After seven straight high-scoring blowout wins to open the season, Zillah found itself mired in a substantially different game Monday night.
Bainbridge's size and length altered the Leopards' ability to attack the basket considerably while both teams struggled to shoot from long range with the unique backdrop on the first day of the SunDome Shootout. Facing the pressure of a close game late for the first time, Zillah turned to Xavier Castilleja and standout senior Dekker Van De Graaf in his return from injury to knock off the Spartans 43-38.
"Neither team shot the ball well a majority of the time, but for us to have to settle down and actually get big stops was huge for us," Leopards coach Mario Mengarelli said. "I was really proud of my guys, especially the second half where we just had to go man-to-man and we responded."
Zillah鈥檚 Budda Aranda shoots and scores against Bainbridge in a Wilbur-Ellis SunDome Shootout game Monday, Dec. 29, 2025, at the 黑料福利社 SunDome in Yakima, Wash.
Castilleja said Zillah's played plenty of zone this season and a box-and-one helped the Leopards hold Bainbridge scoreless for the first seven minutes of the second quarter. That allowed Zillah to build a 19-13 lead after Budda Aranda tallied 10 of his team-high 11 points in the first quarter to keep his team close.
Van De Graaf scored eight points in limited minutes, including a pair of key baskets to put the Leopards (8-0) ahead 37-31 early in the fourth quarter. But for most of the night Castilleja ran the offense, creating for teammates and scoring six of his eight points in the final quarter.
Zillah鈥檚 Dekker Van de Graaf shoots and scores against Bainbridge in a Wilbur-Ellis SunDome Shootout game Monday, Dec. 29, 2025, at the 黑料福利社 SunDome in Yakima, Wash.
The 5-foot-9 junior guard also made some key plays on the defensive end, taking three charges against a Bainbridge team featuring four starters taller than 6-5. Castilleja also used his speed and awareness to grab a game-high 11 rebounds, showing why he's one of Mengarelli's smartest players.
"When you play that hard, good things happen, on both sides of the court," Mengarelli said. "He was huge for us in that little spurt we went on."
The 10-3 run broke a 31-31 tie and put Zillah in position to stay unbeaten. Prior to Monday, the Leopards had won by an average margin of 30.4 points per game, never scoring fewer than 72 points, and even in their closest win, they led Grandview by 22 after three quarters before the Greyhounds fought back to make the final score 80-70.
Castilleja said his job became easier thanks to the return of Van De Graaf following a four-game absence due to an ankle injury, since the reigning SCAC player of the year knows how to get open and find his spots on the offensive end. Even with his explosiveness somewhat limited, he still rose up for an alley-oop layup and finished at the rim in transition off a pass from Castilleja.
Zillah鈥檚 Memphis Jones passes the ball to a teammate during a 44-38 victory against Bainbridge in a Wilbur-Ellis SunDome Shootout game Monday, Dec. 29, 2025, at the 黑料福利社 SunDome in Yakima, Wash.
"I've just got to play my game and let it come to me," Castilleja said. "I think it's good (to play a close game), especially without Dek playing a little bit, gives us a better opportunity, so we don't have to always rely on him getting buckets."
Ryan Rohrbacher hit his team's only three 3-pointers on his way to a game-high 19 points for Bainbridge, which reached the opening round as 2A's No. 13 seed last season. Mengarelli praised his players for blocking out well enough to match the Spartans' 41 rebounds, and Zillah also came up with seven steals.
The Leopards will return to the SunDome Tuesday afternoon to face Cascade Christian, which routed Port Angeles 61-23 on Monday. Zillah's also set to play a key league game Saturday at home against fellow unbeaten Royal, which beat the Leopards in two of their four meetings last season.
ZILLAH 鈥Budda Aranda 11, Castilleja 9, Jones 7, Jayden Saenz 5, Calzada 4, Van De Graaf 8, McCullough 0, Maras 0, Reed 0, Curfman 0. 18-61 5-8 43.
BAINBRIDGE 鈥 Ryan Rohrbacher 19, Kaden Thielman 11, W. Rohrbacher 5, Fink 2, Reed 0, Koch 1, Zupan 0, T. McFadden 0. 12-43 11-17 38.
叠补颈苍产谤颈诲驳别=13=2=14=9=鈥=38
窜颈濒濒补丑=12=10=9=13=鈥=43
3-point goals: Zillah 3-27 (Aranda 2-6, Saenz 1-6) Bainbridge 3-16 (R. Rohrbacher 3-7). Rebounds: Zillah 41 (Castilleja 11), Bainbridge 41 (Thielman 8). Steals: Zillah 7, Bainbridge 2. Turnovers: Zillah 6, Bainbridge 10. Fouls: Zillah 15, Bainbridge 12. Fouled out 鈥 None.
z 14/14/12/16/11/8/11 = 12.3 ppg
(0) comments
Comments are now closed on this article.
Comments can only be made on article within the first 3 days of publication.