Young Crusaders earn trip to Arena

You get the feeling that even if Northwest Christian boys basketball coach Ray Ricks had a roster full of freshmen he’d expect the Crusaders to get to the Spokane Arena.

The average age of the Crusaders is older but they don’t have a senior on the roster. Except for a few careless turnovers, Northwest Christian led essentially start to finish in a 64-55 decision over the Lake Roosevelt Raiders on Friday in the regional round of the State 2B tournament at Mt. Spokane High School.

Lake Roosevelt used a 6-0 surge to pull within 48-46 in the first minute of the fourth quarter, but it was all Crusaders (19-7) thereafter.

Using a nice balance of inside and outside play, NWC pushed the lead to 64-53 late.

Northwest Christian finished with 18 turnovers, double its season average.

“That’s their style. That’s how they make their living,” Ricks said of the Raiders. “You try to prepare for athletic, quick hands and those guards. They’re good.”

The Raiders couldn’t contain the inside duo of Asher Cox and Nathan Sander. Cox led four scorers in double figures with 19 points and Sander added 11.

Ryan Ricks and David Olds did the damage outside, combining for 26 points.

Northwest Christian outrebounded the Raiders 39-30. Sander had 10 and Ricks and Cox had eight each.

“We got the ball inside and it helped to get some baskets down low,” Coach Ricks said. “Defensively, I would have liked to have seen us a little tighter.”

The Raiders kept things tight in the first half. It appeared the Crusaders would take a comfortable lead into halftime before Lake Roosevelt’s Jackson Louie hit a 3-pointer to pull the Raiders within 31-28 at intermission.

After the Raiders final surge early in the fourth, Northwest Christian took control.