No. 1 Chewelah Powers Past Cardinals, 60-57

NEA boys

Appearing soon at a gymnasium near you: The Brutes from Chewelah.

Attend it and hiss if you must. Topranked Chewelah is growing accustomed to its guys-in-the-black-hats role.

“They figure we’re big enough and strong enough,” coach Drew Landram said of the Cougars’ detractors after Friday’s 60-57 Northeast A win at Medical Lake. “Actually, it’s good for us (to be treated as the bad guys).”

The Cougars (7-0, 10-2) prevailed despite foul trouble to 6-foot-6 Chris Boone and 6-7 Greg Rainer. Boone fouled out with 2 minutes, 24 seconds left and Chewelah protecting a 51-47 lead. Rainer played the final 4:26 with four fouls.

The Cardinals (5-2, 8-5) chipped away by using their strengths, quickness and outside shooting, but two more of the beefy Cougars saved the day. Jeremy Rogers (6-4, 205 pounds) made two free throws and a basket in the late stages and Greg Belzer (6-2, 215) stepped outside to nail a 3-pointer with 2:02 left.

Then there’s the average-sized Cougar, senior point guard Jeremy Landram, the coach’s son. Although two-time league scoring champion Landram (at 18.2 ppg he’s narrowly trailing ML’s Carlos Simmons this year) was limited to eight points, he set the table for the bruisers with steals and assists.

“We should run more, but Boone is devastating for people to take one-on-one,” coach Landram said.

Cardinals coach Dave Olzendam noticed as much. Olzendam shuffled in sophomore Brandon Moore and freshmen Jeff Nichols and Jeremy Bahr, and their hard work kept Chewelah in foul trouble.

“I think we have the quickness to play with (Chewelah),” Olzendam said. “We had some young guys playing down low who got their baptism by fire.”

Moore especially came through, with 11 rebounds and 10 points. Dan Huston added 14 points and five assists while Simmons scored 13, 5.5 less than his league average.

Boone scored 18 and Belzer 15, but it was Rogers and Landram, who hit two free throws with 28 seconds left, who offset late 3-pointers by LeMar Bailey and Andre Jackson.

After Landram’s free throws, ML tried to set up another 3-pointer with its final possession. Bailey’s off-balance try with 5 seconds left drew iron.

Chewelah 60, Medical Lake 57

Chewelah 12 18 11 19 - 60

Medical Lake 17 12 4 24 - 57

CHEWELAH Je.Landram 8, Murbach 4, Skok 1, Ja.Landram 0, Boone 18, Belzer 15, Rogers 8, Rainer 6.

MEDICAL LAKE Jackson 5, Bailey 6, Huston 14, Simmons 13, Campbell 5, Nichols 2, Bahr 2, B.Moore 10.

Lakeside 60, Freeman 43

George Petticrew’s six steals and six rebounds, and 58-percent shooting from the field helped the Eagles (5-2, 8-5) beat the visiting Scotties (4-3, 9-4) at Nine Mile.

Freeman 10 11 12 10 - 43

Lakeside 16 21 11 12 - 60

FREEMAN Odle 0, Aa.Hill 0, White 0, Miller 3, An.Hill 7, Reed 2, Sheffield 9, Friberg 15, Schmidt 2, Schuerman 5.

LAKESIDE Nelson 4, Petticrew 12, Bender 6, Feider 3, Day 8, Dasenbrock 6, Coe 6, Spiger 8, Miller 7.

Kettle Falls 48, Newport 45

Scott Delony scored 20 and the visiting Bulldogs (1-6, 3-9) used a late 6-0 run to catch the Grizzlies (1-7, 4-10) and break a five-game losing streak. Nate Carrara had 18 rebounds for Newport, which lost its seventh straight.

Kettle Falls 12 13 8 15 - 48

Newport 7 17 13 8 - 45

KETTLE FALLS Entwhistle 6, Gordon 10, Link 3, Williams 5, Kulusza 4, Berryman 0, Newton 0, Delony 20.

NEWPORT Larson 11, Melendez 4, Sherwood 4, Ellersick 0, LeBlanc , McClean 2, Martindale 0, Carrara 19, Myers 0, Knapp 3, Mumford 0, Richter 2.

Deer Park at Colfax, ppd.

Poor weather postponed the game until Jan. 30.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Photo