Dylynn Groves drives for go-ahead bucket in second overtime, Gonzaga Prep edges Puyallup 48-47 in quarterfinal | State 4A boys

In last year’s State 4A championship game, the Gonzaga Prep boys basketball team needed every moment – all the way down to Brogan Howell’s baseline jumper over then-junior Will Nasinec with 2.2 seconds left – to knock off Puyallup 57-55 and claim the title.

So, when the two teams faced each other in a quarterfinal on Thursday in this year’s tournament, no one needed to remind either team of last year’s outcome.

These two teams just seem destined to play close games. And for the second year in a row, Gonzaga Prep broke Puyallup’s heart late.

Senior Dylynn Groves scored through traffic with 1.8 seconds left in double overtime and the fifth-seeded Bullpups (20-6) edged the sixth-seeded Vikings (22-8) 48-47 in a State 4A quarterfinal at the Tacoma Dome.

Gonzaga Prep faces seventh-seeded Emerald Ridge – which upset No. 1 Mount Si 67-62 – in a semifinal on Friday at 7:15 p.m.

Groves finished with a game-high 19 points. Fellow seniors Ryan Carney added 14 points and Jack Pierce had 13 points with 10 rebounds. Another senior, Jackson Mott, grabbed 17 rebounds, all on the defensive end.

Puyallup was led by Nasinec and sophomore Quamari Costello with 18 points apiece. Nasinec had 12 in the first half; Costello 15 in the second and overtimes.

“It had gone two overtimes, and, you know, if it was going to go into a third I’m not sure if it was meant to be,” Groves said. “But, I mean, we got it done.”

“That was an incredible game. Back and forth. What a gritty effort by our kids,” Gonzaga Prep coach Matty McIntyre said. “They were tough as nails, and they hit big shots when we got behind. And then obviously Dylynn stepped up huge.”

It wasn’t pretty. G-Prep shot 4 of 27 from beyond the arc (14.8%) while Puyallup shot 27% overall.

“Obviously, we could have played better. (Puyallup) is really good,” Groves said. “We didn’t play our best, but at the end of the game, my team, everyone, put us in the position to win, and Coach trusted me enough to take the last shot. And, I mean, that’s on him. He put the ball in my hands.”

In the second OT, Groves buried a 3 from the wing with 33 second left to put G-Prep up by one.

Costello was fouled by Carney with 24.9 seconds left and made the first free throw. After a timeout by McIntyre, Costello hit the second.

Groves took the ball near midcourt and waited until about four seconds left and drove right at Nasinec. He ran right into the 6-foot-7 big man in the low block and, through contact, Groves got the shot off, banked the ball and it rolled around and in and the horn sounded.

After officials put 1.8 seconds back on the clock, Puyallup inbounded it to Costello and his heave from three-quarters court was short.

“We were out of time outs. So, we’d drawn up the play in the previous time out, trying ice the free throw shooter and he knocked it down,” McIntyre said. “So, just getting somebody else at the top with the ball in their hands.”

“We didn’t want to settle for a jumper. And so anything that’s attacking. But Dylynn’s strong, and I thought maybe he’d get a look at the backboard. He was super strong, super patient, an amazing shot.”

Groves had to watch last year’s championship game on the bench, missing his entire junior year with a knee injury. He returned to the Bullpups lineup in December and was voted first-team all-league by Greater Spokane League coaches this season after averaging better than 14 points per game.

Groves is the younger brother of Tanner and Jacob Groves, who both starred at Shadle Park and Eastern Washington before transferring to Oklahoma.

“It’s a position I’ve always wanted to be in, you know, since I’ve been coming to these games since I was a little kid,” Groves said. “And finally, I don’t know, after two years and whatever – what I’ve been put through, and what God’s pulled me out of – it’s just the best feeling in the world, being able to come out here with my team and being able to perform.”

“What an incredible moment for everything that he’s been through to come full circle and make that shot in this kind of environment,” McIntyre said. “He deserves that.”

Gonzaga Prep had the better of it early and had its biggest lead of the game at 20-12. Nasinec ended an 8-0 Bullpups run with a 3 and the Bullpups led 23-18 at the intermission. G-Prep held that same five-point advantage, at 32-27, entering the fourth.

The scoring did not pick up in the final period, with the teams combining for five points over the first three minutes. Costello hit a 3 to make it a one-point game, then Costello hit a twisting layup with Pierce draped all over him with 1:24 to go for Puyallup’s first lead since 2-0 at 37-36.

“I thought we did a really good job on (Nasinec),” McIntyre said. “We were really trying to make their guards be the creators and the scorers, and we just kind of locked up on Nasinec and (Mason Sonntag) and said, ‘Well, somebody else has to try to beat us.’ ”

Carney responded with a 3, Costello made a pair at the line to tie it with 50 seconds left, and Carney’s leaning 3-pointer at the buzzer was strong and it went to overtime.

The teams scored one basket apiece in the first overtime, and Pierce’s rushed 3 at the horn went awry and it headed to a second overtime.

“You know, you do this long enough you’re gonna be on both ends of that. Nobody deserved to lose that game,” McIntyre said. “And the teams are so equal. We knew coming in that it was going to be low scoring, grind-it-out game. Nobody’s offense was working. It’s just a matter of who can kind of put the ball in the basket at the end.”

Now McIntyre has less than 24 hours to get the Bullpups ready to go in the semis.

“They’re tough kids. We’ll get some treatment, and we’ll ride the wave of excitement,” he said. “They only have 64 minutes left of high school basketball for those kids, so there’s no time to be tired.”