Chewelah Rallies For State Berth

Teams that dominate in their respective sports sometimes run the risk of looking past an opponent.

Combine that with the fact that every opponent wants to beat the best team and you have the makings for an upset.

That combination almost proved deadly for the state’s No. 2-ranked Chewelah Cougars boys Saturday night during the Northeast A tournament at Mead High School. The Cougars staged a fourth-quarter comeback and beat the Freeman Scotties 51-49 to earn their second straight trip to the state next weekend in Tacoma as the No. 1 seed from the NEA.

The Lakeside Eagles girls also return to state after beating the Newport Grizzlies 52-45.

Today, Freeman meets Lakeside for the No. 2 and final seed to state in boys action, while Newport takes on the Colfax Bulldogs for the final seed to state in girls action. Lakeside ended Medical Lake’s season with a thrilling 68-67 double overtime victory and Colfax eliminated Deer Park 56-45.

Boys

Chewelah 51, Freeman 49

Point guard Jeremy Landram, the team’s leading scorer, made up for a scoreless first half by scoring 12 of his 15 points in the fourth quarter to propel the Cougars (19-2) past the Scotties (16-7).

“I should have played harder and penetrated more,” Landram said of his first-half performance. “At half, I decided to play harder and pressure the ball more.”

The Cougars found themselves in unfamiliar territory, down eight with 4:09 to play.

That’s when Landram stepped in, sparking Chewelah to a 16-5 run over the next 2:58 to hold the lead at 50-47. Besides the 3-pointer, Landram added two field goals and went 5 for 6 from the line during that stretch.

“I didn’t say anything to him,” said Cougars coach Drew Landram about his son. “The best thing I can do for him is leave him alone.”

Chewelah jumped to the early lead, building it to 23-14 with 1:49 left in the first half behind 10 points from Chris Boone.

But the Scotties clawed back, outscoring the Cougars 18-9 in the third quarter to hold a 36-32 lead at half. Two field goals by Marc Reed and two free throws apiece from Garen Friberg and Nick Schuerman pushed the lead to 44-36.

“We’re good enough to win,” Drew Landram said of his chances at state, where they finished fourth in 1995 with basically the same team they have now. “If we take it one game at a time, then we have a great chance.”

Chewelah 12 11 9 19 - 51

Freeman 8 10 18 13 - 49

CHEWELAH Je.Landram 15, Murbach 2, Skok 6, Boone 14, Belzer 5, Rogers 6, Rainer 3.

FREEMAN Aa.Hill 2, Miller 0, An.Hill 10, Reed 9, Sheffield 4, Friberg 12, Schmidt 0, Schuerman 12.

Lakeside 68, Med. Lake 67, 2 OT

Billy Bender, playing in his first game since being sidelined with a broken wrist a month ago, scored 10 of his 16 points in the two overtime periods as the Eagles (14-8) eliminated the Cardinals (13-10).

Bender’s lay-in with 28 seconds left was the game-winner, and his 16-foot jumper as time expired sent the game into overtime.

After being down by as many as 16 points in the first half, Medical Lake was able to fight back and take its first lead of the game in the fourth quarter at 46-45. Dan Huston had 10 of his game-high 22 points in the fourth.

Med. Lake 9 12 17 18 6 5 - 67

Lakeside 19 14 10 13 6 6 - 68

MEDICAL LAKE Jackson 4, Bailey 7, Headlee 1, Huston 22, Simmons 19, Johnson 0, Campbell 2, Bahr 2, B.Moore 10.

LAKESIDE (Nine Mile Falls, Wash.) - Nelson 8, Petticrew 17, Bender 16, Feider 0, Brakel 0, Day 2, Coe 0, Spiger 10, Miller 15.

Girls

Lakeside 52, Newport 45

The Eagles (21-1) held off a fourth quarter comeback by the Grizzlies (17-6) to earn the right to improve on its seventh place finish last year.

Lakeside led 41-29 with 7:02 to play, but an 11-1 run keyed by Michele Carrara’s four points closed the gap to 42-40.

A lay-in by Bernadette Rowse and free throws by Carrie Waddell, Lora Jolley and Brianne Jolley opened the lead to 50-43.

The Eagles were only able to manage one field goal in the final period, but stayed alive by going 9 for 12 from the free throw line.

“We tried to force it too much to Brianne Jolley inside,” Eagles coach Lisa Schultz said of her team’s lethargic fourth quarter. “But, I knew going into this that Newport is a good team.”

Brianne Jolley led Lakeside with 20 points, 6 for 6 from the foul line, and Waddell added 10. Freshman guard Casey Sauer led the Grizzlies with 17 points, 9 for 10 from the line.

Lakeside 17 8 14 13 - 52

Newport 11 8 9 17 - 45

LAKESIDE (NINE MILE FALLS, WASH.) - Waddell 10, Rouse 5, L.Jolley 7, B.Jolley 20, Heebink 4, Hatch 0, Petticrew 6, Long 0.

NEWPORT Casey 4, Schulz 8, Almond 2, Sauer 17, Sherman 0, Frandrup 6, Vallieres 0, Carrara 8.

Colfax 56, Deer Park 45

Angie Hood led a balanced scoring attack with seven of her 13 points in the fourth quarter as the Bulldogs (19-3) avoided elimination with a win over the Stags (12-11).

Colfax jumped to a 31-16 halftime lead and never looked back.

Deer Park 8 8 13 16 - 45

Colfax 10 21 12 13 - 56

DEER PARK - Watson 9, Sims 12, Nedved 0, Stone 9, Gest 7, O’Brien 0, Oswalt 8, Scott 0.

COLFAX - Gigray 4, Harder 0, Hall 13, Widman 5, Tribbett 9, Hansen 6, S.Pittman 9, Thiele 10.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Photo

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: TODAY’S NEA GAMES Boys Freeman (16-7) vs. Lakeside (14-8), 7:30 p.m. Girls Newport (17-6) vs. Colfax (19-3), 6 p.m.