'Anything can happen': G-Prep lifted into second straight title game with balanced scoring, big second half | State 4A boys

Gonzaga Prep coach Matty McIntyre preaches team basketball centered around defense … and more defense. And it takes a certain kind of player to buy into that type of program. But when they do, it can be special. 

The Bullpups have a chance to do something special yet again.

Jack Pierce scored 16 points with seven steals, Jackson Mott added eight points and 13 rebounds – for 30 in his last two games – and the Bullpups (20-6) overcame a poor shooting first half with even more defense – and a resurgent attack – to overwhelm the Emerald Ridge Jaguars (25-5) 52-37 in a State 4A semifinal at Tacoma Dome on Friday. 

“I’ve said this too many times, but we pride ourselves on teamwork and functioning better together than as individuals,” McIntyre said. “And the kids believe in that, and they’ve grown up playing together, and it’s a tight knit group. They want to excel and fulfill their goals and their dreams, and they’re showing that on the court.”

“It’s just love. That’s all it is,” Pierce said. “I’m getting emotional just thinking about it. Like, the love we have for each other is unreal. We spend so much time together, and every single night – nobody’s ever upset if they don’t have a good game as long as we win. That’s all we care about.”

Carter Nilson had 12 points, and fellow senior Ryan Carney added 10 for the Bullpups, who held the Jaguars to 30 points below their season average. Gonzaga Prep has seven seniors who all were on the team for last year’s championship.

“We worked all year for this, you know?” Mott said. “We were here last year. We knew what it takes. I mean, one more game in our senior year, you can’t ask for anything better.”

Pierce – who signed to play defense back at Central Washington in the fall – spent much of the night battling with Emerald Ridge’s 6-foot-7 post Jermaize McGriff, giving up more than seven inches to the big man. 

“I know it’s kind of unreal, but it goes back to that football mentality,” Pierce said. “Like, I’m not afraid of anybody, and I don’t care what you say to me, I’m just going to come right back every single time.”

“(Pierce) is a ferocious competitor, and he has some inner confidence that is just very unique,” McIntyre said. 

With the win, the 2025 State 4A champions will have the opportunity to defend their title on Saturday at 3 p.m.

In addition to the back-to-back appearances in the championship game, it’s McIntyre’s fifth trip to the final since 2011 – with four wins. Including this season, the Bullpups have trophied in seven of the last 10 State 4A tournaments.

“It’s just a testament to (McIntyre) and coaches (pat) Kunz and (Greg) Johnson and coach (Brian) Carney,” Ryan Carney said. “I mean, those guys, they have something different about them. What they want to do with the team, is different from other people, and it shows with how much success they’ve had.”

Emerald Ridge upset No. 1 Mount Si 67-62 in a quarterfinal on Thursday, but it was Pierce with the game’s first bucket – a 3-pointer – 3 minutes, 45 seconds into the game. There wasn’t much more scoring to speak of in the period, and Emerald Ridge picked up a couple of 3s and led 8-5 after one.

Mott scored on a left-handed baby hook early in the second, but Mychal Turner scored twice at the other end. Darius Alexander made a 3 with 1:55 left to put Emerald Ridge up by nine. Mott scored inside again, Nilson hit a fade-away jumper and G-Prep trailed 19-15 at intermission.

The Bullpups went 1 for 12 from beyond the arc and shot 24% overall in the first half.

“We needed to keep getting the ball into the post. That was certainly part of the game plan,” McIntyre said. “I mean, all of the shots that we took (in the first half) were really good. They were in rhythm. So we just said, ‘Let it fly.’ You can’t tell them not to not to shoot. … But I give the kids a lot of credit for their mental toughness to keep shooting.”

Layups by Carney and Pierce drew the Bullpups within two early in the third, then Nilson went coast to coast with a steal and bucket to tie it.

Carney scored with a runner high off the glass with 3:40 left in the period to give G-Prep its first lead since 2-0. Pierce scored twice on fast break layups to give the Pups their largest lead to that point at 34-28 – and neither team scored in the last two minutes of the period.

Pierce buried a 3 on the first possession of the fourth, and Nilson followed suit the next time down to push the lead to 12. A pair of free throws by Mott made it a 14-point game with 3:20 left. 

Friday’s hero Dylynn Groves hit a fade-away with 1:25 left to put the lead to 15 and Emerald Ridge didn’t find a late run.

After shooting 24% in the first half, the Bullpups made 16 of 27 attempts (59%) in the second and outscored the Jaguars 37-18.

“We’re a balanced team with an ‘anybody on any given night’ mentality, and we’re going to do it collectively,” McIntyre said. “We finally started getting in rhythm and started knocking some down once we saw the first couple go in. Then it all opened up for us.”

McIntyre was asked if he allowed himself to think this group could be a back-to-back state champion. 

“I think when you put on a Gonzaga Prep uniform, you’ve always got a chance,” he said. “And if the kids believe and the coaches believe, and you work hard, anything can happen.”