Auburn moves past Puyallup, into Class 4A district boys basketball championship game, 3 takeaways

Carter Hansen scores game-high 22 points as Trojans beat 4A SPSL champions, 63-57, in tournament semifinals Tuesday

Led by Carter Hansen and Miles Henry, here, Auburn defeated Puyallup to advance to the Class 4A D3/4 boys basketball championship game against Camas. / Photo by Todd Milles

AUBURN, Wash. - In a tied game with four minutes to go, third-ranked Auburn turned to the guy who has carried the team all season.

And senior Carter Hansen delivered, sending the Trojans into the Class 4A district championship game.

Hansen scored a game-high 22 points - 13 coming in the second half, including nine in the final 4:49 of the game, and Auburn pulled away for a 63-57 victory over No. 8 Puyallup, the 4A SPSL champion, on Tuesday night on the Trojans' home floor.

Miles Henry added 13 points, including 10 in the first half as the Trojans built as large as a 10-point lead, only to see Drew Jones (22 points), Will Nasinec (20 points) and the Vikings erase it all to grab a lead in the third quarter.

Jones' bucket tied the game at 49-49 with four minutes remaining, but the Trojans scored the next four points - capped by the trigger to a run of seven consecutive free throws by Hansen - and led the rest of the way.

"We found a way down the stretch to make enough plays," Auburn coach

Auburn won three consecutive Class 3A District 3/4 championships, and will now go for a fourth in a row Saturday in its new classification facing Camas in the finals.

Here are three takeaways from the Auburn-Puyallup boys game:

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MID-AIR MAYHEM

In a back-and-forth fourth quarter, one that saw easy scoring early, and grinding possessions late, the play that essentially swung the game in Auburn's favor for good was a heads-up scramble play by Hansen.

Up 53-51, Auburn had a wild sequence with the ball. With possession about to run out, Carter Hansen picked up the ball, not knowing the shot clock was about to expire.

One assistant coach noticed it, and began a countdown as Hansen grabbed the ball on the left arc. He immediately elevated and initiated contact against Puyallup's Lawson Looker leaning in on a 3-pointer.

"I had no clue (on the shot clock," Hansen said. "Once I heard there was four seconds, I was like, 'Oh, I have to get a shot off.'"

Hansen missed, but a foul was called, and he was awarded three free throws. He swished all three of them, and the Trojans led 56-51 with 2:03 remaining.

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SHADES OF 'BABY ZION'

Early on, it was Henry, the transfer from O'Dea, who got the Trojans off and rolling with a pair of 3-pointers and 10 points at halftime to lead all scorers.

The stocky wing player is filling in at the role vacated by graduated Luvens Valcin, who was nicknamed, "Baby Zion" because of his ability to jump and be physical enough to take on guards and post players, which the Trojans badly need.

"(Henry) shoots the ball better than Luvens," Ryan Hansen said. "He’s not quite the explosive athlete that (Luvens) is, but he is playing that role."

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PUYALLUP NEEDS THIRD SCORER

Puyallup's scoring load Tuesday came down to Jones, who led the team with 22 points on 8-of-18 shooting, and Nasinec, who had 20 on 9-of-19 shooting.

In all, the duo made 17 of the team's 22 made field goals - and took 37 of the team's 48 field goal attempts.

The next biggest scorer was Mason Sonntag, an inside-outside forward who had all five of his points in the second half.

"Yeah, it's Drew and Will, they have to be the ones," Puyallup coach Kevin Olson said. "Lawson doesn't have the finishing touch yet. Christian (Thomas) is our defensive guy. And Bennett (Hedman) can come off the bench and shoot it.

"But we need more from Mason."

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