T-O Nips Eagles Again

Southeast B

Tricia Lamb took the early bow, but Tekoa-Oakesdale upstaged her in Friday’s final act.

Juniors Miranda Brown and Sara Driscoll held Lamb to 12 points - five after the first quarter - as T-O (22-3) edged St. John-Endicott 52-50 at the girls District 9-B basketball tournament championship at Friel Court.

The Nighthawks captured their fifth district title, one less than SJE (20-5), which had won every district since the senior Lamb was a freshman. Four of the Eagles’ losses this year have been to T-O, including three by five points or less.

T-O qualifies for its 10th State B tournament. For defending state champion SJE to return, it must beat DeSales at 1 p.m. today.

Lamb reached 2,000 career points with a short baseline jumper with 3:15 left in the first quarter. Davenport’s Jennifer Stinson and Kate Starbird of Lakes are reportedly the only girls in state history to surpass 2,000.

Lamb added two free throws 30 seconds later, then went scoreless for the next 17:37. She finished 3 of 15 from the floor. Her defense and passing, however, helped a 16-4 SJE run that tied the game at 29 with 5:25 left in the third quarter.

“We knew they were going to get some runs on us,” said T-O coach Mark Stinson. “I thought it would come from Tricia, which it did, indirectly.”

Brown and Driscoll combined on six quick points for a 35-29 lead. The Eagles never caught T-O again, but they wouldn’t go away.

Another Driscoll basket put the Nighthawks ahead 51-46 with 1:58 left. In the next minute, Lamb hit her first field goal since the first quarter, and freshman Breanna Schmick’s putback basket cut the edge to one.

A Nighthawks turnover with 44 seconds left led to a hesitant SJE possession. With little movement and nobody looking to take the shot, the Eagles used up the 30-second clock.

With 10.9 seconds left, SJE had to commit three fouls in 4 seconds to put T-O in the bonus. Sally Palmer, T-O’s lone senior starter, canned 1 of 2 free throws with 6.8 seconds left for the final margin.

“I was pretty tense on the first,” Palmer said. “The second I thought was going in, but it rolled out.”

SJE called timeout to a final play. Schmick, who broke free downcourt, double-dribbled to end the Eagles’ hopes.

Tekoa-Oakesdale 52, SJE 50

SJ-Endicott 11 8 19 12 - 50

T-O 16 11 14 11 - 52

ST. JOHN-ENDICOTT Colyar 5, A.Kjack 0, Bafus 2, Klewano 0, Lamb 12, Loomis 0, Schmick 11, Zuger 4, K. Kjack 0, Kile 8, Hedlund 8, White 0. TEKOA-OAKESDALE S. Brown 0, Driscoll 6, Palmer 11, M. Brown 13, Hay 13, Graffis 2, Hansen 0, Bruce 3, Crow 0, Cox 4, Hurley 0.

DeSales 46, Waitsburg 45

Erin Hellberg fed twin sister Amber for a basket with 10 seconds left as the Irish (19-4) eliminated the Cardinals (18-5).

Waitsburg missed two final field-goal attempts. The Cardinals’ Kynde Kiefel scored 20.

Waitsburg 12 12 12 9 - 45

DeSales 4 12 18 12 - 46

WAITSBURG W.Jones 4, Hulce 0, E.Jones 0, Ryckman 5, Abbey 3, Stokes 6, McCaw 3, Scott 2, Bickelhaupt 2, Kiefel 20, Trent 0.

DESALES Waller 0, Dutton 4, Lynch 0, Lee 0, Graham 6, E.Hellberg 8, Long 12, A.Hellberg 15, Balakier 0, Postlewait 1, Buchkoski 0.

Boys

LaCrosse-Wash. 65, DeSales 55

The Tigercats (24-3) got the Led out to beat the Irish (17-7) and complete step five of their six-step plan to reach state.

L-W senior forward Clint Ledbetter, who missed six of his first seven shots from the floor, made his final seven and added 7-of-9 shooting from the line to score 23.

Trailing 10-9 late in the first quarter, L-W outscored the Irish 11-0 over nearly 5 minutes to assume the lead for good. DeSales, capable of quick-burst 3-pointers and easy buckets inside from 6-foot-5 Scott Zea, made three runs at L-W but never gained control.

“I don’t want to seem over-optimistic, but when we had a seven-point lead at halftime I got a little bit more confident,” said L-W coach Andy Stinson, whose brother coached T-O to a win in the night’s opener.

“You have to be truthful and say fatigue is a factor,” Ledbetter said, “but now we’re getting excited. I think we’re in pretty good shape.”

Ledbetter, giving up 2 inches, struggled with the long-armed Zea, who made 11 of 16 field goals and 4 of 4 free throws for 26 points.

“I was trying to front him, but they were running a four-guard offense a lot of the time,” Ledbetter said.

Desales 10 15 14 16 - 55

LaCrosse-Washtucna 11 21 17 16 - 65

DESALES - Lindgren 14, Huether 0, Stanley 0, Ewonik 0, Wolfram 0, Heinzman 0, Levens 5, Baffney 8, Mormorco 0, Zea 26, Barry 2. LACROSSE-WASHTUCNA Nealey 9, Colter 0, Schweiger 10, Ledbetter 23, Rouleau 7, Anderson 0, Henley 2, Daniel 12, Whitman 2, Wigen 0, Hammond 0, Blankenship 0.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Photo

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: TODAY’S SCHEDULE Girls St. John-Endicott vs. DeSales, 1 p.m. (winner to state) Boys LaCrosse-Washtucna vs. DeSales, 2:30 p.m. (winner to state)