Greetings from Kennewick. Just got done with Gonzaga Prep-Wenatchee at 11 p.m. - LC vs. Walla Walla got over about half an hour earlier. And what do we get? A rematch between the Tigers and Bullpups at 1 p.m. Winner then plays at 7 for the third state berth.

Same, same the girls where Mead lost a gut wrencher to Moses Lake. They dominated the boards, but couldn't get the ball to fall through the hoop in the fourth quarter, losing a 7 point lead and the game 48-47. The Chiefs Jordan Loera (prounounced Lo-etta) took over the game in the second half for 15 of her 22 points and 6-foot-5 Carly Noyes scored with 8 seconds left for the win after Tifa Puletasi fouled out. Puletasi had done a great job on defense and getting her hook shot over Noyes, but wasn't there to stop the last ditch shot. Taylor Ingebritsen's shot as time expired hit backboard and front of the rim but missed.

So the Panthers play LC at 11 a.m. with the winner also playing at 7 p.m. for state.

It's Moses Lake vs. Pasco in girls, Eisenhower vs Wa-Hi in boys for the regional title.Last time no GSL boys were in the title game was 2004, for the girls it was 2003

 

By Mike Vlahovich

Staff writer

KENNEWICK – It wasn’t for lack of trying that did in Mead in a nailbiter ConAgra Foods-Lamb Weston Region 4A girls basketball semifinal.

It may have been because the Panthers tried too hard in their 48-47 loss to Moses Lake Friday afternoon in Kennewick’s Toyota Center.

With 51 seconds remaining in the game and the Panthers leading 47-44, Tifa Puletasi was whistled for her fifth foul attempting to block a Jordan Loera shot.

Loera made both free throws, but more important, it sent the last line of Mead defense against Chiefs 6-foot-5 tower Carly Noyes to the sidelines.

Following a Mead turnover, Noyes posted as Moses Lake took 20 seconds off the clock and scored an uncontested layin with 8 seconds to play sending the Chiefs (20-5) to state and the Panthers (19-5) into consolation.

They play Lewis and Clark, a 79-46 victory over Kamiakin in loser-out action at 11 a.m. today. The winner plays again at 7 p.m. for a berth to state. It is the route Moses Lake took to state the previous two years before reaching the finals this time.

“We’ve got to bounce back,” said Mead coach Regan Drew. “Our biggest challenge is getting mentally ready after a game like that.”

Mead led from virtually the outset, the biggest a 10-point bulge early in the second quarter.

But a pattern began to take shape, as the Panthers went cold in the second quarter. Moses Lake caught up at one point 21-21 before trailing by four at intermission. It would repeat itself in the second half, including a 0-for-11 fourth quarter stretch in which the Panthers did not score for nearly six minutes and fell behind 44-41 after leading 41-34 through three.

More damaging, perhaps, were the foul troubles that plagued Puletasi and also Jazmine Redmon, who finished with four.

“Definitely a factor was Tifa’s foul situation,” said Moses Lake coach Matt Strophy. “When she fouled out, our girls got confident.”

Puletasi had kept Noyes in check when Mead took its biggest lead in the first half. When she sat out the second quarter with two fouls, Noyes scored eight points, including six of the team’s last eight, to tie the score.

Noyes had 12 at intermission and finished with 21, her only fourth-quarter basket coming after Puletasi’s fifth foul.

Redmon’s foul troubles, created another matchup problem. She couldn’t defend the other half of Moses Lake’s offense and Loera scored 15 of her 22 points in the second half. Between the pair, they finished with all but five of the Chiefs (20-5) points.

Loera followed Kelly Sutherland’s fourth-quarter opening 3-pointer with seven straight including a 3-pointer of her own.

“That put us back within distance,” said Strophy. “Kelly and Jordan’s 3’s really helped.”

Alisa Beard finally broke Mead’s scoring drought with a coast-to-coast layin in traffic. Redmon, who finished with 14 points, scored on an up and over drive and Puletasi got the final basket with a minute left.

The came the foul and Mead’s fortunes shifted one last time.

“It probably would have been different without the mismatches,” said Drew. “We tried to play good fronting defense with help on the back side. Our undersized (posts) worked hard.”

The Panthers were impressive on the boards, Redmon finishing with 15 and Beard with 10, eight in the second half. But the team was 22 for 67 shooting in the game.

