Cardinals Vault Into Semis Jackson Ignites 15-0 Rally To Dispatch Gnl Rival Pullman

Medical Lake waited for the right moment, then let Andre Jackson show the way.

Jackson drove for two baskets to open the fourth quarter, energizing a 15-0 run that sent the Cardinals (17-8) into today’s semifinals of the boys State 2A basketball tournament.

“I knew we were going to catch them if we kept to our agenda,” Jackson said after Medical Lake dispatched Great Northern League rival Pullman 59-52 in a quarterfinal Thursday night at the Tacoma Dome.

“There were two things we had to do to win,” said coach Ken Swanger of fourthranked Pullman (20-4). “We had to stop Jackson from penetrating and take care of the boards. We didn’t do either of those in the second half.”

Medical Lake outrebounded the Greyhounds 41-20, with Brandon Moore and Jeff Nichols combining for 18. The Cardinals meet Elma (20-5) at 8:30 tonight in the second semifinal. Foster (24-3) and Blaine (23-1) play at 7 in the other semi.

Pullman plays a loser-out, winner-totrophy-round game at 3:30 p.m. against Steilacoom (20-6).

Chewelah, an opening-game loser, kept intact its hopes for a trophy by stomping Tenino 64-42 in a 9 a.m., loser-out game. The Cougars play Castle Rock (21-4) at 11 this morning in another loser-out. The winner will play Saturday for fifth and eighth places.

Medical Lake 59, Pullman 52

The Greyhounds led from the 5:40 mark of the first quarter until Jackson drove through the defense for a basket and 44-43 Cardinals lead 50 seconds into the final quarter.

Medical Lake never faltered, as Emery Meeks, Richard Brown and Freddie Miller joined Jackson in the scoring spree. Miller took a pretty pass from Jackson for a layup.

“They knew I could penetrate, and if they collapsed on me, I was going to kick it outside,” Jackson said.

Once the 15-0 run was over, Pullman never came closer than six points. The Greyhounds went scoreless for nearly 8 minutes.

Pullman’s biggest lead was 23-15, after Aaron Linehan’s 3-pointer early in the second quarter. The Cardinals scratched back by scoring seven straight.

Jackson and Moore combined to hit 12 of 18 from the floor. Medical Lake also made 14 of 16 free throws, including 6 of 6 by Jackson.

Greyhounds junior Brent Cummings hit 7 of 11 from the field. Pullman otherwise hit 30 percent from the field.

The teams split their GNL games, with Medical Lake winning the last one by 12 points.

Swanger said some people misjudged the Cardinals because of their eight losses. When they work hard, Swanger said, few teams can keep with them.

“We picked it up, crashed the boards and stopped giving up second shots,” Jackson said. “Brandon Moore was a major factor in this game, and then Jeff Nichols picked us up (when Moore had foul trouble).”

Pullman 18 12 13 9 - 52

Medical Lake 15 9 18 17 - 59

PULLMAN - Brown 6, Cummings 16, Linehan 10, Bray 3, Harms 13, Randall 4, Camara 0.

MEDICAL LAKE - Jackson 16, Brown 5, Headlee 3, Meeks 6, Mitchell 0, Miller 10, Nichols 5, Moore 14.

Chewelah 64, Tenino 42

The Cougars (18-8) took control with an 8-0 run to open the second quarter, for a 24-15 lead and never allowed the Beavers (15-11) within five points again.

Josh Parrish started the run with a three-point play, then Travis Meserve added a 3-pointer and a basket 28 seconds apart. Chewelah’s big three, Parrish, Meserve and Jason Landram, who hit four 3-pointers, accounted for 72 percent of the scoring despite playing an average of less than three quarters.

Chewelah shot 57 percent from the floor, with Landram at 7 for 11. The Beavers were held to 38 percent shooting from the field and finished with their thirdlowest scoring total of the year. “It’s really hard for teams to get good looks with our defense,” said Cougars coach Drew Landram. “It takes two or three passes to get a good look, and many high school teams aren’t willing to do that.” Tenino cut Chewelah’s lead to 37-29 on Garret Sampson’s basket midway through the third quarter, but the Cougars answered with a 19-6 run capped by two Landram 3-pointers.

Meserve added a game-high seven rebounds from the guard position.

Chewelah had lost three consecutive games at State A tournaments and hadn’t won a tourney game since 1995.

Chewelah 16 16 12 20 - 64

Tenino 15 8 9 10 - 42

CHEWELAH - Landram 18, Forsberg 5, Carpenter 0, Meserve 15, Miller 0, Puthoff 0, Nitschke 4, Grubb 4, Churape 0, Kinley 2, Sunday 4, Parrish 12.

TENINO - Black 0, Tucker 2, Sampson 12, Evander 12, Riley 4, Huff 0, J.Lawton 4, S.Lawton 0, Wiens 3, Hickey 0, Simpson 5.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color photo