Even in small doses, two-time SCAC Player of the Year Dekker Van De Graaf can produce big results for Zillah’s top-ranked basketball team.

With his time on the court limited, the senior still provided enough to help the Leopards upend Bainbridge 44-38 early Monday evening on the first day of the SunDome Shootout.

Van De Graaf scored eight points – including two on a lob with 0.4 seconds remaining in the first half – as Zillah fought past the bigger Spartans to improve to 8-0 this season.

It was the first action he’s seen since hurting his ankle in the third game of the season.

“He makes coaching a lot more fun when he’s on the court, he’s been missed,” Mengarelli said. “We’ve won some games without him but I’ll be glad as a coach to have him back. Obviously, he can score and all the high-flying Superman stuff that we like from Dekker, but does so many little things.”

Budda Aranda carried the Leopards early, scoring 10 of his team-high 11 points in the first quarter, and X Castilleja provided the finishing kick with six points in the fourth quarter.

Zillah also rode a defense that held Bainbridge to just one bucket in the second and fourth quarters. 

The Leopards also held their own on the glass with Castilleja pulling down 10, despite the Spartans having six players 6-foot-4 or taller to Zillah’s two.

“We switched up to a box-and-one to throw a little junk at them and it worked at times,” Mengarelli said. “I was really proud of my guys in the second half when we had to go man-to-man and they responded.”

Van De Graaf checked into the game in the final couple minutes of the first two quarters. Although he didn’t score until the buzzer beater, he made his presence known by keeping rebounds alive, and directing traffic on offense.

“That’s something I’ve always taken pride in since my freshman year,” he said. “It feels good, it’s limited minutes but it’s getting back into the flow of things.”

In the second half, he saw a few more minutes and a few more scoring opportunities. He came through the lane for one bucket that seemed prime for a dunk attempt.

But he knew better.

“I would’ve for sure tried to dunk it but my dad told me he would kill me if I tried to dunk it,” Van De Graaf said.

Zillah meets Cascade Christian, ranked No. 6 in 1A, at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday.

Standout Spartans sophomore Ryan Rohrbacher, who’s already pulling in Division I offers, finished with a game-high 19 points, but Zillah made him work.

Hall of Fame coach Scott Orness is in the first year of his second go around at Bainbridge. He spent 11 years leading the Spartans, before stepping down in 2015.

Orness then coached North Kitsap for nine seasons, guiding the Vikings to the 2020 state championship, and several other placing trophies.