“The girls had been shooting well,” said Drew. “We were patient and I thought we took good shots. They just wouldn’t fall.”

LC 79, Kamiakin 46: Unaccustomed to playing on the second court in Kennewick, the Tigers (22-2) found themselves behind much of the first quarter against the outmatched Braves (6-20). But they ratcheted things up to finally take a 10-8 lead and poured in 28 second-period points for a 42-21 halftime lead. Katie Blevins hit two 3-pointers and scored 10 of her 14 points in the second quarter. Sarah Kliewer scored 7 of her 15, hitting all five free throws. Devyn Galland was 6-for-8 from the field and finished with 14 points in the game

By Mike Vlahovich

Staff writer

KENNEWICK – Lewis and Clark got the better of tempo in the first half of the nightcap during Region 4A semifinal basketball games in the Toyota Center.

But the game turned suddenly in the third quarter and Walla Walla turned the game into a whirlwind 50-35 victory.

The Blue Devils (18-7), trailing 24-17 on Austin Ehlo’s third-quarter opening basket, went on a 17-2 tear thereafter and left the Tigers (14-11) in their wake.

Loss drops LC into the loser’s bracket today in a 1 p.m. game against Gonzaga Prep. The Bullpups eliminated Wenatchee, 76-60.

Most of Walla Walla’s damage was done by guard Gary Winston, who scored 17 of his game high 25 points in the second half. So effective was he, that Winston became a essentially a one-man team at one point, scoring 17 of 31 as the lead stretched to 47-31. Included were nine in a row in the fourth quarter and 11 of 13 during a four-minute span.

LC went five minutes without scoring in falling behind 30-24 after taking its biggest lead. The team scored but nine points during 13 ½ minutes of the 16-minute second half and finished with 13 overall.

“We got soft,” said Tigers coach Jeff Norton. “We thought we were going to get it handed to us and didn’t realize they were playing 16 minutes to go to state, too. I’m disappointed.”

The patient Tigers got the better of tempo in the first half and if it hadn’t been for some curious officiating they might have led by more than five points at intermission.

Austin Ehlo and Levi Taylor each had seven points in the 22-17 advantage and Sean Hoffmann six. But Taylor, with Mac Richards hanging all over him for an extended period, got called for the foul and eventually had to sit with two. Hoffmann also picked up his second foul and had to sit as did point guard Taylor Eglet.

“I had to sit them down, but we finished the half well,” said Norton, “and started the third quarter OK.

Still, while the Tigers had a nearly 2-to-1 advantage in field goals, it was the Blue Devils who spent the half at the line, making 7 of 10. LC made good on its two attempts.

LC was content in taking its time with the ball and it worked to an early 8-2 advantage.

Winston wiped out the lead before late baskets by Ehlo, a 3-pointer, and Eglet made it 13-8 after a quarter. Taylor scored twice in the second quarter and Ehlo scored with 1, minute, 42 seconds left for the final points before intermission to maintain the lead.

The Blue Devils took only 12 shots the entire half, seven by Winston

Second half was a different story. Walla Walla made 13 of 17 shots and a deficit that had been 24-17 became a 47-31 lead. Winston proved unstoppable with an assortment of to-the-basket moves as well as some sweet outside shooting. He was 8-for-10 over the final two quarters.

Ehlo finished with 12 points, Taylor had just one more basket in the game.

“We were not physical or mentally very tough,” said Norton. “You don’t go to state that way. It makes for a big challenge. We’ll find out (today) if we deserve to go.”

Gonzaga Prep 76, Wenatchee 60: In a loser-out up and down game that lasted until 11 p.m. on a court whose score clock had malfunctioned, the Bullpups (21-3) outmanned the Panthers (15-11). They jumped to a seven-point lead after a quarter and finished with a 25-point fourth period. It was an inside-outside job. Inside, Ryan Nicholas made 8 of 14 field goal attempts and all seven free throws to finish with 23 points and 9 rebounds. Travis Long added 12 points. Outside, Sean Fischer was 7 for 11 from the field and had 18 points. Both he and David Stockton, who scored 15, hit two 3 pointers. Winner of the G-Prep-LC game plays the winner of Richland-Pasco for state at 7 p.m.

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