WIAA 3A State Final: O’Dea vs. Mt. Spokane
Nars Martinez
<p>The 3A state championship featured Mt. Spokane and O'Dea. Mt. Spokane was coming off a a huge win over Rainier Beach in the semi, while O'Dea beat Eastside Catholic. If you polled people from all around the state, I am not sure too many people would have thought O'Dea and Mt. Spokane would have both been the final. </p>
<p>In the first and second quarters, the game was very close. With 3:32 in the second quarter, the score was tied at 17-17, before the Irish went on a quick 8-1 run to end the half. O'Dea's bench was yelling "shooter" just about every time any Mt. Spokane player touched the ball and for good reason! The Wildcats can really fill it up from deep, as displayed in the semi-final contest versus Rainier beach. O'Dea made sure to pressure every player on the catch, so Mt. Spokane was not able to get many easy looks. 2021 6'7 SF <strong>Tyson Degenhart</strong> found some success in the post early on for the Wildcats. O'Dea's 2021 6'9 <strong>Paolo Banchero </strong>created scoring opportunities in the post too getting 8 points, while collecting 3 blocks. O'Dea entered the second half with a 25-18 advantage. </p>
<p>Paolo took things up to another notch in the third quarter, with a put back dunk and nice finish in transition giving O'Dea its first double digit lead. Mt. Spokane came up short on multiple post up attempts in the third quarter. Paolo did a very good job of protecting the paint. 2019 6'4 SG <strong>Noah Williams</strong> made some nice slashes to the basket in the third quarter, giving O'Dea's emotional pulse the energy they needed to blow their lead up. In the fourth quarter 2021 6'0 PG <strong>Dezjay Perkins</strong> applied a lot of on and off ball pressure blowing plays up. With 4:29 left in the fourth, O'Dea's lead got up to 24 at 33-57. About halfway through the fourth, O'Dea pulled out its horses and the Irish would go on to win 70-39. </p>
<p><em>Top performers:</em></p>
<p>2021 6'9 F <strong>Paolo Banchero</strong> (O'Dea HS) - 20 points, 6 assists, 7 rebounds, 5 blocks</p>
<p>2019 6'4 SG <strong>Noah Williams</strong> (O'Dea HS) - 19 points, 6 rebounds, 2 steals </p>
<p>2021 6'7 SF <strong>Tyson Degenhart</strong> (Mt. Spokane HS) - 14 points, 8 rebounds, 1 block </p>
<p>2019 6'0 G <strong>JT Smith</strong> (Mt. Spokane HS) - 12 points, 3 rebounds, 1 block, 1 steal </p>
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