[ t o u r n e y t o w n . c o m -- 2010 Class 1A boys state tournament ]

Mabton -- Johnson 5-6 1-1 11, Carrasco 3-18 0-0 7, Gael 0-3 0-0 0, Herrera 2-6 0-0 5, Sanchez 2-7 0-0 4, Diaz 0-0 0-0 0, Huecias 0-3 0-1 0, Nash 2-11 2-4 8, Strickland 2-6 0-0 4, Garcia 0-0 0-0 0, Salinas 0-0 0-0 0, Rodriguez 2-3 0-1 4. Totals 18-63 3-7 43.

Bellevue Christian -- Pattison 1-4 0-0 3, Breilh 0-0 0-0 0, Hanstad 0-0 0-0 0, Pressey 2-5 1-2 6, Catlett 0-0 0-0 0, Downs 6-15 6-9 19, Schubert 2-4 3-4 7, Glassey 1-2 0-0 2, L. VanderBrink 2-2 1-2 5, Oldham 1-2 0-2 2, J. VanderBrink 8-12 1-2 17. Totals 23-46 12-21 61.

Mabton

Bellevue Christian

3-point goals--M 4-23 (Nash 2-7, Herrera 1-4, Carrasco 1-9, Strickland 0-3), BC 3-9 (Pattison 1-1, Pressey 1-1, Downs 1-6, Glassey 0-1). Rebounds--M 31 (Herrera 6, Carrasco 6), BC 40 (Downs 8, J. VandenBrink 8). Assists--M 9 (Carrasco 6), BC 8 (Downs 3, Schubert 3). Steals--M 7 (Carrasco 3), BC 2. Blocked shots--M 0, BC 3 (J. VandenBrink 2). Fouled out--None. Total fouls--M 20, BC 15. Technical fouls--None. Turnovers--M 14, BC 18.

For one thing, Bellevue Christian is tall.

For another, the Vikings are big -- as in husky and strong. They're also fairly quick and very skilled.

Mabton, meanwhile, was its usual determined self Wednesday night. But in the final analysis, taller, bigger BC was too many things the Mabton wasn't, and the differences computed to a 61-43 victory in a Class 1A state tournament opener in the SunDome.

"To me, the difference was fundamentals," Viks coach Brock Ledgerwood said. "They were more disciplined, and did the little things better than we did."

That Mabton (15-9) will oppose Chelan on Thursday in a 2 p.m. loser-out game was not due to lack of effort. Mabton's Vikings played hard and won more than their share of loose-ball battles.

But Bellevue Christian, which numbers two championships among its eight consecutive tournament placings, got 19 points from 6-foot senior guard David Downs and 17 points and a game-high eight rebounds from freshman Jake VandenBrink who not only stands 6-8, but is sturdy and well-schooled as well.

BC (18-6) will meet Vashon Island in a 9 o'clock quarterfinal Thursday.

"Defensively," Ledgerwood said, "they did a good job and for awhile we ran our stuff and got some good shots. But too often instead of catching the ball and attacking, we caught and hesitated, and then we relied too much on jump shots."

Which might have coaxed BC out of its active 2-3 zone had more of them fallen, especially those Mabton took from beyond the 3-point line. But the Vikings finished only 4 of 23 from deep, and BC compiled a 40-31 rebounding advantage and typically worked the ball for high-percentage shots.

"You look at the second half," Ledgerwood said, "and they took only one three. We took 14. They were executing, getting the ball to the right spots, and we weren't."

At that, Mabton was within 24-21 before Bellevue Christian scored the final five points of the first half for a 29-21 intermission lead. And the Viks trailed only 37-30 with 3:30 left in the third quarter before BC settled the issue with a 22-3 run that carried to the 4:26 mark of the fourth.

Carmen Johnson came off the bench to score 11 points on 5-of-6 field goal shooting to lead Mabton. Derrick Nash had eight points and Kristian Carrasco, the Vikings' top scorer for the season, had seven points, six boards and three steals.

Mabton shot only 28 percent for the game (18 for 63), however, while Bellevue Christian hit an even 50 percent (23 for 46).