With go-to player – 6-foot-9 center Zach Banner – on the bench with foul trouble for much of the game, a pair of undersized guards lifted Lakes High.

Dequam Walls and Phillip Winston hit clutch shots in key moments of the 3A boys basketball sub-district loser-out contest Saturday afternoon, leading Lakes to a 78-65 win over Enumclaw and keeping the defending state champion’s season alive.

“Dequam Walls kept us in the game,” Lakes coach JoJo Rodriguez said, “and Phillip Winston brought us home.”

Ninth-ranked Lakes owned a double-digit lead for most of the second half, but when leading scorer Banner fouled out with six minutes to play, Enumclaw made a run at the Lancers.
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A year ago, Sumner High’s boys basketball team probably doesn’t turn a three-point lead at halftime into a runaway victory.

Spartans coach Brett McDaniel points to near-misses during the early part of last season’s schedule as proof that his team was still figuring out its place.

“If it was close, they were coming out wondering if they were going to win,” McDaniel said. “Now they believe they’re going to win.”

No doubt about that.

The eighth-ranked Spartans ran away from district rival Bonney Lake in the second half, thumping the Panthers 63-42 Saturday night at Sumner.
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Editor’s note: We’re publishing our league-by-league basketball previews this week. We’ll run one or two previews each day this week.

SPSL 3A BOYS BASKETBALL PREVIEW CAPSULES

CRYSTAL BALL
1. Lakes (25-3)
2. Decatur (17-9)
3. Auburn Mountainview (9-13)
4. Enumclaw (7-13)
5. Bonney Lake (7-14)
6. Peninsula (3-18)
*2010-11 records

STARTING FIVE
F Nate Guy 6-6 Sr. Lakes
Has developed into one of the best players in the South Sound, if not state

C Zach Banner 6-9 Sr. Lakes
Biggest big man in the state can gobble up boards, pile up put-backs

W Marion Beauchamp 6-3 Sr. Auburn Mountainview
First-team all-league player averaged 14.3 points. 7 rebounds per game

G Dom Hunter 6-0 Sr. Decatur
Someone must pick up scoring slack for Gators, Hunter is talented enough

G Andrew Holloway 6-2 Sr. Lakes
Point guard is at his best in the biggest games, which Lakes will have many of

FASTBREAK
Defending state champion Lakes intends on keeping the state trophy on campus, and with three starters back, plus the return of capable role players and talented newcomers, the Lancers could do exactly that. Read more »

Home state play-in games in early November are starting to become the norm around Peninsula High School.

The seventh-ranked Seahawks assured themselves of another one – their third in the past four seasons – after routing Decatur, 48-3, at Roy Anderson Field in Purdy.

It appears after Peninsula finishes up the regular season next week at Enumclaw, a likely playoff game against Mount Si, the KingCo 3A’s third seed, will happen in the 10th week.

“That is huge for us,” Peninsula coach Ross Filkins said “We love playing at Roy Anderson Field. It will be big for our seniors to play there one more time. We were locked on that tonight.”
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SPSL 3A
At Lakes 69, Enumcalaw 0: The No. 2 Lancers scored on seven touchdowns of 40 yards or longer – highlighted by Charles Hall’s 95-yard scamper in the first quarter – in a big win at Harry E. Lang Stadium.

At Bonney Lake 49, Decatur 6: Chris Brown tossed a school-record seven touchdown passes – four going to Zach Zaragoza (16, 20, 12 and 22 yards) and the Panthers won at Sunset Chev Stadium.
Decatur was limited to 83 total yards.

SPSL 2A
Steilacoom 30, at Fife 25: Jacob Esseln won it for the Sentinels with his 1-yard touchdown run in the final minutes as the Steilacoom won on the road.
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FIVE THINGS TO WATCH IN WEEK 7

LAKES OFFENSIVE CLICKING
Lakes’ offense is on pace to shatter the SPSL 3A’s single-season scoring record. Through six games, the Lancers have scored 305 points, averaging 50.8 points per game. Lakes owns the current record of 438 points, which it set in 2009. The Lancers have been quick starters in 2011, outscoring opponents 248-16 in the first half. Lakes has gotten its point-scoring production from an ensemble cast – five players have scored four touchdowns or more.

WORST TO FIRST AT WHITE RIVER?
White River can take a big step toward claiming the SPSL 2A title and a inch closer to a worst-to-first turnaround with a win on Friday against Franklin Pierce. A victory would give the Hornets a two-game lead in the conference with two regular season games remaining. However, a Cardinals win would move Franklin Pierce into a first-place tie with White River and set the stage for a wild finish, like last fall when numerous tie-breaker scenarios were possible.
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Three to See in Week 5

SPSL SOUTH
No. 9 Federal Way (4-0 overall, 4-0 league) at Bethel (3-1 overall, 3-0 league), 7 tonight

Lowdown: Federal Way’s dynamite defense collides with Bethel’s barnstorming offense in a contest that could determine the league champion. Led by DB D.J. May, LB Jordan Pulu and NG Uso Olive, the Eagles have stymied opposing offenses, holding them to only 54 points. Federal Way is particularly tough against the run, allowing a league-best 56.5 yards per game. But pass defense has been Federal Way’s Achilles heel – the Eagles rank dead-last in the league, allowing 186 yards per game. That bodes well for Bethel QB Justin Hordyk, who’s thrown for 838 yards and 8 TDs. Hordyk leads the SPSL in total offense, averaging 302 yards per game. RB Jeffrey Holder (359 yards and 7 TDs) gets the bulk of the Braves’ carries, while WRs Brandon Kirian and David Fontenette are Hordyk’s top targets.

TNT pick: Bethel 33, Federal Way 31
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It was the green-light showcase of football Friday night at Sunset Chev Stadium – go, go and go.

In the end, tenth-ranked Bonney Lake High had one more score in it that did visiting Lincoln High.

Joey Surber scored a short touchdown run with eight minutes remaining, and the Abes’ final drive stalled in the red zone as Bonney Lake pulled out a 55-47 non-league victory in Sumner.

The two teams combined for 1,020 yards – with the Abes accounting for 564 of it. In fact, they went over 500 yards of offense for a third consecutive game.

“It was fun, but it was also killing me,” Bonney Lake coach Chad Barrett said. “It was back and forth.”
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