WV faces Clarkston Wednesday in playoffs

West Valley boys find themselves a win away from state – which has become an annual rite of March for the Eagles – following a victory Thursday night in the District 7 2A basketball playoffs.

And Wednesday’s game for the district championship will have a familiar look, coming against former Greater Spokane League foe Clarkston at Eastern Washington University.

EWU was where the Eagles last year earned their State 3A trip. This time it will be for a 2A berth. And Clarkston has been a district foe in the past.

Thursday night WV defeated Medical Lake 57-42, rallying from a seven-point first quarter deficit.

“It’s pretty amazing just to be where we are,” said coach Jamie Nilles.

State, he continued, is always a preseason goal, but with only one returning varsity player he wasn’t sure how well the Eagles (18-3) would fare this year.

“I think we’re the youngest team in the Great Northern League,” Nilles said. “It’s kind of a testament to the jayvee guys to come in and have a quick learning curve.”

Casey Sherrill, averaging 11 points a game, was the only returnee with varsity experience.

WV’s success was abetted by the emergence of sophomore guard Jordan Lupfer-Graham, who scored 14 against Medical Lake to lead a balanced Eagles effort. He’s become the team playmaker and 13.3 points per game scorer.

Juniors Bryan Peterson, who led team scoring with a 16.2 average, Parker Flynn and James Cahalan and senior Maverick Counts were, said Nilles, last year’s bench-sitting “cheerleaders” and are now regular contributors.

And transfer Glenn Akers gives the team a post presence, although Nilles pointed out in jest, “most fourth grade AAU teams are bigger than us.”

The Eagles had a rusty start, but “figured they’d better blow the carbon out,” and got things going in the second period, Nilles said. They held Medical Lake to two points to take a halftime lead and put the game away with a 22-11 fourth quarter.

Akers added 12 points and seven rebounds. Peterson, Sherrill and Flynn were each a basket away from double figures.

“We won more than I thought we would,” said Nilles, who anticipates a tough game against the board-crashing Bantams, a triple overtime 87-76 winner in Pullman. “I would like to get to 19 wins. That would mean we’re in Tacoma.”

•The Eagles girls (10-11) traveled to unbeaten Pullman Friday night in the second round of their playoffs following their 58-53 tourney opening win over Medical Lake.

In that game, WV outscored the visiting Cardinals 20-10 in the second quarter and weathered a third-quarter rally to get away at the end. Krystal McCarthy, who has scored more than 25 points in three of her last four games, tallied 25 in the win, upping her season’s average to 14.7 per game.

Missy Carey and Lacey Nordby were also double figures scorers.

Regardless of Friday’s outcome, the girls also play on Wednesday.

Tough ending for EV

Life can be cruel. East Valley won back-to-back games against 3A Greater Spokane League rivals North Central and Mt. Spokane in overtime to complete the regular season.

But on Thursday despite playing at home, the Knights (6-16) couldn’t duplicate the task.

Their season came to an end 64-47 against NC and they missed out on a regional berth.

The Indians shot 54 percent from the field, the Knights just 35 and they were outrebounded by 12 during the loss.

Adam Markham, whose clutch baskets sent EV into both overtimes against Mt. Spokane, scored 19 points and Josh Peck added 12, but just about every other Knight was limited to a basket or less.

•East Valley’s girls played for the District 8 3A championship Friday night. The Knights (7-13) are a regional qualifier and hosted Mt. Spokane for seeding.

Titans advance in region

University’s girls basketball team played Mead on Friday night where a victory would have given them their fourth straight State 4A trip.

U-Hi won last week’s District 8 championships with a 65-48 victory over the Panthers, outscoring them 19-4 in the final quarter and 67-61 win over Lewis and Clark.

Freeman boys advance

Freeman’s boys needed a Friday night win over Tonasket to assure their annual trip to the State 1A basketball tournament.

They defeated Cashmere in their regional tournament opener 63-49 behind three double figures scorers. Andrew Dresback averaged 13.1 for the first three playoff games and Marc Soelberg had games of 15 and 13.

•The girls lost to Colfax for top seeding in district and lost 49-46 to Lakeside for seeding. That put them against Brewster in their regional opener where the Bears prevailed 60-48.

That forces Freeman (17-7) to win three times to return to state.

Liberty girls to state

The Liberty girls basketball team (23-2) earned a trip to the State 2B basketball tournament last week with victories over Springdale 45-36 and St. George’s 49-43 in overtime.

Competition came during the Districts 7/9 regional tournament and sets up today’s championship game against Reardan which earlier shocked unbeaten DeSales. Cami Bullock scored 29 points in the two wins, including 19 against St. George’s.

•The Lancers boys needed a win Friday night over St. George’s in the regional in order to join their classmates in the Spokane Arena on Wednesday.