Eagles Fire Away For District Win

Frontier League

An incredible third-period shooting spree launched the West Valley Eagles to a 67-55 victory over the Cheney boys Wednesday night at Eastern Washington University, keeping the Frontier League champions alive in the Excell District basketball tournament.

In the opener at Reese Court, Colville’s girls (12-11) trailed most of the way, then rallied in the fourth quarter for a 49-43 victory to eliminate second-seeded Pullman (13-10).

West Valley (19-4), seeking its fourth straight trip to the Class AA state tournament, will have to beat Colville twice to make it to the Tacoma Dome next week. The Eagles face the Indians - who defeated them once during the regular season - Friday night at 8:15.

The undefeated Frontier champion Cheney girls (22-0) will meet Colville at 6:30 Friday. Both the boys and girls are competing for a single spot at state. Victories by West Valley’s boys or the Colville girls would force Saturday contests.

West Valley 67, Cheney 55

In the fourth meeting of the season between these fierce rivals, WV ended Cheney’s chances for a rags-to-riches finish.

Slowed by early season injuries to Richard DeMulling and Mario Chodorowski, the Blackhawks (9-14) won only two of 10 nonleague games, but came into the Excell on a roll and defeated the Eagles in Friday’s first round.

But West Valley outscored Cheney 23-4 in the third quarter Wednesday, sending in five 3-pointers, three by Brian Lindley.

The outburst gave WV a 54-34 lead after three periods, and as it turned out the Eagles needed almost every bit of their startling 30-4 run that began late in the first half.

They had pushed their lead to 61-40 midway through the fourth quarter when Cheney went on a 15-point run that brought the Hawks within 61-55 with 1:12 to play. That’s when their luck and their uncanny shooting ended, and WV scored its last six points from the foul line.

The Eagles had missed only one free throw until the last 2 minutes, but they missed the front end of five one-and-ones in the late going.

The Blackhawks - uncharacterically bombing in three consecutive 3s - had led by nine points only seconds into the second period, but Chodorowski and DeMulling each picked up his third foul before halftime, and the Eagles - blanked beyond the arc in the first quarter - hit four before the break.

Greg Jones scored 17 of WV’s 31 first-half points, including a rebound basket with 25 seconds left that gave the Eagles their first lead of the game 31-30.

They had scored the last seven points of the first half, and another putback by Jones and a 3 from the corner by Lindley made it 36-30 less than a minute into the second half. A basket by Abdul Odood broke the 12-point run, but WV scored 18 of the last 20 points in the quarter. Lindley had three of WV’s five 3s.

Jones led the Eagles with 23 points. Junior guard David Schillinger hit 18 after a scoreless first period, and he led WV with 8 rebounds. Lindley hit 14, 11 in the second half.

DeMulling led Cheney with 13 points, but fouled out early in the fourth quarter. Chodorowski had 11 and Odood 10. WV, which has struggled frequently on the boards this season, won that battle, 33-26.

West Valley 11 20 23 13 - 67

Cheney 18 12 4 21 - 55

WEST VALLEY Elias 0 0-0 0, Schillinger 4 6-8 18, Lindley 4 2-3 14, Stone 1 2-2 4, Jones 8 6-7 23, Bonner 2 4-6 8, Pecht 0 0-0 0, Gregorak 0 0-0 0, Dilloo 0 0-0 0. Totals - 19 20-26 67.

CHENEY Randall 1 0-0 2, Battien 0 0-0 0, Urdahl 3 0-0 9, Chodorowski 3 2-2 11, Collins 0 0-0 0, Adood 5 0-0 10, Stewart 0 0-0 0, Ohuche 0 0-0 0, Just 1 0-0 2, Holmes 2 3-4 8, DeMulling 6 1-2 13. Totals - 21 6-8 55.

3-point goals - Schillinger 4, Lindley 4, Jones, Urdahl 3, Chodorowski 3, Holmes. Total fouls - WV 9, Cheney 23. Fouled out - DeMulling.

Colville 49, Pullman 43

After scoring only 25 points in the first three periods, Colville put up 24 in the fourth, overtaking the Greyhounds with 5 minutes to play.

The Indians led 47-40 in the last minute.

Kristi Kuh led Colville with 15 points, 13 in the second half. She had seven in the fourth quarter and Hope Anderson had six for the Indians, finishing with 11 all in the second half. Colville made 10 of 11 free throws.

Heather Wood had three 3-pointers for Colville, two in the fourth period. Senior Katie Warner led Pullman with 13 points and Melissa Schlettert had eight rebounds.

After taking a 7-2 lead, the Greyhounds held the advantage until Chris Brozik’s jump shot tied the score at 32 and Wood’s 3 gave the Indians their first lead of the game moments later, 35-34.

The Greyhounds recaptured the lead, 36-35, but Brozik’s drive and the first of two straight jump shots by Kuh gave Colville a 39-36 lead. Pullman had pushed back to 42-40 with 1:11 to play when Wood made a 3 to give the Indians a five-point cushion.

Pullman 9 8 12 14 - 43

Colville 4 11 10 24 - 49

PULLMAN Linehan 1 0-0 3, Fisher 3 0-0 6, Scharnhorst 3 0-0 6, Schlettert 4 1-4 9, Montez 1 0-0 2, Werner 4 4-6 13, Wilde 2 0-0 4. Totals - 18 5-10 43.

COLVILLE nfWood 3 0-0 9, Brozik 3 3-3 9, Ewan 2 1-1 5,

Hedrick 0 0-0 0, Rukke 0 0-0 0, Brown 0 0-0 0, Anderson 5 1-1 11, Kuh 5 5-6 15. Totals - 18 10-11 49.

3-point goals - Linehan, Werner, Wood 3. Total fouls - Pullman 14, Colville 13. Fouled out - Ewan. Technicals - Ewan.