Woodinville Boys Season Ends With Loss to Skyline

Kasen Williams made a short jumper with one second left on the shot-clock late in the fourth quarter ending Woodinville's season with a 57-50 loss to Skyline in the KingCo 4A playoffs on Tuesday night at Juanita High School in Kirkland.

Woodinville trailed 50-47 with under 40 seconds left when Williams received an inbounds pass with one second left on the shot-clock and hit what ended up being the game-winning shot with 38.9 seconds left.

“I was supposed to come off a screen and go and get it on the other side of the rim,” Williams said of his game-clinching shot, which came off an inbounds pass from Will Parker. “But with one second left we didn’t have time for all of that, so we just threw it up and I just hit it.”

The Falcons led 41-38 early in the fourth quarter, but Skyline ended the game on a 19-9 run to knock Woodinville out of contention for a state playoff spot.

"Kasen Williams made some big plays for them [in the fourth quarter] and we didn't," Woodinville head coach James Rowe said. "We just struggled to score and they were pretty aggressive defensively."

Woodinville got within two at 52-50 after Austin Bonvallet made a three with 25 seconds remaining, but Skyline made its free throws down the stretch to seal the win.

The Falcons began the game on a 16-8 run, but Skyline battled back to tie it at 23 at halftime. Peter Flint, who 14 points, scored nine in the first half to pace the Falcons.

Woodinville seemed to gain control at several different times during the second half, but Williams, who scored 17 of his game-high 24 points in the second half, kept the Spartans close until their game-clinching run.

Rowe received a technical towards the end of the third quarter for objecting to an officials' call and spent much of the rest of the game silent except to call time-outs.

The loss knocks Woodinville out of the KingCo 4A playoffs and ends the season for the Falcons. After the game, Rowe held his seniors behind in the locker room for around 20 minutes for a private speech.

"[I said] thanks," Rowe said of his speech. "It's been a fun run. I remember those kids coming and eating popcorn in the fifth and six grade...just too see them grow up and be a part of their lives for that many years has been a lot of fun...

"I told them to hang out, you know, 'this is the last time you'll be together in this kind of setting. You never expect it to end, but when it does end, it's pretty abrupt. It's not fatal, but it's not fun either."