Mead moves on; LC routed

Mead moved on as expected in 4A regional girls basketball. Lewis and Clark finds itself in unfamiliar territory.

The Panthers (19-4) rolled past visiting Eastmont (6-19) 49-27, but the Tigers (22-2) were rolled 70-52 by young Walla Walla.

Mead plays Moses Lake at 4 p.m. Friday at Kennewick’s Toyota Center in the tournament semifinals for a berth at state. The Chiefs (19-5) beat Richland (10-14) 54-48.

The Tigers (22-2) must win three straight games if they are to return to state for the seventh straight year. They play Kamiakin (6-19), a 75-37 loser to unbeaten Pasco (23-0), at 4 p.m. Friday. Pasco and Walla Walla meet in the other semifinal.

Mead had little trouble with Eastmont, which had been one-dimensional.

The Panthers held 16.1 points per game scorer Brooke Randall to nine points and led 25-7 at halftime.

From there it was a matter of closing out the win. Tifa Puletasi scored a game-high 17 points, had eight rebounds and blocked three shots. Taylor Ingebritsen added 10 points and had four assists.

Walla Walla 70, Lewis and Clark 52: The Tigers couldn’t handle 5-foot-10 freshman Jamie Weisner, who scored 28 points and pulled down 19 rebounds during the contest.

The host Blue Devils (21-4) took a six-point lead into intermission, then outscored LC 22-9 in the third quarter to put the game away. Sophomore Mikaela Rivard, also 5-10, added 21 points, and the third prong of the attack, 5-10 sophomore Hope Klicker, had 10 points and three steals. Jeneva Anderson led the Tigers with 15.

3A regional

The night’s shocker came at East Valley, where North Central, with just two wins entering regional play, eliminated the Knights 52-42.

NC (3-20) will play Columbia Basin Big Nine No. 1-seeded West Valley-Yakima (15-6) at 3:45 p.m. Saturday at Rogers following Hanford (17-6) versus GSL No. 1 Shadle Park (17-5), which begins at 2.

Hanford held off Mt. Spokane 63-60 in the other loser-out game, ending the Wildcats’ (8-15) season.

North Central 52, East Valley 42: The Indians (3-20) and 6-foot-1 sophomore post Tara VanWeerdhuizen took it to the visiting Knights (11-12). They led after a quarter and added to it for a 13-point advantage after three. VanWeerdhuizen scored a season-high 19 points and had six blocked shots. Lindsey Schaefer and Svannah Kolterman, sophomores as well, finished in double figures in the breakthrough victory. Morgan Manchester scored 16 for EV, but no other Knight had more than five.

Hanford 63, Mt. Spokane 60: The Wildcats had a 39-37 lead with 2 minutes remaining in the third quarter before the host Falcons went on an 11-2 run. Mt. Spokane tied the score at 55 on two free throws by Katie Karisch and trailed just 61-60 following Megan Nelson’s 3-pointer with 15 seconds left. But Hanford made two free throws and had a steal to win the game. Karisch scored 18 points, including 12 for 13 at the free-throw line. Averi Hallman added 14 and Nelson 13.