Beep, Beep, Beep. All season the Capital Cougars boys basketball team and it’s traveling spirited fans have repeated an internal hash tag to motivate them, #Getonthebus. It appears the “Magic Bus” is still rolling.
Senior guard Chris Penner led Capital with 26 points including a key basket with less than two minutes remaining to lead the ninth ranked Cougars to a 48-41 win over the eighth ranked West Seattle Wildcats on Wednesday evening February 27, 2019 at the Tacoma Dome in 3A WIAA competition. West Seattle (17-9) was led by Nuh’Kosi Roberson who had 17 points.
Capital (21-4) won its first state playoff game at the Tacoma Dome since 1996 and now plays second ranked Mt. Spokane (23-1) at 9:00 p.m. Thursday, February 28, 2019 in the state quarter final game ensuring at least an eighth place finish for the Cougars.
Brian Vandiver, coach of the Cougars, was impressed with his team’s effort and defense. “This is a huge win for our team, for our program,” said Vandiver. He was also extremely impressed with Penner’s night. “It was a great night to show what he was capable of. It’s magical. We all have seen him do it before. He has nights where he can completely control a basketball game.”
For the Cougars, it was Penner who conjured the “bus magic” at the crucial time to finish off the Wildcats. Capital ahead 43-41, had the ball with 1:43 left and Pennar drove the right lane but mishandled the ball and scrambled to recover it in front of his coach near the sideline. Calm, collected, with the shot clock winding down, Penner seized a split-second opening, in the chaos of the ball scramble, to drill a three pointer that effectively ended West Seattle’s hopes for victory. The Cougars re-tweeted the play on their twitter account @Capital_mbball
Sometimes big players make big plays for teams to win. For Capital to keep their bus rolling on Thursday, they will need to repeat their effective, careful team play and defense and bring a little more bus magic to the Tacoma Dome. Beep. Beep.
