good shot selection and tough man-to-man defense.

Will Landram used his length to repeatedly draw fouls from Mountain View defenders. For the game, he made eight of 11 free throws en route to 24 points.

Meanwhile, senior guards KeVaughn Harvey and Christian Parrish made life miserable for the Thunder backcourt. Harvey, recently selected South Sound Conference defensive player of the year, used his quickness to get to the cup for 17 points, including a big three in overtime.

Gig Harbor’s Will Landram puts back a rebound for two of his 24 points. Howard Hawk

Game-tying shot

The game was a chess match between two experienced coaches who were maneuvering to produce defensive stops. In the end, one coach would come up with a well-designed play at the end of regulation while the other coach would make a strategic mistake that proved costly.

The Tides led by five in the fourth and were ahead most of the game. But the Thunder hit big shots down the stretch to take a late lead.

Gig Harbor had the ball down three points with 8 seconds to go in regulation. Gig Harbor coach Billy Landram drew up a pick-and-pop play with his point guard Parrish and his shooting guard Luke Browne.

The Thunder made a critical decision not to intentionally foul with the Tides down by three points. A well-executed foul at that point would have put the Tides at the line for a couple free throws — but would have prevented them from attempting a potentially game-tying 3-pointer.

Instead, they chose to play defense and allowed Browne, who led the state in made 3-pointers in 2021-22 with 98, an opportunity to tie the game.

Gig Harbor’s KeVaughn Harvey scores 2 of his 17 points. Howard Hawk

Browne set a screen at the top of the key for Parrish, who drove wide before firing a laser pass back to his teammate. Browne up-faked a defender and then used a smooth side step to gain space. Browne’s 22-foot 3-pointer hit nothing but the bottom of the net, forcing overtime.

“Luke Browne has the mental makeup for big games,” coach Landram said. “He certainly is cool under pressure.”

“I don’t think of the pressure. … I got a clean look after the up fake and when it went down, it was pure excitement,” said Browne, who scored 19 points.

On to overtime

Plenty of heroes emerged for the Tides in an intense overtime. Landram drew a charging foul to take a potential three-point play away from the Thunder. Browne and Harvey buried successive huge threes.

Still, a midrange jumper pulled MountainView within a point with three seconds remaining. Browne calmly nailed two free throws to push the lead to three points, and Mountain View’s desperation attempt at a tie was short.

The battle-tested Tides have a 43-7 record, winning 86 percent of their games, over the past two seasons. They earned a second consecutive state tournament berth.

“It feels great,” said Harvey, a transfer from South Kitsap. “I’ve been waiting for this my whole high school career.”

Gig Harbor will play a district tournament semifinal game at 6 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 16, at Auburn High. Their foe is familiar: Timberline, a South Sound Conference rival who supplied Gig Harbor’s only two losses this season.

The winner of that game will gain a higher seed to state and play in the district championship on Saturday, Feb. 18, against either Auburn or Auburn Mountainview at Auburn High School.

Gig Harbor coach Billy Landram draws up a play in this team’s 70-67 overtime win over Mountain View. Howard Hawk