Tritons Rally for Thrilling Victory Over Blue Mountain

PASCO, Wash. — Edmonds (19-11, 9-5) had a slow start, but stormed back in the second stanza to win a thriller over Blue Mountain (18-10, 11-3) at Holden Court on Thursday night. The Tritons overcame a nine-point deficit in the first half, and completed the comeback in a narrow 77-74 victory. 

It was slow going early on and Edmonds managed to briefly seize the lead, 8–7, thanks to an Avidan West jumper at 14:17. Throughout the half Edmonds battled against turnovers but kept it close despite Blue Mountain's strong offensive push. A late 3-pointer by Adonai Daniel at 1:20 cut the deficit to five, but Blue Mountain took a seven-point lead into the locker rooms.

In the second half Edmonds closed the gap with a 3-pointer by Daniel at 19:20, assisted by Cooper. West's scoring ability was crucial, adding two consecutive layups to level the score at 53 with 9:49 remaining. Edmonds maintained defensive pressure, capitalizing on turnovers and fast-break opportunities. With 3:11 on the clock Adonai Daniel took an important charge forcing an offensive foul on the Timberwolves and shifting the momentum to the Triton bench. At that point in the game Edmonds had a 68-66 lead. 

Daniel came through again with a corner three-ball to put EdC up 71-69 following a Blue Mountain trey at the other end. With just 30 seconds left and a tie game Coach Gray elected to take his final timeout and it paid off as West drove to the lane and put the Tritons ahead 73-71. On the ensuing possession Isaiah Lopez was able to gather the defensive rebound and was fouled on the other end. He connected on both free throws. Blue Mountain ran down the floor and nailed a three, but the Tritons were able to inbound the ball to Kyrylo Kapinos who slammed it home to cap the win.

West scored 22 points, converting 9 of 17 from the field and adding four rebounds. Daniel tallied 18 points with four 3-pointers and grabbed two rebounds. Hunter White was a presence in the paint, collecting 17 rebounds and adding eight points. Karan Makhar contributed defensively with three steals.

Edmonds moves on to the Elite 8 and will square off against South No. 4 seed Lane CC on Friday at 4 p.m. Lane upset East Region champion Green River 82-71. The Elite 8 appearance is the 22nd in program history. With a win, the team will reach the Final Four next weekend.

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