After suffering just their second loss of the season a week before in the District 1 3A tournament championship game, the Edmonds-Woodway Warriors looked to get back to their winning ways on Saturday. And while their first game of the WIAA state tourney represented a step up in competition, the Warriors proved they were up for the task to earn an impressive — and important — victory.

The no. 5-seeded Warriors shot their way to an early lead and then held on to outlast the no. 4-seeded Bellevue Wolverines 66-56 in overtime in a WIAA 3A Boys State Basketball Tournament regional round contest played at Bellevue College.

With the victory, E-W (24-3 overall) earned a bye during the first day of state tourney games to be played at the Tacoma Dome on Wednesday, March 5, and will instead hit the court at the Dome the following day in a quarterfinal scheduled for 3:45 p.m.

Not having to play a Wednesday loser-out game means the Warriors will need to win three straight contests beginning on Thursday in order to bring home the school’s first boys basketball state title. That’s opposed to winning four straight games, which is the challenge for teams starting play on Wednesday.

“I’ve never been to the state tournament but I’d like to think one less game is always a little bit better,” E-W Coach Tyler Geving said.

Saturday’s victory over Bellevue (17-7 overall) came only after the Warriors were able to hold off a late charge by the Wolverines. Edmonds-Woodway had built up a 48-34 advantage two minutes into the fourth quarter, but Bellevue went on a 15-0 run, finished off with a Max Harrity long-range 3-pointer that gave the Wolverines a 49-48 lead with 2:39 left in regulation time. 

The Warriors regained the lead after a Cam Hiatt score at the 2:24 mark — and then added to their lead with two free throws by Will Alseth. But the Wolverines still had some fight in them; Bellevue closed the gap to 52-51 with a minute to go on a Tayten Jones fast-break bucket.

Hiatt pushed the E-W advantage up to three again at 54-51 with a slick scoop shot with 29 seconds to go. But Bellevue had two tries to tie the game in the final seconds: the first with a 3-point attempt with 16 seconds left that missed the mark. After an offensive rebound, Harrity got a clear look at a 3-pointer with 11.5 seconds left that went in and tied the game at 54-54.

A potential game-winning 16-footer by Alseth at the final buzzer was no good and the game went to overtime.

In the extra four minutes, Bellevue shot just one-for-seven from the field while the Warriors lit up the scoreboard with 12 points — eight from Hiatt free-throw conversions — to quash the Wolverines.

While Edmonds-Woodway held a lead throughout all but 20 seconds of the first 26 minutes of the game, it was the fourth quarter comeback by Bellevue that raised the ire of Geving. 

“Our rebounding was pathetic,” Geving said. “We gave up too many offensive rebounds there and that just killed us when (Max Harrity) hit the three to tie it (54-54 with 11.5 seconds left in regulation). You know, it’s just like you need one stop and we couldn’t. That was probably the most frustrating thing, that we had opportunities to rebound and we didn’t.”

Bryce Smith and Tayten Jones each scored 15 points for Bellevue; Harrity ended the game with 14 points for the Wolverines.

But it was Hiatt who proved to be the dominant force in the game with 37 points, 27 of those scored after the halftime break. And while the senior scored all but two of the team’s fourth-quarter and overtime points, Geving stressed that Hiatt wasn’t the only reason for Saturday’s win. 

“It’s obviously nice to have a guy like that, that you can put the ball in his hands and know he’s going to make a big time play at the end or give it to somebody else,” Geving said of Hiatt. “But we also got the lead (with) DJ Karl, Will (Alseth) also. We had other guys step up.”

Hiatt agreed that his teammates played a big role in the regional round victory over Bellevue.

“They mean everything,” Hiatt said. “I cannot understate the effects that they have in a game like that. Our ability to come out fast was because of all my teammates: hitting shots, getting themselves open, making plays. And when we’re doing that, we’re a really dangerous team.”

Karl scored 14 points in the game, 10 in the first half when the Warriors led by as many as 14 points. The junior drained a 3-pointer with a minute to go in the first quarter to give E-W a 16-8 advantage, then ripped the cords with another 3-pointer at the 5:22 mark of the second quarter to put the Warriors up 25-11.

Alseth and Grant Williams also sank 3-pointers in the first half to stun the Wolverines early.

But it was Hiatt that the Warriors leaned on the most, scoring from the low post to end Bellevue momentum shifts and sinking free throws to put the game on ice. Hiatt made 15 of 16 free throw attempts in the game and went 8-for-8 in overtime to secure the E-W win.

Hiatt was the go-to guy for Geving and the Warriors on Saturday — a role the senior thrives on.

“I’m a competitor and I’m confident in myself. And I want the ball in my hands,” Hiatt said. “And I want to be able to make plays, which I trust myself to do.”

The upcoming state tournament games will be the first at the Tacoma Dome for Geving, Hiatt and everyone on the Warrior squad as Edmonds-Woodway hasn’t played at the Dome since 2008. For Hiatt, who played last year at a private school in Ohio and his freshman and sophomore years at King’s High School in Shoreline, a chance to play under the bright lights of the Dome is a dream come true.

“I’m super excited,” Hiatt said. “It’s something that I’ve really wanted to do during my high school career. So the fact that it gets to end in this way and that I get to play on that kind of stage, it’s super exciting for me. I can’t wait.”

You can view the entire WIAA 3A Boys State Basketball Tournament bracket here. 

Prep Boys Basketball: Edmonds-Woodway vs. Bellevue, March 1 (WIAA 3A Boys State Tournament regional round game)

Edmonds-Woodway 16 15 15   8 12 – 66

Bellevue   8 13 13 20   2 – 56

Edmonds-Woodway individual scoring: Cam Hiatt 37, DJ Karl 14, Will Alseth 7, Grant Williams 5, Julian Gray 3, Dre Simonsen, Luke Boland

Bellevue individual scoring:  Bryce Smith 15, Tayten Jones 15, Max Harrity 14, Nicolas Norrah 6, Brody Treves 3, Eduardo Molina 2, Matthew Reed 1, Bryce Kageyama, Gavin Wettlaufer

Records: Edmonds-Woodway 24-2 overall; Bellevue 17-7 overall

Edmonds-Woodway next game: versus Lincoln-vs.-Federal Way winner (on March 5); Thursday, March 6; 3:45 p.m. at the Tacoma Dome (WIAA 3A Boys State Basketball Tournament quarterfinal game)

Bellevue next game: versus Liberty; Wednesday, March 5; 7:15 p.m. at the Tacoma Dome (WIAA 3A Boys State Basketball Tournament loser-out game)