Surprises Continue For Boys Darrington, Republic Square Off In Today’s Dark-Horse Semifinal

Cinderella will make it to the big dance.

Just what Cinderella will wear - Republic orange and black or Darrington green and gold - will be determined tonight, when the Republic Tigers and the Darrington Loggers meet in the semifinals of the 55th boys State B Tournament.

Trampling over uncharted ground, Republic is in the semis for the first time in school history after knocking off the Manson Trojans 50-42 Thursday in the Arena.

Darrington, an eight-time loser in the regular-season, upset Almira-Coulee-Hartline 47-41, guaranteeing a surprise finalist in Saturday night’s championship game.

The coaches - Rory Rickard of Republic and Darrington’s Jeff Bryson - stood outside their dressing rooms an hour and a half apart, wearing the same wondrous expression that said more than words.

Nobody gave us a chance. How do you explain magic?

Darrington sophomore guard Ned Miller gave it a shot after scoring 15 points and taking care of the ball through typically intense ACH pressure.

“We watched Almira play yesterday (when they destroyed Clallam Bay 73-52),” he said. “We knew they’d be one of the best teams we ever faced. I guess I didn’t expect this, really.”

So now, Bryson said, “We need to refocus. It’s funny. All of a sudden we’re right there.”

The Loggers were up 33-20 with 5 minutes left in the third period when 6-5 senior Kevin Evers took temporary control, starting with a putback that ignited a 15-2 ACH run.

Although that was his only basket, Evers forced bad passes, went from perimeter to paint to block shots and pulled down rebound after rebound.

Jason Pierce hit a 3-pointer and two layins off the break and the Warriors were back in it.

Evers rejected Cory Ross, sending Goodwin off on a breakaway for the layup that brought ACH to within three.

When ACH’s Ryan Higginbotham a 1.8-points-per-game scorer - greeted Darrington in the fourth quarter with a 3-pointer to tie it at 35, the Loggers were in serious meltdown.

But up stepped sophomore Dennis Pomeroy with the baseline jumper that stopped the bleeding.

“Dennis got us going,” said Miller. “From there we settled down.”

A 6-foot sophomore with a senior’s presence, Miller nailed a 3-pointer with 3:44 left that put the Loggers up by five. When ACH was forced to foul, he and Dennis Sherrill made them pay, Miller hitting two of three from the line in the final 38 seconds while Sherrill went 3 of 4. , Clearly the Loggers can credit this to handling pressure and active zone defense, since they didn’t do it with shooting. Darrington hit only 5 of 21 shots in the second half.

Holding Evers 12 points under his average is a tribute to Darrington defense. Guard Marty Lenker was a big part of that.

“We haven’t run that 2-3 (zone) for quite a while, but we were in it most of the game,” Bryson said. “We never got that many scoring opportunities in the second half to get into our full-court and half-court traps.”

Republic had to rally mentally after knocking off Tacoma Baptist Wednesday with Jeff Baldwin’s shot with two seconds left.

“To win yesterday in the end like we did was part of a dream,” Rickard said. “These kids keep working hard and things keep happening for us.” , DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color photo