Erik Muelheims stood at the east hoop in Spokane Arena and
struggled. It was frustrating, almost maddening. Finally, the St. George's
point guard pulled the piece of net free from the grasp of the rim, turned and
hugged a coach.
That was pretty much the only thing Muelheims struggled with
all night.
The junior guard scored 17 of his team's first 21 points to
spark the Dragons to a big lead they would never look back from in a 50-22 win
over Colfax on Saturday to claim the boys 2B state title.
Colfax was just simply unable to stop Muelheims, as the guard
was able to penetrate to the rim almost at will, scoring 18 prior to halftime
and 26 before it was all said and done.
"I was just using my strengths, I'm a pretty quick
kid," Muelheims said. "We knew they'd be doubling Dexter [Sienko] and
that opens up me through that. If they tried to double me, then we had kicks
outside. It was a good game plan."
If Colfax ever did try to double Muelheims, it didn't show.
"Just an unbelievable competitor," Dragons head
coach Ryan Peplinski said. "He's so good and so strong. [He] gets to the
rim whenever he wants and he has a decent outside game. He can knock down
threes, so you have to honor that, too. He really pushed tempo today and got
the ball up in a hurry."
The Bulldogs quest for back-to-back championships never got
much hope, as the closest they would get in the second half was 11. Colfax star
Brandon Gfeller struggled with a 2-of-15 night from the floor. Brady Ellis led
the Bulldogs with nine points.
With every player that appeared in Saturday's game returning
next season, it might be tempting to look at what next year has in store for
the Dragons.
"Got a lot of them back," Peplinski said.
"But you know, that changes year to year. Even when you bring them all
back."
But that's next season. Tonight, St. George's can relish
this championship.
