Reardan Clobbers Waterville Kiger Helps Put Indians In Semis Against Ritzville

James Kiger owned both ends of the court Thursday.

As a result, Reardan owns a rematch of last week’s District 7 Tournament semifinal, against Ritzville.

Kiger led all players with 21 points and seven rebounds as Reardan (26-1) stormed Waterville 70-47 to advance to the semifinals of the boys State B basketball tournament at the Arena.

The Indians, six-time state champions, advanced to a semifinals for the first time since 1986, when they lost the title game to Liberty.

Kiger, a 6-foot-3 junior post, connected on 8 of 9 fieldgoal attempts on the way to 17 first-half points. He finished 10 of 14 from the field, including a steal and thunderous dunk with 5:20 left in the third quarter. , Waterville (21-6) made two charges in the first half, once trimming a 7-0 edge to 9-5, and later bouncing back from a 19-11 deficit to close to 23-19.

Both times, Kiger responded with a flurry, skying for jumpers near the top of the key or spinning past his defender on the low post.

“I was feeling it,” said Kiger, whose family moved to Reardan from the Chattaroy area about seven years ago. “I wanted it every time.”

Kiger also put the clamps on Jeff Whitehall, who had burned Trout Lake for 29 points Wednesday. Whitehall finished with 10 on 5-of-12 shooting.

“I just wanted to stop him, get in his face,” Kiger said. “I knew he was a lefty, so I worked to take away his left hand.”

Reardan shot 63 percent for the first half to build a 14-point lead that never grew smaller.

“That’s the best first half we’ve played all season,” said second-year Reardan coach Dan Smith. “Waterville does a real nice job on the offensive boards, and we did a better job in the second half taking that away.”

Reardan hit seven 3-pointers, three by Travis Titchenal, who tied the tourney record of eight in one game Wednesday. Titchenal is within three of tying the tourney record set by Waterville’s Keith Mires in 1994.

The Indians, whose perfect record was snapped last weekend by Almira/Coulee-Hartline at the district final, have beaten tourney opponents by an average of 27.5 points.

“If we wanted to lose any game, that would be the one,” Kiger said.

“The kids knew that this week was more important,” Smith said.

Ritzville (26-4) earned a spot in the semis by powering past North Beach 57-43 with offensive balance - six players with six points or more.

Ritzville season scoring leader John Galbreath settled for nine points, but contributed heavily with defense, rebounding and passing.

“We don’t care if John gets 50 or five, as long as we get a ‘W’ by our name,” said coach Dwight Pflugrath, who last led the Broncos to the 1993 semifinals against ultimate champ Tekoa-Oakesdale. “John feels that way too, which makes him special.”

The Broncos have lost twice to Reardan, 62-41 during the Bi-County League season and 55-37 at district.

“We’re looking forward to the challenge,” Pflugrath said. “We’re going to go to Plan B. We didn’t get Plan A working the last two times.”

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