Sunday, Jan. 18, 2009

No. 6 Eisenhower boys wear down Kamiakin

By Ben Reynolds, Herald staff writer

KENNEWICK -- In the end, the Kamiakin boys got tired and Eisenhower showed it could pull through without its leading scorer.

The sixth-ranked Cadets closed the game on a 19-4 run and pulled away for a 56-38 CBBN Cascade victory over the Braves on Saturday night in Kennewick.

"I felt like we hit an emotional wall," said Kamiakin coach Brian Meneely. "Our shots at the end looked like we were tired."

Eisenhower played without Taylor Elmo, who is averaging more than 17 points per game but was on a recruiting visit to the University of Idaho.

But Jordan Gaut more than made up for his absence. Gaut scored 11 of his game-high 28 points in the final quarter to keep Eisenhower undefeated.

The Braves, coming off their first league win of the season Friday night over Hanford, scored just four points over the final 7 minutes and shot just 2-of-10 in the final period.

"We got the shots we wanted. We just didn't shoot as good as we could," said Case Rada, who finished with a team-high 13 points for Kamiakin.

The Braves shot just 15-of-41 (37 percent) from the field and missed several easy looks at the basket.

Kamiakin, which trailed by as many as 10 points in the first half, closed to within 37-34 with 6:52 left in the game. Ike then hit its next five shots in a 10-0 run that covered 4 1/2 minutes.

"We just couldn't get off 34," Meneely said.

At the beginning, Eisenhower coach Pat Fitterer was not a big fan of Idaho. His Cadets were pressing on offense without Elmo in the lineup and having trouble moving the ball around the Kamiakin defense.

But he slowly warmed up to the Vandals, especially after the way his team played in the fourth quarter.

"It just might make us better," he said.

The Braves were within 24-18 at halftime despite making just 3 of 11 shots from the field in the second quarter and hitting just 3 of 7 free throws in the first half.

Gaut, who was averaging 11 points per game, scored eight of his team's 13 third-quarter points as the Cadets pulled out to a 29-22 advantage. But Kamiakin made a run and closed to within one on two different occasions.

Jeremy Rojas, who leads the Braves in scoring at 12.3 points per game, had just four points on 2-of-7 shooting and took just three-second half shots. Rojas has 12 points in his last three games combined.

Riley Hayfield, who tied a season-high with 17 points Friday night, finished with just three points on just 1-of-2 shooting.

EISENHOWER (56)

Jordan Gaut 28, Watson, Kinzel, Lopez 11, Fowler 3, Berman 6, Kline, Bonser 8, Bradford. Totals 23-48 6-7 56.

KAMIAKIN (38)

Hayfield 3, Holle, Rojas 4, Fletcher 7, Case Rada 13, Mehic 1, Anderson 7, En Wezoh 3. Totals 15-41 5-10 38.

Eisenhower 16 8 13 19 -- 56

Kamiakin 10 8 14 6 -- 38