Panthers A Collective Force In Bi-County

Boys

No Valley Christian individual instills fear in the opposition.

But taken together, the Panthers are a mighty tough bunch.

The seventh-ranked Panthers (7-0 Bi-County League, 12-1 overall) used a 15-0 second-half run to pull away from visiting Wilbur-Creston 61-41 in a meeting of divisional leaders Friday.

Five different players scored during the VC run, which lasted seconds shy of a full quarter.

What was a 10-9 lead for the Wildcats (7-6, 6-2) became a double-digit lead for the Panthers right before halftime. Kane Nelson’s two free throws with 17.5 seconds left kept W-C from enduring a scoreless second quarter.

“Our players, if they come to play, they can do that to people,” said second-year VC coach Steve Altmeyer, who coached Willapa Valley to the 1981 State B title.

The Panthers, who won their 10th straight, are aiming for the first state appearance in school history.

VC makes its mark with balanced scoring and defense. Four Panthers scored in double figures, none more than 14 points, and the Panthers held W-C to 29-percent shooting from the field.

Wildcats coach Jamie Nee said free-throw shooting was a major factor. VC hit 16 of 20, 13 of 16 in the second half, while W-C misfired on half of its 24 attempts.

The rugged game included 44 turnovers and 44 fouls. Altmeyer said the Panthers had totaled more than 10 fouls in only one other game this year.

Derek Sandin made 8 of 9 free throws and had 11 rebounds, and Michael Spuler hit 6 of 11 from the field for VC. The Wildcats’ Sorrell Katich, scoreless in the first half, hit 7 of 15 from the field on his way to 19 second-half points.

Katich scored every point during an 8-0 third-quarter run to trim VC’s lead to 26-20, but the Panthers responded with 6-0 and 7-0 runs.

“When we needed to, we kind of notched it up,” Altmeyer said. I believe I know what we have to do to be a tournament team.”

Val.Chr. 61, Wilb.-Creston. 41

Wilbur-Creston 10 2 13 16 - 41

Valley Christian 9 15 15 22 - 61

WILBUR-CRESTON - B.Marchand 9, Villars 0, Leonard 3, Samuels 2, Nelson 8, Katich 19, J.Marchand 0.

VALLEY CHRISTIAN - J.Decker 2, Smith 10, Spuler 14, Meyer 4, Sears 10, B.Decker 4, Evans 3, Sandin 14.

ACH 52, Sprague-Harr. 47

Craig Elder and Brandon Leander hit fourth-quarter 3-pointers to erase a six-point deficit as the visiting Warriors (7-5, 6-1) defeated the Falcons (8-6, 3-3) at Harrington to move back into first place in the West.

ACH hit 11 of 13 free throws in the final quarter and 18 of 26 overall. S-H was 10 of 18 from the line.

ACH 4 18 7 23 - 52

Spr.-Harr. 12 8 9 18 - 47

ALMIRA/COULEE-HARTLINE - Elder 6, St. Pate 6, Higginbotham 7, Leander 19, Emerson 0, Gwinn 2, Neilsen 0, Durrant 12.

SPRAGUE-HARRINGTON - Engles 0, Wagner 6, Floyd 4, Carroll 19, Timm 5, Pelissier 4, M.Henry 7, Young 2, A.Henry 0.

Liberty 86, Lind 37

Brad Wiman scored all 18 of his points in the first half, hitting 8 of 10 from the floor, as the Lancers (3-9, 2-5) defeated the visiting Bulldogs (2-12, 0-8).

Wiman, who scored 11 points in his first three league games, has 65 in his last three. Liberty hit 34 of 64 from the floor, including 7 of 13 on 3-pointers.

Lind 9 11 6 11 - 37

Liberty 27 22 16 21 - 86

LIND - Kulm 0, Wills 11, Labes 5, Parkins 1, Sikorski 3, Sheckells 4, Thompson 5, Widger 8, Williamson 0.

LIBERTY - Wiman 18, K.Engle 11, J.Engle 13, J.Holling 9, Johnson 5, Pottratz 11, Phipps 1, C.Holling 7, Schmitz 5, Mortimer 4, Horlacher 2.

