Colville Takes Beating On Capital Gains, Falls 55-49

Halfway through their season, the Capital Cougars computed their free-throw shooting percentage as the worst in the state.

The rousing 53 percent figure forced coach Bob Dickson to alter his practices, with more time devoted to the charting and shooting of free throws.

As Colville can attest, the devotion paid, well, Capital dividends.

Capital made 8 of 8 free throws in the final 1 minute, 49 seconds Wednesday to edge Colville 55-49 during the opening round of the boys State AA basketball tournament at the Tacoma Dome.

The Cougars (17-7), who finished 14 of 17 from the line, advanced to this afternoon’s quarterfinals against eighth-ranked White River (23-3), a 50-47 upset winner over fourthranked Chehalis.

Colville (13-11) plays Chehalis (22-2) in a loser-out game at 5 p.m.

The Indians, making their first state appearance in 22 years, tied the game at 47 on Matt Smith’s 3-pointer with 2:46 left. But Colville’s possessions during the final 1:32 included two failed short shots, two off-themark 3-pointers and a turnover.

“We missed some shots that we normally wouldn’t miss,” said Colville coach Bill Pilgeram. “But the kids did what we wanted to do … they left it all on the floor.”

Capital trailed 21-14 early in the second quarter. The Cougars started hounding Indians guards Mike Mostek and Tim Sprangers, who combined for 13 of the team’s 26 turnovers. The Cougars had 15 turnovers.

“We only had sketchy information on them,” Dickson said of Colville, “but we knew we wanted to extend our defense.”

Colville outrebounded Capital 22-11 in the first half, but the Cougars caught up when they switched to a zone defense. By the end, the Indians’ edge on the boards was just 34-33, topped by Smith’s nine.

Capital started in a man-to-man defense, with Travis Lindstrom guarding Smith (23.2 ppg), the top scorer entering the tourney. Lindstrom ran into early foul trouble - another reason for Dickson to switch to zone.

Smith led all players with 17 points, but scored only seven after the break.

“To tell the truth, in the second half we crossed our fingers that (Smith) wouldn’t get a good look against the zone,” Dickson said. “(The Indians) were one shot away from us going back to man.”

Cougars sophomore Ryan Jones, the team’s leading scorer despite coming off the bench, had six points during an 8-0 run that put Capital ahead 43-38 by the end of the fourth quarter.

At that point, the game had had seven lead changes and four ties.

Colville thought it had another tie minutes later, when Sprangers stole the ball and drove for a layup. The sophomore was called for charging.

“That was a major call in the game,” said Pilgeram, who came close to drawing a technical. “But you can’t look at the whole game on one call.”

Smith’s 3-pointer, from NBA range, finally brought the knotted score the Indians thought they had earlier. But Lindstrom, Scott Taylor, Josh Partlow and Jared Sandberg each made 2 of 2 free throws in the waning moments, while Colville misfired.

“(Pilgeram) does an outstanding job getting the most out of those kids,” Dickson said. “They play a composed, intelligent game.”

Capital 55, Colville 49

Capital 12 15 14 14 - 55 Colville 15 12 11 11 - 49

CAPITAL Jones 5 2-2 12, Sandberg 2 2- 2 7, Smith 2 0-0 4, Lindstrom 1 5-7 7, Allen 0 0-0 0, Partlow 5 3-4 13, Taylor 5 2-2 12. Totals: 20 14-17 55. COLVILLE Hardison 0 0-0 0, Mostek 3 3 -4 10, Sprangers 1 2-2 5, Kane 0 0-0 0, Grittner 2 0-0 4, Wilson 4 5-8 13, Smith 6 4-5 17, Anderson 0 0-0 0. Totals: 16 14-19 49.

3-pointers - Sandberg, Mostek, Sprangers, Smith. Total fouls - Capital 17, Colville 14. Fouled out - none.