For the first time in 48 years, Sultan High School’s boys basketball team is headed to State.
An emotional crowd swept onto the court following the 57-53 overtime victory of the Turks over the Archbishop Murphy Wildcats at the district playoffs in Bellingham Wednesday night. It was the first time since 1961 that the Sultan Turks have survived the district tournament.
The team held the lead for much of the game before the Wildcats rallied late in the game to bring the game to a tie seconds before the fourth quarter buzzer.
In the last moments, Archbishop Murphy player J.J. Quinlan was fouled, but missed his free throw.
A failed Sultan shot followed, closing the quarter at a tie. Sultan rallied strongly in overtime, with Clayton Knowles putting up six points for the team.
When the last bell rang, jubilant Sultan fans poured onto the court to congratulate their team.
“When we won it, it was like we’d won the state championship,” said Scott Sifferman, athletic director at Sultan High School. “It was pure joy and excitement.”
Part of the reason for the team’s victory, said Sifferman, was that Archbishop Murphy focused so strongly on covering Sultan’s ace Jordan Nicholes that the rest of the team had more room to maneuver, and they took advantage of it, said Sifferman.
Meanwhile, Sultan successfully pinned down Wildcat star Paris Felder, who only scored four points.
And although Archbishop Murphy played an aggressive game, it didn’t phase Sultan, he went on.
“Murphy played a good game, a physical game,” he said. “But we didn’t let it take the game from us.”
Following a second win Friday night over Anacortes in Bellingham, Sultan will go to the State championships in Yakima rated third seed.
No matter what happens at State, this team has made history already, said Sifferman.
“A kid that I coached, his dad was on the last team to go to state,” he said.
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