Clover Park Boys Capture District Title Over Fife

All season long the Clover Park boys basketball team has relied upon the guard play of freshmen Ahmaad Rorie and David Crisp. And in the West Central District championship contest against Fife — the biggest game of the season thus far — the Warriors' young guns didn't disappoint.

Rorie scored a game-high 18 points and Crisp handled the ball to near perfection with quick dribble penetration as Clover Park (21-2 overall, 14-1 league) won the district title with an impressive 54-38 victory against the Trojans (16-7 overall, 11-4 league) at the ShoWare Center in Kent on Monday afternoon.

Clover Park senior captain Tana Pritchard — who scored nine points — said the Warriors had high hopes coming into the season.

"This is great," Pritchard said wearing the net the team cut down from the rim like a necklace. "This is right where we want to be. We just knew we had to work hard in every practice and this would be the result."

The Warriors executed their game-plan early with an early 16-6 lead after senior forward Isom Brown sank a 3-pointer with 2 minutes left in the first quarter. They maintained a 32-22 lead at halftime. Six players — including Dwayne Crawford, who pitched in 10 — contributed offensively.

Clover Park head coach Mel Ninnis said the players never think about just themselves.

"They shared the ball," Ninnis said. "They really shared the ball."

He said the freshmen have the ability to just take over games.

"That's how special these kids are," he said.

Crisp, who scored just six points but managed the offense by limiting turnovers — the team committed just three — said winning the district championship was what they planned to do at the beginning of the season.

"It feels real good," he said. "We came out tough and ready to play. We played good and it led to a win."

Albeit in a low-scoring affair, Clover Park's defense allowed just one player to score in double digits. Fife junior post Bryce Miller scored a team-high 11 points. Clover Park junior Dwayne Crawford said it wasn't just the offense or defense that stepped up. It was a combination of both.

"All-around game," Crawford said about the team's performance. "It’s a big game and we just made big-time plays in the game."

Fife handed Clover Park its only league loss on Feb. 1, but the Warriors avenged their loss on Feb. 12 with a 61-47 victory to clinch their ninth league championship en route to the team's third district title under Ninnis.

In the second half of the district championship, Clover Park didn't skip a beat. The Warriors kept Fife's offense at bay, allowing the Trojans to score just 10 points in the third and just six in the fourth. On consecutive possessions in the fourth quarter, Rorie slithered into the lane for a layup then Crisp came back with a no-look pass to Crawford for an easy layup.

Pritchard said it was a team effort and the freshmen played lights-out.

"We have weapons all over the floor," he said. "If a team comes in thinking they can just guard one of us they are highly mistaken. We proved that tonight."

Clover Park — ranked No. 1 in the state — will now face Squalicum, the two-time defending 2A state champions on Friday at Mount Tahoma for the No. 1 seed to the state tournament. If the Warriors lose to the Storm, they will be play in an elimination game for the No. 2 seed on Tuesday.

Box Score:

Clover Park  18   14  14   8 — 54

Fife                8    14   10  6 — 38

Scoring summary:

Clove Park: Rorie 18, Brown 5, Pritchard 9, Marcus Sheppard 4, Crisp 6, Crawford 10, Malcolm Brown 2.

Fife: Miller 11, McCrossin 6, Branche 6, Murrey 8, Cox 3, Broom 4.