ORCAS FOURTH AT STATE!

The Orcas Vikings boys' basketball team beat No. 1-ranked Brewster 61-51 Saturday to finish fourth at the Class A State Tournament in Yakima.

The boys won three games out of four at the State Tournament. Their only loss was against Seattle Christian, which is ranked No. 2 in the State. The Warriors are also the defending State Champions. Seattle Christian played King's, another Chinook League team, for the 2002 State Championship Saturday night.

Brewster came in to the State Tournament 23-0 and ranked No. 1. However, not to detract from the Vikings' amazing accomplishments at the tournament, Brewster lost its best player, who was averaging 24 points a game and has committed to Gonzaga, to a broken wrist the week before the tournament. Brewster ended up losing two games at the State Tournament.

The Vikings, who only really had six kids playing major minutes in the tournament, not only never placed at State before this season, they had never won a game before at the "Big Show" Orcas ended the season with a record of 17-8.

Josh Gage scored 19 points against Brewster, and Arlen Plaister, who had an excellent all-around tournament, scored 16. The Vikings used a huge third period, in which they outscored Brewster 18-6 to give themselves a double-digit lead, to take over the game. The Vikings held on to win despite a 21-point fourth-quarter onslaught by Brewster.

The Vikings won their tournament opener Wednesday 50-49 over Toledo. Jordan Gage scored the Vikings' final eight points of the game, and it was Gage's free throw in the final three seconds of the game that ended up being the difference. Toledo was a quality opponent, as this team won its next three games and finished fifth in the State.

Orcas lost its second-round game Thursday 69-52 against Seattle Christian.

The Vikings rebounded from this loss by beating Kettle Falls Friday 66-54. Plaister led the team with 15 points, while Saul Sasan had eight steals to go along with his 12 points.

The Vikings' most exciting game of the tournament (it was also by far the most exciting game of the first round) was the Toledo win. In this game, Orcas had to overcome both a terrible start (the Vikings fell behind 2-11 early), as well as a 5-1/2 minute fourth-quarter scoring drought.

Jordan Gage gave the Vikings a lead they would never relinquish when he hit a three-pointer with 59 seconds left to make the score 45-44.

Then in the most amazing play of the game, Plaister was trapped in the backcourt by two Toledo defenders with 31 seconds left. He threw a baseball pass into an empty front court, and out of nowhere, Jordan Gage came swooping down the court to grab the ball and lay it in for a 47-44 lead.

Toledo responded with a clutch basket, and Gage was intentionally fouled with 10 seconds left. He hit both free throws to give Orcas a 49-46 lead. After Toledo missed on its next possession, Gage ended up with the ball again, and was fouled with only three seconds left.

Gage hit what at first seemed like an unimportant free throw, then missed his second. Toledo came back and hit an incredible half-court bomb right at the final buzzer. The shot counted, but it was too little, too late. Orcas won by one point, and if not for Gage’s final free throw, the game would have gone to overtime.

Gage himself said after the game that he didn't think that final free throw was going to be important. "I just figured, 'well, whatever'," he said, referring to that last shot from the charity stripe.

Plaister was also huge at the end of the Toledo game. He had two rebounds, two free throws and an assist in the final two minutes.

There will be more details on the boys' incredible showing at State in this week's Islands' Sounder, as well as photos and a story about the boys' trip to a small elementary school in the tiny town of Wiley just outside of Yakima.

Orcas finished fourth despite having only six players -- Jordan Gage, Josh Gage, Saul Sasan, Arlen Plaister, Tony Clark and Steven Johnson -- logging heavy minutes. Four young reserves -- Chris Rosa, David Kimple, Ryan Harvey and Zac Parkerson -- also contributed to the team's success at the tournament.

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