Big-League Play Gives Ach Title

Northeast B

The only thing missing from Almira-Coulee/Hartline’s thrilling 53-51 boys District 7-B championship victory Saturday at Spokane Falls Community College over previously unbeaten and topranked Reardan was a resounding ‘My-oh-my’ from Seattle Mariners broadcaster Dave Niehaus.

Jason Pierce’s half-court in-bounds pass was caught in midair and layed in by Topher Goodwin with 1.6 seconds left in the game, giving the Warriors their second district title in the past seven years.

In the girls championship game, Ritzville got 17 points and seven rebounds from Megan Yerxa en route to a 47-38 victory over Wilbur-Creston. It was the seventh overall district title for the Broncos and their first since 1989.

In the consolation finals, to decide the 3rd and 4th seeds to the state tournament, Ritzville’s boys knocked off Republic 51-42 and Reardan’s girls upended Northport 52-36.

ACH 53, Reardan 51

Reardan (24-1) won both regular season games, by four and eight points, but ACH (20-4) won when it mattered most, and Jason Pierce was the reason.

The senior guard was a thorn in the side of Reardan all night long. Pierce connected on 8 of 17 shots from the floor and finished with a team-high 20 points. He grabbed seven rebounds, dished out seven assists and also scored the biggest basket of the game.

Pierce gave ACH momentum heading into the final period when his half-court 3-pointer hit nothing but net at the buzzer, giving the Warriors a 40-36 lead.

“That’s what I’m used to seeing (from Pierce),” ACH coach Jim Wacker said. “He was kind of quiet in the first two games, but that was mainly because we were concentrating on getting the ball down low to our post players.”

Wacker said the play at the end of the game was by design.

“Two years ago in the quarterfinals we played Adna and they ran that exact play to beat us. I liked it so much that we saved it and saved it and saved it just for a game like tonight.”

The contest was close from start to finish. Reardan’s biggest lead was four, ACH’s five.

James Kiger came up big for the Indians. He finished with a game-high 22 points, including the tying basket with 11 seconds remaining, and pulled down 10 rebounds.

There’s a lesson to be learned according to Reardan coach Dan Smith.

“I didn’t like our intensity level out there,” he noted. “I think this will be a wake-up call for our kids. We’ve got to show up ready to play and not wait until the last three minutes (of the game).”

Reardan 17 13 6 15 - 51

ACH 14 15 11 13 - 53

REARDAN Jenkin 2, Brown 0, Orcutt 0, Wynecoop 0, Soliday 1, Martin 0, Titchenal 11, Eastman 11, Graham 4, Flaa 0, Nollmeyer 0, Kiger 22.

ALMIRA/COULEE-HARTLINE R.Higginbotham 3, Pierce 20, Thomas 0, Elder 0, Leander 8, Pate 3, A.Higginbotham 0, Emerson 0, Goodwin 15, Neilsen 0, Evers 4.

Ritzville 51, Republic 42

The Broncos (24-4) won the game on a 19-10 third-quarter run and a 23-point effort from John Galbreath. Jason Baldwin’s 17 points topped the Tigers (23-4).

Republic 7 8 10 17 - 42

Ritzville 8 7 19 17 - 51

REPUBLIC Dinkins 0, Dav.Hanks 8, Baldwin 17, Dan Hanks 4, Rickard 9, Grimm 2, Kuchenmeister 2, Russell 0, Davenport 0.

RITZVILLE Arlt 0, Benzel 0, Duff 3, Boness 6, Marcus 0, DeVore 0, J.Galbreath 23, S.Galbreath 2, Russel 17.

Girls

Ritzville 47, Wilbur-Creston 38

The Wildcats (20-5) just didn’t have an answer for the Broncos’ (22-3) Megan Yerxa.

“We just couldn’t stop her,” said W-C coach Steve Jantz. “It’s a good thing she got into foul trouble or it could have been a lot worse. Ritzville is a fine basketball team.

The Wildcats surely missed their senior post Mindy Bandy, who’s out with an injury.

“We thought going in that we’d have a little more success inside without Bandy in there,” said Broncos coach John Foulkes. “I was real pleased with our effort.”

Sophomore Alyssa Erickson scored 15 to pace the Wildcats.

Wilbur-Creston 11 11 10 6 - 38

Ritzville 12 11 13 11 - 47

WILBUR-CRESTON Harris 0, Mann 0, Allen 13, Llewellyn 5, Deahl 2, Green 0, Erickson 15, Arden 0, Sherwood 0, Seylor 0, Nelson 3.

RITZVILLE J.Wellsandt 0, Kramer 3, Weber 5, Horpedahl 0, M.Wellsandt 4, Kirkendall 0, Russel 12, Yerxa 17, Alspach 6.

Reardan 52, Northport 36

The Indians (18-8) outscored the Mustangs (23-4) 22-6 in the fourth quarter to pull off the upset.

Janelle Krupke hit five 3-pointers and scored a game-high 23 points for Reardan.

Northport 11 7 12 6 - 36

Reardan 13 8 9 22 - 52

NORTHPORT Knudsen 2, Day 2, Ke.Sauvola 2, Sell 4, E.Young 2, C.Young 10, Ka.Sauvola 14.

REARDAN Jayne 3, Schwartz 0, Krupke 23, Rinker 2, Soliday 0, Plummer 0, Turner 11, Supinger 13, Hicks 0.

, DataTimes