Quarterfinals: Lake Roosevelt and Reardan girls, Colfax and LR boys

First-year Lake Roosevelt varsity girls basketball coach Wallace Pleasants could not underscore enough what a trip to the State 2B basketball tournament quarterfinals means for his team.

He cited an early-season straw poll that suggested his team was ranked 162 of the approximately 190 2B schools. Truly ratings can be overrated.

Pleasants’ team earned a trip to the Spokane Arena next week with 43-34 win over the Waitsburg-Prescott Cardinals on Saturday at University High.

“This is huge for a girls program that isn’t supposed to be winning,” Pleasants said.

LR (15-7) raced to a 7-0 lead with the help of hot shooting guard Briana Monaghan.

Monaghan finished with a game-high 13 points on 6-for-13 shooting from the floor. The 5-foot-4 Monaghan even finished tied for the team lead in rebounding with seven.

“That’s how we do it,” Pleasants said. “When your number is called, you do your part.”

Waitsburg-Prescott’s Dionna Baker scored nine first-half points – shooting 7 of 8 from the free-throw line – and the Cardinals (19-2) got to the half trailing only 24-21.

But the Raiders tightened their defense to start the second half and held the Cardinals without a field goal until 6:58 remained in the game.

Lake Roosevelt posted its biggest lead of the game at 35-26, but Waitsburg-Prescott’s Krystal Harris unleashed two deep 3-pointers to cut the lead to three.

From there, Lake Roosevelt quickly squashed any chances of a Cardinals comeback and closed the game with a 6-2 spurt.

LR will play Adna at 3:45 p.m. Thursday.

Reardan 70, Northwest Christian 41: At Wenatchee, Kelsey Moos finished with 24 points, five rebounds and four assists as the Indians (22-3) qualified for the quarterfinals and eliminated the Crusaders (16-10). Marrisa Dormaier added 11 points and eight rebounds for Reardan, which held NWC to 27 percent shooting from the field. Reardan will meet Napavine at 7:15 p.m. Thursday.

Boys

Colfax 71, Brewster 53: Did the Bulldogs’ J.J. Robinson have to ice his wrist at halftime?

A second-quarter shooting spree at University HS saw the junior guard shoot 6 of 9 from the floor – 3 of 4 from 3-point range – as he scored 15 of his team’s 16 points.

The Bulldogs then broke open a close game early in the third quarter to earn a trip to the final round of eight next weekend in Spokane.

Leading 32-26 at half, Colfax used an 11-2 run to build a lead that was never challenged.

The Bulldogs (22-3) finished the third quarter leading Brewster 53-37. Colfax’s Brandon Gfeller and Robinson registered consecutive three-point plays to push the lead to 59-39 to start the fourth quarter.

Despite that lead, Colfax coach Reece Jenkin stayed on his team about the importance of continuing to execute properly and not getting complacent.

“This game is far from over!” Jenkin yelled after he called timeout with 4:56 left in the game and his team leading 59-43.

Colfax’s Justin Beraducci finished with a game-high 22 points and had 15 rebounds, including eight on the offensive end. Robinson finished with 19 points, Kyle Johnson had 12 and Gfeller pitched in 11 as the Bulldogs had four players in double figures for the second straight game.

Stockton Taylor led the Bears with 16 points. He was 10 of 10 from the line but struggled from the floor, shooting 3 of 23.

Colfax will play Adna at 9 a.m. Thursday.

Lake Roosevelt 64, St. George’s 47: At Wenatchee, Ty Egbert totaled 18 points, 10 rebounds and six blocked shots as the Raiders (21-4) qualified for the quarterfinals and eliminated the Dragons (14-12). Keith Rosenbaum added 12 points and six rebounds for the Raiders, who hit 4 of 8 first-half 3-pointers. LR will play Napavine at 12:15 p.m. Thursday.