Boys 4A: Lewis and Clark hold on and advance to quarterfinals

Naje Smith scored 29 points with 15 rebounds and No. 9 seed Lewis and Clark (17-8) survived some tense moments at the end and eliminated No. 8 seed Sunnyside (19-4) 66-64 in a state 4A elimination game at the Tacoma Dome on Wednesday.

Lewis and Clark advances to face No. 7 seed Enumclaw (21-5) in a state quarterfinal on Thursday at 9 p.m.

Griffin Effenberger added 17 points for the Tigers.

This was Lewis and Clark’s sixth loser-out game in a row, going back to district play.

Trey Sanchez led Sunnyside with 32 points and Art Palacios added 20.

It’s the second straight game Smith has dominated, following his 30-point, 19-rebound performance in the regional win last week.

“I think he realizes that if he doesn’t come with that kind of energy and play, we’re probably not going to go very far,” said Lewis and Clark coach Jim Redmon.

The Tigers took their first lead of the game with 5:22 left on a bucket by Tristan Schofield, and Smith followed with a two-handed slam off a fast break to make it 56-52.

Smith grabbed a loose ball and made a twisting layup and LC led 62-56 with 2:21 left.

Sanchez got loose for a fastbreak layup to trim the Sunnyside deficit to 64-62 with 34.1 seconds left.

Effenberger made a runner to put it back to four, but Sanchez answered hitting both ends of a 1-and-1 and it was a two-point game with 12.4 seconds left.

“I thought we started a roll and we were starting to do what we needed to do,” Redmon said. “To (Sunnyside’s) credit, they are so explosive offensively. Their two guards are incredible. We had a hard time guarding them. Our resilience came through in the end”

Sanchez fouled out to stop the clock and put Jonny Love on the line. Love missed, but Smith came down with the rebound and he was fouled for a 1-and-1. Smith missed, and Sunnyside hurried upcourt but its last attempt from the corner was short.

The Tigers got down early.

Palacios hit a short jumper and drained a 3-pointer at the end of the first and the Grizzlies led 18-12 after one quarter.

Sunnyside ran the lead out to 10 early in the second following a 6-2 spurt.

Smith then went to work, converting a pair of three-point plays, and Bailey Rosenau’s three-point play near the end of the quarter tied it at 34 at the end of an 11-2 Tigers run.

Palacios added two more free throws and the Grizzlies went to the lockers with a two-point lead.

Smith had 15 points with seven boards for Lewis and Clark at intermission.

Sunnyside threatened to pull away in the third. Trey Sanchez scored nine early in the period to run up a nine-point lead.

LC whittled that down as Griffin Effenberger drilled a pair of 3-pointers and Smith’s three-point play at the end of the quarter pulled the Tigers within three at 52-49.