Odessa 67, Davenport 54

Scott Kramer scored 21, his high for league play this season, hitting 8 of 10 free throws in the second half to guide the visiting Tigers (7-4, 5-2) over the Gorillas (5-8, 2-4).

Odessa finished 22 of 33 from the line. Dale Buchanan scored 21, hitting five of Davenport’s nine 3-pointers.

Odessa 16 10 17 24 - 67

Davenport 15 16 11 12 - 54

ODESSA - Kramer 21, Weber 2, G.Schafer 6, Floch 14, Hardung 0, Jeske 2, Luiten 0, Pitts 3, Z.Schafer 0, Walter 3, Praetorius 16.

DAVENPORT - Rodenbough 7, Holderby 2, Johnson 0, Buchanan 21, Swain 3, Telecky 14, Morrison 5, Payne 2, Honey 0.

Great Northern League

Med.Lake 74, Lakeside 62

Brandon Moore scored 25 on 11-of-13 shooting from the field and added 13 rebounds to guide the Cardinals (5-4, 2-1) over the visiting Eagles (3-6, 2-3).

Jeff Nichols added 10 rebounds for ML, which had lost four straight.

Lakeside 12 16 14 21 - 62

Medical Lake 25 17 19 13 - 74

LAKESIDE - Day 4, Purkheiser 2, Rowse 12, Spiger 14, K.Skinner 8, L.Noland 14, Mortlock 0, Clockerty 4, Bjork 2.

MEDICAL LAKE - Jackson 19, Brown 6, Headlee 3, Shirley 0, Meeks 2, Mitchell 5, Miller 0, V.Alexander 0, Nichols 13, B.Moore 25.

Riverside 56, Newport 39

Doug Kapelke scored 13 second-half points, hitting 7 of 8 from the line, to rally the Rams (3-6, 1-3) past the visiting Grizzlies (5-5, 0-4) at Chattaroy.

Riverside finished 16 of 21 from the line.

Newport 14 13 3 9 - 39

Riverside 14 11 22 9 - 56

NEWPORT - Kiehn 0, Frandrup 10, Meade 2, Ellersick 11, Drum 3, Marsh 7, Balcolm 2, Martindale 0, Vlasman 0, Mumford 4.

RIVERSIDE - Kapelke 18, Lieske 0, Remington 1, Murphy 13, Boone 2, Rizzuto 2, Vannatter 0, Johnson 0, Crance 6, Dinning 3, Miller 11.

Northeast A League

Reardan 69, Kettle Falls 45

Peter Eastman scored 22, hitting four 3-pointers, and added 11 rebounds to guide a 34-15 edge as the Indians (8-4, 1-0) stopped the visiting Bulldogs (3-7, 0-1) for their seventh consecutive win.

Reardan, last year’s state runner-up, played its first league game out of the Class B ranks. The Bulldogs’ Ben George had a perfect night, hitting all four 3-point attempts, both 2-point attempts and 3 of 3 from the line.

Kettle Falls 9 13 10 13 - 45

Reardan 23 17 12 17 - 69

KETTLE FALLS - George 19, Weathers 10, Miller 10, Brodehl 2, Madlin 0, Musson 0, Lickfold 4, Payne 0.

REARDAN - Alexie 0, Krupke 0, Landreth 0, Eastman 22, Soliday 13, Jenkin 9, LeBret 3, Nollmeyer 10, Brown 2, Hopper 8, Flaa 2.

Non-league

Colfax 48, Colville 37

Ryan VanDyke had nine rebounds and Brent Damery added seven assists to guide the 1A seventh-ranked Bulldogs (8-2) over the visiting Indians (5-4), a 2A team.

Colville 13 8 6 10 - 37

Colfax 10 9 14 15 - 48

COLVILLE - Weaver 7, Anderson 0, Ortner 7, Bateman 9, Meinhold 5, Spies 0, Mostek 3, Bradeen 0, I.Shaw 0, E.Gordon 6.

COLFAX - Kirkpatrick 1, Damery 9, Wigen 0, Curtis 6, Brownell 4, Keck 10, Hand 0, VanDyke 12, VanTine 6.

