Chaos reigns as Wolves down Sultan

YAKIMA, Wash. — Most basketball coaches want their practices to be orderly. They want them to contain a structured regimentation and routine.

Not Adam Strom.

“I tell the kids what I want in practice is chaos,” the Wapato mentor said after his team’s 56-39 defeat of Sultan in a first-round Class 2A state tournament game Wednesday in the SunDome. “I tell them I want a chaotic environment.”

Wapato's Rigo Alvarado, left, and Willie Blodgett defend Sultan's Michael La Munyon during the 2A state tournament Wednesday, March 11, 2009. (Andy Sawyer/Yakima Herald-Republic)

Which is precisely what the Wolves created for the opposing Turks, and the result will be a quarterfinal berth at 7:30 p.m. today opposite River Ridge.

The Hawks, of Lacey, had won the Southwest District title by upsetting second-ranked Mark Morris and snapping the Monarchs’ 16-game winning streak.

And we all know what Wapato’s Lower Valley neighbor, Toppenish, did against Mark Morris earlier Wednesday.

“That was a tough act to follow,” Strom said, smiling.

But the sixth-ranked Wolves (17-6) were equal to the task, engaging Sultan (15-10) in an up-and-down, helter-skelter contest that helped them prevail without the familiar help of the 3-pointer.

Not only did Wapato make only 3 of 16 from long distance, it didn’t make any during the game’s final 22 minutes.

But that slowed neither Willie Blodgett’s repeated assaults on the rim nor Matt Guevara’s carefully calculated moves inside. They led the Wolves with 18 and 17 points, respectively, with Guevara getting 13 in the second half.

“That’s sort of the way we work,” said Guevara, an elusive 6-foot-2 junior. “I usually start a little slow and let Willie take the game over. Then in the second half is when I get more opportunities, and do things to help the team.”

In this case, Guevara helped the Wolves maintain a 29-18 halftime lead that featured a closing 9-0 run. Then Wapato started the fourth quarter with a 14-2 burst for a 52-32 cushion with 2:24 to play.

The Wolves’ up-tempo style, in which they persistently press the issue on offense and pressure the ball on defense, resulted in 20 Sultan turnovers.

A Blodgett steal and layup started Wapato’s final, decisive burst and another steal and two free throws by Jacoby Howe followed.

“We really didn’t know much about those guys,” Blodgett said, “so we just tried to do what we usually do and keep the pressure on. With the different shooting background here, a lot of shooters struggle and we didn’t have the 3-ball today. But we were able to compensate by getting points in other ways, especially in the second half.”

The Turks shot only 25 percent for the game, compared with Wapato’s 41, though the compiled a 40-34 rebounding advantage.

Jordan Nicholes scored 18 points to lead Sultan (15-10), making its first state appearance in 48 years. The Turks will meet North Mason at 12:30 p.m. today in a loser-out game.

“To get the first one is a good feeling,” said Strom, who led Wapato to the tournament in 2008, though the Wolves didn’t place. “None of these players was on that last team we got here with, so to see them respond the way they did today was great. We’ll just try to keep going.”