All in the finish for Cedar Rapids Washington boys’ basketball team against Jefferson

CEDAR RAPIDS — Sometimes it’s not about how you start a basketball game. It’s about how you finish it.

Cedar Rapids Washington finished its crosstown rivalry game Friday night at Cedar Rapids Jefferson with a 15-2 run. And thus a 56-53 win.

“Keep sticking with it, keep our energy up,” said Nate Garner, who was subbing for Justin Decker as Wash head coach for this game. Garner said he couldn’t give any information about Decker’s absence, though Decker did miss most of preseason practice with what he said was a health issue.

“Props to them, they came out and punched us in the mouth,” Garner said. “It looked like we weren’t going to overcome it. We didn’t until late in the fourth quarter. Hats off to those guys for playing a good game. Hats off to our guys for definitely stepping up and accepting the challenge and fighting to the end.”

Jefferson (2-10) rushed to a 17-7 lead after a quarter behind a new philosophy of pressing defensively and running in transition offensively. The J-Hawks kept that lead virtually the entire way.

But Washington (7-6) kept hanging around and hanging around. A J.J. Willis inside hoop made it a 51-49 game with 2:20 left, the Warriors got a defensive stop, worked the basketball around well in the half court on offense, leading to an open 3-point attempt in the corner by Landyn Mitvalsky.

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Swish and suddenly a 52-51 Washington lead, its first of the game with 1:29 to go. Swish, and Mitvalsky’s first made shot of the night after missing his first eight.

Again, it’s how you finish.

“I wasn’t hitting all day, but I kept confidence in myself,” he said. “I knew I could hit it, I hit it all the time. That was clutch. We needed a big basket. I caught the ball, I was wide open, I shot the ball.”

Preston Blanchett Jr.’s putback on an offensive rebound put Jefferson right back ahead, 53-52, with 1:06 remaining. Willis made a power inside move that produced two points and a 54-53 Wash edge with 54 seconds left.

Jefferson missed a shot on the ensuing possession, Washington rebounded, and Mitvalsky was fouled with 8.2 seconds left. Just a 59-percent free-throw shooter, he went swish, swish for a three-point lead.

Jefferson nearly turned over the ball on the final possession and had to settle for a desperation 3 attempt right before the final buzzer that was wide left of the rim. Tough stuff for a J-Hawks team that has now lost nine in a row.

“We played hard,” said Jefferson Coach Wes Bruns. “A 15-2 run at the end. Hopefully we learn from this. This is a really great group. I think the change in tempo has been really good for us. We’ve turned over a new leaf with that. It’s definitely new for me.”

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Kwae China led Washington with 14 points, followed closely by Yealesah Amah with 13 and Willis with 12. Willis had a double-double, adding 10 rebounds.

The senior forward, one of the few guys on this team, with a lot of previous playing experience, had foul trouble and scored just two points in the first half. But he was great down the stretch.

One more time. It’s how you finish.

“Coach always talked about being strong, being a leader and finishing the game,” Willis said. “I didn’t start out as strong as I was supposed to, but I always know how to finish a game. That’s been coached to me since I was young.”

Blanchett Jr. was a force the entire game on the interior for Jefferson, scoring 23 points and pulling down a team-best eight rebounds. Jefferson didn’t make a 3-pointer in the game and turned it over 21 times.

Washington was just 2-of-13 from beyond the arc and turned it over 23 times. Not always beautiful basketball but definitely intense basketball.

“We have this new saying,” Willis said. “We’d like to make them believe. We believe in ourselves, and now we’ve got to make the people believe. We stick together, stay as a family, these are my brothers. We stay as a family, we’ll get it done together now.”

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Photos: Cedar Rapids Washington at Cedar Rapids Jefferson boys’ basketball

Cedar Rapids Washington 56, Cedar Rapids Jefferson 53

AT CEDAR RAPIDS JEFFERSON

CEDAR RAPIDS WASHINGTON (56): J.J. Willis 5-14 2-3 12, Landyn Mitvalsky 1-9 6-6 9, Kwae China 4-14 6-10 14, Yealesah Amah 5-9 2-3 13, Miles Lapointe 1-2 2-2 4, Monty Beard 1-3 0-0 2, Preston Haefner 0-2 0-0 0, Colton Eilers 1-3 0-0 2, Thor White 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 18-57 18-24 56.

CEDAR RAPIDS JEFFERSON (53): Dayten Guy 2-9 0-0 4, K.J. Nyenow Jr. 1-3 0-2 2, Preston Blanchett Jr. 9-19 5-9 23, Avonus Hodges 4-11 1-2 9, Eric Smith 1-4 0-0 2, Khai Gatewood 1-2 0-0 2, Jamie Kaiser 0-5 0-0 0, Simon Ntitetereza 3-6 1-4 7, Deavion Crowder 2-4 0-0 4, Tyler Huston 0-0 0-0 0, Jeremiah Peiffer 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 23-63 7-14 53.

Halftime - Jefferson 29, Washington 24. 3-point goals - Washington 2-13 Willis 0-1, Mitvalsky 1-3, China 0-3, Amah 1-3, Beard 0-1, Haefner 0-2), Jefferson 0-14 (Guy 0-4, Nyenow Jr. 0-1, Hodges 0-2, Smith 0-1, Kaiser 0-3, Crowder 0-1). Rebounds - Washington 47 (Willis 10), Jefferson 40 (Blanchett Jr., Hodges 8). Total fouls - Washington 21, Jefferson 23. Technical fouls - Willis, Nyenow Jr. Fouled out - Nyenow Jr., Crowder. Turnovers - Washington 23, Jefferson 21.

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