Freeman 73, Deer Park 51

D.J. Goldsmith and Jared Pope shot a combined 14 of 24 from the floor and the Scotties (9-3) forced 12 first-quarter turnovers to defeat the visiting Stags (3-6) in another non-leaguer in which the 1A school topped the 2A school.

Pope added 10 rebounds, seven on the offensive end. Jordan Shkuratoff had a fourth-quarter dunk to start a 7-0 run.

Deer Park 5 21 11 14 - 51

Freeman 21 17 15 20 - 73

DEER PARK - Holmes 4, Westerman 12, Santonocito 3, S.Mitchell 7, J.Mitchell 6, Zimmerer 10, Sebright 0, Frickey 5, Thompson 4.

FREEMAN - C.Miller 4, Love 0, R.Snyder 5, M.Miller 12, Simmons 9, Freeman 0, Shkuratoff 7, Goldsmith 16, White 4, S.Snyder 0, Pope 16.

Panorama League

Curlew 82, St. George’s 51

Caleb Edwards totaled seven rebounds, six assists and five steals as the second-ranked Cougars (13-0, 9-0) defeated the visiting Dragons (9-4, 7-2) in a matchup of divisional leaders.

Drew Moser of St. George’s had three steals and scored 19 points, his high for league play this season.

St. George’s 16 10 17 8 - 51

Curlew 22 16 22 22 - 82

ST. GEORGE’S - Blume 10, Dhillon 7, Taylor 0, Moser 19, Davis 0, Helms 0, DePonty 7, Spencer 2, Yi 0, Witherspoon 6, Thomsen 0.

CURLEW - Conger 0, G.Olson 17, Groth 10, Edwards 19, J.B.Olson 10, Cribby 17, Stotts 0, March 0, Strandberg 9.

Republic 53, NWC 32

Steve Davenport and Kris Kuchenmeister both hit 5 of 7 from the field, and Chad Dinkins added seven assists and four steals as the Tigers (9-3, 8-1) defeated the visiting Crusaders (7-5, 6-3).

NW Christian 7 8 7 10 - 32

Republic 13 13 15 12 - 53

NORTHWEST CHRISTIAN - Orr 0, Greenup 0, Proffitt 0, Wolf 3, Smith 3, Warren 0, Thomas 0, Strandy 4, Malott 7, VanGerpen 0, Bell 0, Goldman 10, Crouch 5.

REPUBLIC - Dansel 0, Davenport 14, Dinkins 4, Gliddon 9, Hadden 4, Hanks 8, Hutton 0, Krohn 1, Kuchenmeister 11, R.Rickard 0, T.Rickard 2, Russell 0.

Inchelium 70, Springdale 68

Nigel Michel and Jacolby Simpson scored nine apiece in the fourth quarter as the Hornets (3-8, 3-6) overcame a 20-point deficit to shock the visiting Chargers (3-10, 3-6).

Inchelium trailed by 15 with 4:35 left and took its first lead with 15 seconds left.

Springdale 26 16 15 11 - 68

Inchelium 8 19 10 33 - 70

SPRINGDALE - Gilstrap 14, Farnsworth 9, Meyers 2, Ralph 0, Nortz 2, Thompson 2, Peterson 11, Crawford 0, Hammack 22, Ely 4, Carlson 2, Stevens 0.

INCHELIUM - Bradshaw 7, Jolley 12, Simpson 13, Johnson 2, R.Swan 12, Michel 15, Mason 0, Tonasket 4, Simmons 1, J.Swan 0, Signor 4.

Selkirk 73, Columbia 47

Tim Farris scored 23, despite missing the first quarter for disciplinary reasons, and added four assists as the Rangers (10-3, 7-2) defeated the Lions (1-12, 1-8) at Ione to tie St. George’s for first in the South.

Farris hit 7 of 10 field goals and 9 of 12 free throws.

Columbia 8 16 7 16 - 47

Selkirk 14 25 18 16 - 73

COLUMBIA - Wass 8, Benson 7, C.Young 0, Pakootas 3, J.Young 4, Neidhart 16, Strickler 8, K.Donohue 0, S.Donohue 1.

SELKIRK - Reed 0, Yellowjohn 4, White 7, Farris 23, Gere 5, Huffine 5, Lopes 3, Pyeatt 15, Hodges 2, Carlson 6, Edwards 3.

