Pullman, Riverside make state
The Pullman boys and Riverside girls joined top-seeded Medical Lake and Chewelah in next week’s State 2A basketball tournament with exciting Saturday night victories in District 7 games at Mead High School.
In the first game, Riverside’s Angela Hartill had 28 points and 14 rebounds to lead the Rams to a 50-44 victory over Lakeside-Nine Mile Falls, a victory that reversed the result of their first-round district meeting.
In the nightcap, Great Northern League regular-season boys champion Pullman defeated Chewelah’s boys 55-53 when Kyle Hinrichs hit a 15-foot jump shot as time expired, capping the Greyhounds’ comeback from a 14-point first-half deficit.
Boys
Hinrichs’ game-winning shot came after Chewelah’s Cameron Stroyan made two free throws with 21.3 seconds left to tie the score at 53. Pullman called a timeout, working for the last shot. The ball ended up in Hinrichs’ hands on the left wing with 2 seconds left, and moments later the celebration was on for the Hounds.
They had trailed by as many as 14 points in the first half as the Cougars made five 3-pointers during a 23-point second period and led 32-19 at the break.
But Pullman came out hot as Ashton Gant hit two straight 3-pointers and, after Stroyan’s 3-pointer, Ben Hein scored eight straight points to cut the Cougars’ lead to 35-33.
Chewelah didn’t cave in, rallying to rebuild its advantage to nine points at 46-37 on a free throw to open the fourth quarter. But Pullman sophomore Shad Sterath hit two long 3-pointers around another by junior Jason Cooper, cutting the lead back to three, and Hein’s basket in the paint with 1:10 left gave Pullman its first lead of the game, 51-50.
After that, Chewelah’s Michael McCanna tied it at 51 with a free throw at 1:06 and Brian Pan gave Pullman the lead again, 53-51, with 30 seconds left on a driving layin.
That set the stage for Stroyan’s clutch free throws, but he was the hero only until Hinrichs brought the house down, at least Pullman’s half of it.
Girls
Riverside held an eight-point lead with less than 2 minutes to play after Lakeside went cold in the fourth quarter, making one field goal in the first 6 minutes. The Eagles made some trouble late, cutting the lead to 47-44 with 34 seconds left, but the Rams closed out the scoring with three free throws down the stretch.
If the Eagles had caught them, the Rams could have blamed it on their performance at the foul line, where they made 14 of 29 attempts. Without Hartill’s 7-for-9 performance, they were 7 for 20.
Lakeside battled back from a big first-quarter deficit to take a 31-30 lead late in the third period, but the Eagles ran out of steam for much of the fourth before two field goals by Kia Gibson and Stillar’s two free throws.
Meanwhile, the Rams regained their composure in the fourth after a rocky third quarter, when a cluster of turnovers and missed shots let Lakeside back into it. It took Hartill’s putback at the buzzer to give Riverside a 35-34 lead after three periods.
The Rams outrebounded Lakeside 44-22. Dianne Kasinger had 10 boards, and Jamie Hinkley had eight points and six rebounds. led Lakeside with 14 points and Gibson added 12, including 10 in the second half.