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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Cheney, Colville Move On Frontier League Boys Teams Advance To State Semifinals

All of the discussions between August Parker and Denny Humphrey appear to have paid off.

Parker played enforcer Thursday in Cheney’s 70-52 win over Ephrata in a boys State AA basketball tournament quarterfinal.

Over the years, Blackhawks coach Humphrey has agonized about Parker’s inconsistency. Few who watched Parker for two days at the Tacoma Dome would consider him anything but consistent. With 16 points and 11 rebounds Thursday, Parker has 33 points and 30 rebounds in two wins.

“He’s on me a lot of times,” Parker admitted about Humphrey. “But I know what’s right a lot of times, and he knows what’s right, too. He’s a great coach.”

Humphrey has Cheney (18-8) back in the semifinals for the first time since 1991. The unranked Blackhawks will meet third-ranked Lynden (24-2) at 7 tonight, with the winner going to Saturday’s title game.

Cheney’s Frontier League neighbor Colville advanced to the semis by beating Jackson of Mill Creek 51-50 in overtime of a game the Indians led 39-21 with 2:49 left in the third quarter. Colville, guaranteed of its first state trophy, will take a shot at top-ranked O’Dea (27-0) at 8:30 tonight. Just one team (Seattle Prep) has come within 10 points of O’Dea this year.

Cheney 70, Ephrata 52

Ephrata (19-8) had no answer for Cheney’s combination of outside shooting and inside power.

Tucker Urdahl, Pat Stiffler and Ryan Waller combined for eight 3-pointers after hitting six on Wednesday. Pullman (‘90) and Spokane’s West Valley (‘94) hold the tourney record of 29.

Point guard Stiffler had just one turnover in more than 26 minutes.

Parker and Paul Malasani combined for 22 rebounds, six blocked shots and 10-of-16 shooting from the floor.

“That was the best game I’ve ever played,” Parker said. “We have all the guys playing together. Before, we were depending on one player.”

Cheney took the lead for good on a Stiffler 3-pointer late in the first quarter. Ephrata trimmed a nine-point deficit to five, 43-38, but then an Urdahl 3-pointer with 2:23 left in the third quarter generated a 9-0 burst.

Cheney held the Tigers to 28 percent shooting from the field, with Rodney Fronsman’s 5-of-13 effort the lone decent showing.

Humphrey’s win, his 477th, occurred in his first matchup against longtime friend Marty O’Brien, an old Eastern Washington State College classmate.

“We were the long shots when we got here and we’re probably still the long shots,” Humphrey said.

Ephrata 13 17 8 14 - 52

Cheney 19 14 19 18 - 70

EPHRATA Devine 0 0-0 0, Ihli 0 0-0 0, Conley 2 5-5 9, Mango 1 0-0 2, Roberts 0 1-2 1, Bowman 6 4-4 18, Fronsman 5 4-6 14, Vernon 0 2-3 2, Boyd 2 0-0 4, Cardwell 1 0-0 2, Curtis 0 0-0 0, Bair 0 0-0 0. Totals: 17 16-20 52.

CHENEY Stiffler 5 1-2 13, Eggart 0 0-0 0, Waller 2 4-4 10, Urdahl 4 2-2 14, Goetz 0 0-0 0, Donnelly 1 0-0 2, Ervin 0 3-4 3, Reser 0 0-0 0, Parker 7 2-4 16, Malasani 3 2-2 8, Stoddard 0 1-2 1, Sobotta 0 3-4 3. Totals: 22 18-24 70.

3-pointers - Bowman 2, Urdahl 4, Stiffler 2, Waller 2. Total fouls - Ephrata 17, Cheney 15. Fouled out - none. Technicals - none.

Colville 51, Jackson 50 (OT)

Jed Ortner of Colville forced the extra period with a 3-pointer, his ninth of the tourney, with .8 seconds left.

Jimmy Day’s free throw with 4.9 seconds left was the lone score in overtime. Both teams played deliberately in the extra period, with Jackson’s Nathan Collord missing two shots and Colville’s Tim Sprangers one.

Colville (18-8) took possession with 1 minute left and worked the clock down to 18.8 before calling a timeout. Sprangers then hit Day on a back-door cut, setting up the winning point, which came on the first of two attempts. The second bounced away, but the Timberwolves (19-7) couldn’t get off a shot.

The Indians appeared to have the contest in the bag, as reserve Mike Bowland scored nine consecutive points in the second quarter for a 25-13 lead. Colville pushed the advantage to 39-21 late in the third quarter, then fell apart when Brandon True sat with his third foul while Sprangers rested.

Collord hit three 3-pointers to ignite a 24-2 run for a 45-41 lead with 4:01 left. Jackson grew conservative, looking for back-door cuts, and Colville stayed close enough to set up Ortner’s launch from the top of the circle to force OT.

Colville 19 11 11 9 1 - 51

Jackson 12 5 15 18 0 - 50

COLVILLE Meinhold 0 2-2 2, Eslick 0 0-0 0, Ortner 5 1-2 15, True 4 1-1 9, Sprangers 1 2-3 4, Day 1 1-2 4, Bowland 5 1-1 11, Smith 0 0-0 0, Salina 1 4-5 6. Totals: 17 12-16 51.

JACKSON Stimmel 0 0-0 0, O’Toole 1 0-0 2, Williams 0 0-0 0, Miller 2 0-0 4, Collord 5 2-4 16, Lyon 0 0-0 0, Erickson 9 3-5 21, Ditmeyer 1 4-6 7. Totals: 18

, DataTimes