Regionals now have new spin
That Ferris and Shadle Park are playing Friday in Kennewick for boys State 4A basketball berths is no surprise. The teams, after all, were ranked first and fourth in the latest AP state poll.
But University playing for a state berth Friday night?
Who would have thought it possible a couple of weeks ago? The Titans were 5-11 entering February and scrambling just to reach the district tournament.
They’ve since won six of eight games – both losses to Ferris – and face the Saxons for the third time in two weeks at 7 p.m. at the Toyota Center in Kennewick, in the winner-to-state regional semifinals.
“Most people are really surprised because of our record and how we’re playing now,” said second-year U-Hi coach Garrick Phillips. “But I told a reporter in Wenatchee (after Tuesday’s 73-61 triumph), and it’s really, really true, that none of the coaches and players are really that surprised.”
U-Hi’s upset was one of two on the first night of East Regional basketball playoffs on Tuesday. The Greater Spokane League’s second-seeded Shadle girls were relegated to the loser’s bracket and are forced to take a long road to a state berth.
Prior to the season, Phillips predicted a third-place finish for U-Hi in the GSL. Things didn’t work out that way as the Titans endured a six-game game losing streak from Jan. 10-26. One player had quit, others weren’t playing to potential and it wasn’t until the last scheduled game of the season that U-Hi clinched sixth place. The Titans then won two of three district games.
Most important, there never was a loss of trust among players and coaches, Phillips said. He said that improved post play helped in the turnaround, particularly from Ryan Dixon, whose dominance in practice began to carry over into games.
By winning three of four games Tuesday, GSL boys are assured at least one berth at state. Ferris will be favored for a state return when it plays the Titans. Shadle will meet Richland in the 9 p.m. nightcap.
Following his 26-point, 15-rebound effort in an overtime victory against Eisenhower, Shadle’s Anthony Brown explained the winning semifinal formula.
“We just got to play the same way we did when we picked up those leads (of 12 and eight points against the Cadets) and maintain them the whole game,” he said. “If we give 110 percent, odds are we’ll come out with the (win).”
That would mean an All-GSL regional final.
The girls, however, face a different scenario. Lewis and Clark is in the semifinals, but Mead and Central Valley, like Shadle, lost and must play through each other.
“I honestly thought Central Valley was going to struggle at Moses Lake because of the height difference, but thought (the league) had a chance at winning the other three games,” said LC Tigers coach Jim Redmon.
The three teams’ arduous tournament route is a reason Redmon is glad he was at home for the first game and able to overcome a pesky Richland team with a strong second half. A win over Walla Walla on Friday puts the Tigers in state. The others need three wins in order to get there.
“No one wants to play two games on Saturday,” Redmon said. “You just don’t want to put a team in that situation.”