Lakeside Will Play For Trophy State A Boys

There won’t be a Northeast A League showcase game on trophy Saturday at the boys State A high school basketball tournament at the Tacoma Dome.

Both NEA teams scored 48 points in Friday morning’s consolation bracket games, with Lakeside’s total earning the Eagles a come-from-behind 48-42 victory over Life Christian Academy of Tacoma.

In an earlier game, Medical Lake’s Cardinals (19-8) were eliminated by Meridian of Laurel 79-48.

Today’s 12:30 p.m. game for fifth-place matches sixth-ranked Lakeside (20-5) against unranked Meridian (18-9). The loser will place eighth.

Meridian (18-9), beaten by No. 7 Highland 50-40 in the first round, has stayed alive with victories over Goldendale (65-61) and Medical Lake.

Meridian’s most productive offensive player has been 6-foot junior guard Dominic Chambers, who has averaged 15.3 points in three games. Senior forward George Petticrew leads Lakeside with a 14.5 average.

Meridian 79, Medical Lake 48

The Cardinals couldn’t overcome their frigid 20-percent shooting (14 of 70) or the strong play of Chambers, who finished with 16 points and 10 rebounds. Center Brandon Moore was Medical Lake’s only player scoring in double digits. He had 10 points.

“Our transition defense just wasn’t very good,” Medical Lake coach Dave Olzendam said. “It wasn’t a good day all around.”

The Cardinals, who will join Lakeside in a move up to Class 2A next season, kept the game close in the first quarter and led 10-8 with 2 minutes remaining. But a 20-6 Meridian run that began at the end of the quarter gave the Trojans a 28-16 lead. The Trojans led 36-24 at the half.

Carlos Simmons, coming off a tournament-best eight-steal game against Castle Rock, had with eight points for ML. His four steals gave him 14 in three games. Medical Lake’s usually reliable 3-point shooter, Kris Campbell, was 3 of 11 from 3-point range and also finished with eight points. The Trojans shot 54 percent in the game (29 of 54) and outrebounded ML 44-39.

Meridian 12 24 14 29 - 79

M. Lake 10 14 12 12 - 48

MERIDIAN Kratzig 8, Chambers 16, Strube 10, Henderson 8, Rogers 19, Kuoppala 2, Koning 1, Bowden 3, Jensen 5, Kelly 4, Bosman 2, Burton 1.

MEDICAL LAKE Jackson 5, Simmons 8, Campbell 8, Nichols 6, Moore 10, Headlee 5, Meeks 4, Moore 2.

Lakeside 48, Life Christian 42

Petticrew’s 3-point basket with 1:38 remaining, followed by his two free throws at the 20-second mark, iced the victory for Lakeside.

The teams had remarkable similarities, including nicknames - Eagles - and hair style - bald. The lead changed hands nine times and there were six ties. Neither team led by more than seven.

The big difference seemed to be the tournament experience of Lakeside’s five senior starters. Billy Bender led the way with 19 points and seven rebounds. Petticrew added 11 points and six boards.

Life Christian, playing 4 miles from its campus, has no seniors. The Tacoma school’s roster includes three juniors, four sophomores and five freshmen.

Sophomore Josh Davis, a 6-7 center, showed his presence inside with 14 points and eight rebounds. Junior guard Justin Murray had with a team-high 15 points.

With Lakeside trailing 42-40, Petticrew hit a 3-pointer and his team had the lead for good. LC missed four shots in the final 1:22.

“George was an All-State player a year ago,” Lakeside coach Kevin Mulligan said. “He made the big shots down the stretch. That’s the way George is.”

L. Christian 8 13 15 6 - 42

Lakeside 13 5 16 14 - 48

LIFE CHRISTIAN McDermott 3, Wilkerson 4, Murray 15, Overfield 2, Davis 14, Callaway 4.

LAKESIDE Nelson 6, Petticrew 11, Bender 19, Day 5, Dasenbrock 5, Spiger 2.

Cashmere 71, Blaine 55

Junior forward Jake Kerns scored 26 points on 12-for-20 shooting to lead Cashmere (21-6) over Blaine (23-5) in a semifinal.

Blaine 15 17 11 12 - 55

Cashmere 16 17 18 20 - 71

BLAINE Newell 6, Wright 8, Ridnour 16, Martin 2, Luehmann 18, Stricklin 5.

CASHMERE Crossland 8, Stendera 4, Kearns 26, Darlington 13, Green 7, Sparks 13.

LaCenter 56, Chelan 55

Junior guard Dustin VanWeerdhuizen scored 22 points as LaCenter (26-0) extended its winning streak to 43 games with a semifinal win. Chelan is 24-2.

Chelan 19 10 13 13 - 55

LaCenter 17 16 10 13 - 56

CHELAN Dobbs 4, Nickell 12, Johnson 5, Cullen 22, Carlson 10, Miller 2.

LACENTER Newman 8, Smith 8, Renner 4, De. VanWeerdhuizen 13, Du. VanWeerdhuizen 22, Gore 1.

Foster 53, Highland 40

Usef Azia’s 12 points and eight rebounds led the Bulldogs (21-4) past Highland (20-6) in a loser-out game.

Highland 13 11 4 12 - 40

Foster 9 10 12 22 - 53

HIGHLAND Higginbotham 16, Garcia 2, Hartung 13, Weaver 3, Cisneros 2, Borland 4.

FOSTER Aziz 12, Sheppard 9, Wheeler 5, Lyons 3, Lenear 11, Lyons 10, Topps 3.

King’s 77, Toledo 62

Tyler Teeple scored 21 points and Trevor Lubiens added 18 and 10 rebounds to lead King’s (24-3) over Toledo (23-3) in a loser-out game.

Toledo 22 16 7 17 - 62

King’s 19 29 12 17 - 77

TOLEDO Merzoian 3, Jorgusen 22, Jorgusen 6, Netteland 19, Wallace 6, Beal 4, Wallace 2.

KING’S Larkin 3, Teeple 21, Travis 14, Lubiens 18, Jorgensen 6, Odenthal 8, Friedrich 4, Graham 2, Reichmann 1.

, DataTimes