Central Valley stuns No. 1 South Kitsap

TACOMA — After reaching the semifinals with wins over nine-loss Bellarmine Prep and six-loss Gig Harbor, the Central Valley Bears had a chance to silence their critics against top-ranked South Kitsap on Friday night.

It's official: Central Valley is for real.

The unranked Bears from the Spokane Valley, who were perceived by some to have had an easy road to the semifinals, knocked off South Kitsap 58-48 to advance to the Class 4A state boys basketball title game for the first time since winning it all in 1968.

Central Valley (23-6) came into the playoffs with little fanfare, having finished in a tie for fifth in the Greater Spokane League. Two 3A teams, North Central and West Valley of Spokane finished ahead of the Bears.

"It's great because everybody underestimated us, and we've been proving everybody wrong," said junior forward Nick Ambrose. "We knew that we could do whatever we put our minds to."

The Bears face Franklin (22-5) in tonight's final in a matchup of contrasting styles from opposite sides of the state.

Despite their differences, the players on the two teams are quite familiar with each other having spent time together at Eastern Washington University's summer basketball camp.

"We know them," said Brad Johnson. "We've played against them quite a lot."

South Kitsap of Port Orchard was looking to make its second title-game appearance in three years.

The Wolves (26-2) have not won a title since 1950, but believed this could be the year.

The Wolves looked to have the game in control in the second quarter thanks to a 15-3 run that gave them a 27-18 halftime lead.

Central Valley responded in the second half, however, going on a 15-2 third-quarter run to take a 33-29 lead.

By the start of the fourth quarter, the lead was seven.

Just when it looked like the Wolves might come back, Kevin Cameron hit a three with 4:27 left to extend the lead to eight. The Bears hit 14 of 18 free throws in the final 4:16.

"Nobody believed we could be here," said Matt Morgan, who scored 13. "This proves that we're here and we're here to play."

Luke Clift led the Bears with a game-high 18 points and five steals.

"These guys are full of magic," said Central Valley coach Rick Sloan. "I think the magic-carpet ride is still going, so we're going to ride this baby."