SELAH – Among the tallest of opponents, Selah 5-foot-10 guard JR Depell can get swallowed up when he dare takes it to the hoop.

And it happened in the final seconds of Saturday’s late-afternoon CWAC donnybrook against Grandview.

Somehow, seemingly lost among three defenders, the sophomore flipped in the game-winning shot with less than 15 seconds left of the 68-67 victory that gives the Vikings a two-game cushion atop the conference.

“He’s a gamer, he’s a total gamer,” Selah coach Jordan Starr said. “When he made up his mind, I knew he was going to finish it.”

It was an intense game, on and off the court. A large Grandview contingency let the officiating crew know its feelings when the foul count favored the home team.

They grew even louder when the Greyhounds scorekeeper was ordered off the scorers table for apparently gesturing after a foul was whistled against the visitors.

Verbal sparring aside, the matchup almost certainly featured the top two teams in the conference, and the play matched it.

Selah won the previous matchup in Grandview, but the Greyhounds were missing star senior guard Frankie Medina because of an injury.

With Medina back, Grandview gave the third-ranked Vikings all they could handle, leading by nine points after the first quarter.

But Selah, itself without 6-7 senior post Finnegan Tait, chipped away and trailed 37-36 at halftime. Depell scored nine of his 20 points in the second quarter.

Junior guard Oliver Pepper netted seven of his game-high 21 points in the third quarter, and the 

Vikings took a brief lead before Jason Richey and Darius Montelongo drilled 3-pointers to stake Grandview to a 58-56 lead going into the fourth.

The score tied with 38 seconds remaining, the Vikings turned it over. After working the ball around, Medina drove to the basket, earning a trip to the free-throw line with 24 second left on the clock.

After missing the first, Medina made the second for a 67-66 lead, setting up Depell’s heroics.

Medina’s would-be game-winner from the right wing was deflected and Selah cleared the rebound as time expired.

The victory leaves the Selah 9-0 in CWAC play and 12-1 overall, while Grandview fell to 7-2 and 9-5.

“It meant a lot to give us a little buffer between the league, maybe give us a bye into districts,” said Depell, quickly commending Medina. “He’s a helluva player, I was chasing him around all game.”

With Tait out, Grandview junior forward Braden Santos had 16 points and 13 rebounds. Montelongo and Deontae Howard had 12 and 10 points, respectively.

Carson Decker added 15 points and Jaxon Benge chipped in seven points and nine rebounds.

“That was big to get it without him, he’s our big that holds it down low for us,” Starr said of Tait’s absence due to illness. “I told these guys don’t hesitate, don’t flinch, we’re going to battle.”

The CWAC gets two state berths, with a third possible in a play-in pact with the Northwest Conference.