Cusick 74, Wellpinit 58

Charles Martin, averaging less than 10 ppg, scored 29 and the Panthers (4-8, 3-6) hit 16 of 19 fourth-quarter free throws to defeat the visiting Redskins (6-5, 5-4).

Martin made 5 of 7 3-pointers and 8 of 9 free throws. Cusick’s Tell Hamilton added six assists.

Wellpinit 16 17 10 15 - 58

Cusick 18 15 18 23 - 74

WELLPINIT - Tonasket 14, Abrahamson 9, D.J.Flett 8, T.McCrea 12, T.Flett 5, M.McCrea 0, Covington 1, Stearns 9.

CUSICK - Cratty 2, Reijonen 9, Bridges 1, Martin 29, Chantry 5, Sattleen 6, Hamilton 11, Tinker 11, Dimick 0, Kramer 0.

Northport 72, St. Michael’s 59

Matt Fredrickson scored nine in the first quarter and Kyle Wilson added 11 in the second to help the Mustangs (4-9, 2-7) over the visiting Warriors (0-12, 0-9).

Fredrickson, 6 for 6 at the line, added nine rebounds to lead a 42-23 edge.

St. Michael’s 12 14 16 17 - 59

Northport 22 11 13 26 - 72

ST. MICHAEL’S - Vigil 0, Edwards 18, Bittner 4, Sandquist 2, Sarquillia 2, Vopalensky 3, Durazo 8, South 12, Spruill 2.

NORTHPORT - Aa.Day 6, Godes 0, Ad.Day 5, Fredrickson 19, Timmering 17, Lenhard 2, Wilson 18, Weliep 5.

Whitman County

SJE 62, Colton 47

Grant Bafus and Josh Silver had eight rebounds apiece and the visiting Eagles (9-3, 3-0) used a 12-2 fourth-quarter run to knock off the Wildcats (3-6, 0-3) for their sixth consecutive win.

John Stoner added five of SJE’s 17 steals. Nick Bates hit 7 of 15 from the floor and Dan Meyer had nine rebounds for Colton.

SJE 10 18 12 22 - 62

Colton 13 10 10 14 - 47

ST. JOHN-ENDICOTT - Miller 2, Bafus 14, Strader 0, Stoner 7, Hames 6, Scheuerman 9, Thompson 3, Siler 11, Stolmeier 6, Riehle 4.

COLTON - Bre.Wolf 0, B.Busch 7, G.Busch 9, Bri.Keller 3, Bates 15, Hopwood 0, Meyer 7, Stout 6.

T-O 56, Rosalia 36

John Wall made 10 of 15 from the field and 6 of 9 from the line to score 26 as the visiting Nighthawks (8-4, 2-1) beat the Spartans (1-11, 1-3).

Rosalia had 40 turnovers.

Tekoa-Oakes. 12 16 12 16 - 56

Rosalia 7 12 2 15 - 36

TEKOA-OAKESDALE - Brown 9, Heaton 0, G.Smith 2, E.Smith 6, Brogan 8, Crossett 2, Wall 26, Taylor 4.

ROSALIA - Bernard 6, Heinemann 2, Watkins 5, S.DeGon 0, D.Degon 1, Peterson 2, Shindler 3, Bothman 8, Schmidt 5, Workman 4.

Gar-Pal 52, LaC.-Wash. 48

Brad Bischoff hit 5 of 7 free throws in the fourth quarter, when the visiting Vikings (8-4, 3-1) hit 8 of 10 to edge the Tigercats (3-10, 1-2) at Washtucna.

The Tigercats’ Greg Whitman had 12 rebounds.

Gar.-Palouse 10 15 6 21 - 52

LaCrosse-Wash. 9 6 16 17 - 48

GARFIELD-PALOUSE - Bischoff 15, Coles 3, Flansburg 9, Cronk 0, Fox 14, Kimble 4, Tharp 7, Demand 0, Kriebel 0.

LaCROSSE-WASHTUCNA - Colter 16, Henley 9, Wigen 5, Stueckle 3, Whitman 11, Blankenship 4, Goll 0, Startin 0, Schneider 0.

, DataTimes