Prep basketball
It was a sweep for Bi-County League boys teams in the first round of the Northeast District B tournament Monday at Mead and Mt. Spokane.
No. 4 seed Wilbur-Creston (14-11) held off fast-closing Panorama League No. 1 Republic (20-3), which was within two points with five seconds left, 73-69, to cap the day.
Four Wilbur-Creston players scored in double figures, led by the 16 apiece of Shayne Lewis and Matt Schroeder, to offset 49 points from Todd Orestad (27) and Derek Gianukakis (22) for Republic. Only four Tigers scored.
Chase Ramey had six 3-pointers in the first half and finished with 26 points to lead Bi-County No. 1 Northwest Christian (21-3) past Wellpinit (14-10) 77-49, No. 2 Lind-Ritzville (16-8) got 16 points and nine rebounds from Cameron Stevenson and 16 points from Myles Borth in a 43-39 win over Selkirk (17-8) and No. 3 Reardan (14-11) beat Curlew (17-5), but no score was reported.
It’ll be NWC against Reardan and L-R against W-C for state berths when the boys resume Thursday at Mt. Spokane.
In loser-out games, Curlew will play Wellpinit and Selkirk faces Republic.
•Jesse Butler scored 29 points, including a perfect 8-for-8 from the free throw line, to lead St. John-Endicott back to the State B tournament for the first time since 2002 by defeating Tekoa-Oakesdale 75-57 in the semifinals of the Southeast District B tournament in Walla Walla. Austin Cook scored 26 for Tekoa-Oakesdale.
Liberty Christian will join the Eagles in Spokane, qualifying for the school’s first State B appearance with a 64-50 win over Asotin as three Patriots scored in double figures, led by Loren Badeau’s 14 points. He added nine rebounds. Charles Appleton had 15 points for Asotin, 12 on 3-pointers, and nine boards.
Casey Worth’s basket with 11.5 seconds left gave DeSales a 46-45 win over LaCrosse-Washtucna in a loser-out game and kept the Irish in the hunt for a State B berth. It ended the career of LaCrosse-Washtucna’s Matt Martin, who finished with 1,013 points after scoring 11 Monday.
Girls
St. John-Endicott and Liberty Christian will meet Friday for one of two Southeast District berths to the State B after winning semifinals Monday.
Ellen Miller had 21 points and eight rebounds and Sydney Gossard eight assists and seven steals to lead SJ-E past Dayton 56-42. Caitlin Dunham had 17 points to lead three Liberty Christian players in double figures in a 64-35 win over Pomeroy.
In a loser-out game, Tekoa-Oakesdale’s balance overcame the one-two punch of LaCrosse-Washtucna’s Alyssa Koller (15 points) and Meghan Startin (12) for a 39-32 win.
The second State B berth will be decided Saturday.
•Misty Ostlie hit 2 of 3 3-pointers in a 19-point game and Amanda Smith added 18 as Cusick (18-6) won its first-round game in the Northeast District B at Mt. Spokane, 54-48 over Davenport (17-8). Darci Dehn scored 17 for Davenport.
And Inchelium hit six 3-pointers, three by Chelsi Pakootas in a 17-point game, as Inchelium (21-4) beat Liberty (18-5) 50-35. Cami Bullock led Liberty with 14 points.
Curlew (21-2) defeated Reardan (11-14), but no score or details were reported. Results of the Sprague-Harrington (20-0) vs. Republic (10-14) first-round game was unreported.
Inchelium will meet the Curlew on Wednesday at Mt. Spokane for one State B tournament berth, while Cusick will play the winner of Monday’s S-H vs. Republic game winner for another.
In loser-out games Wednesday, Liberty and Reardan square off while Davenport will get the loser of Sprague-Harrington and Republic.