Kamiakin, Richland Rule Region

Region IV championship

Some things never change the Kamiakin girls win regional basketball titles, the Ferris boys don’t.

The Kamiakin girls and Richland boys captured the Eastern AAA regional championships Saturday night at Eastern Washington University in two extremely intense defensive struggles.

Kamiakin won its fourth straight with a 34-33 win over Gonzaga Prep, and Richland kept Ferris winless in three finals with a 46-42 decision.

All four teams go to the State AAA tournaments beginning Wednesday in the Kingdome as No. 1 seeds.

“There were two pretty good defensive teams out there,” Gonzaga Prep coach Mike Arte said. “We cover pretty well in our zone and they cover pretty well in their man.”

“Richland played real solid defense … that made it real difficult for us to score,” Ferris coach Wayne Gilman said. “And our defense wasn’t bad.”

Girls

Kamiakin 34, Gonzaga Prep 33

For a game that had to match almost any in history for futility, the top-ranked Braves (23-0) and Bullpups (20-6) made the girls championship game a thriller.

The Braves won when the Bullpups, who had an eight-game winning streak, failed to get a shot off in the final 12 seconds after Kamiakin missed a free throw.

Prep had outscored the Braves 12-2 in the final 3:43 to make it a game. Jennifer Williams had six of her 10 points in that span.

“If we would have started playing like that earlier… ,” Prep coach Mike Arte said. “We were a little intimidated offensively.”

Until then, the game was a stinker on offense.

Kamiakin missed its first 24 shots - but only trailed 9-3 before Meotis Erikson scored on a putback at 4:38 of the second quarter.

Gonzaga Prep had committed 15 turnovers before the Braves took the lead, 14-13, when Kristen Willis swished a 3-pointer from the right wing 9 seconds before halftime. The Bullpups had 27 turnovers, nine in a third quarter that saw them outscored 11-3, but none when they made their run.

Willis, who played on all four championship teams, said, “It’s the greatest feeling. I can’t believe we’ve won it four times. But now we want to go all the way. We won’t be satisfied until we win a state championship.”

Kamiakin 2 12 11 9 - 34 Gonzaga Prep 9 4 3 17 - 33

KAMIAKIN - K.Albano 1 1-2 4, Keatts 2 0-0 6, DeCoria 0 0-0 0, Erikson 3 0-1 7, Ramsgate 0 1-2 1, Willis 2 4-4 10, Anglesey 0 0-0 0, Shaw 0 2-2 2, Autrey 2 0-0 4. Totals 10 8-11 34.

GONZAGA PREP - Green 0 0-0 0, Bradley 1 2-2 4, Machtolf 0 0-0 0, Thorn 1 2-4 4, Jordan 2 2-2 8, Williams 4 2-2 10, Nadeau 0 0-0 0, Palmer 3 2- 4 8. Totals 11 9-14 33.

3-point goals - Albano, Keatts 2, Erikson, Willis 2, Jordan 2. Total fouls - Kam. 11, GP 11. Fouled out - Bradley.

Boys

Richland 46, Ferris 42

Like the girls game that preceded it, the boys had trouble finding the range. Ferris scored two points in the second quarter and shot 21 percent for the half.

The third-ranked Saxons (22-2) were down by five late in the third quarter when Justin Bursch drained back-to-back long 3’s for a 29-28 lead entering the fourth quarter. Charlie Gordon, who had 14 rebounds, opened the last period with a putback basket for Ferris. But the No.5 Bombers (22-2) went on a 10-0 run for a 38-31 lead with 4:21 to play.

Bombers point guard David Lehrschall had just fouled out for the first time this season and Brad Hodl drew a foul on his replacement, Jeff Oliver, with 2:46 left. Richland’s Kevin McClelland was then whistled for a technical.

Hodl made his two free throws but Tommy Servine missed both on the technical. Servine responded with a great drive, cutting the deficit to 40-39. Richland then had two misses, but the Saxons missed a shot at 2:12. Then the Bombers spread their offense and drained the clock to 49 seconds before Mike Stottlemyre made his only two points of the game on free throws.

Ferris missed, got the foul and the miss they needed from the line, but McClelland rebounded and was fouled, icing the game with two free throws that made it 44-39 with 31 seconds left.

“It was a real hotly contested, championship-type game,” Gilman said. “I’m happy our kids made a pretty spirited comeback.”

Richland 10 6 12 18 - 46 Ferris 10 2 17 13 - 42

RICHLAND - Oliver 0 0-0 0, McClelland 2 2-3 7, Lehrschall 1 2-2 4, Robinson 2 2-2 8, Stottlemyre 0 2-2 2, Coleman 3 0-0 8, Martin 1 0-0 2, Salisbury 7 1-4 15. Totals 16, 9-13 46.

FERRIS - Bursch 4 1-2 12, Servine 4 0-2 10, Lucke 2 0-1 4, Soter 0 0-0 0, Watts 0 0-0 0, Hodl 2 2-2 6, Gordon 3 0-4 6, Weatherred 2 0-0 4. Totals 17 3-11 42.

3-point goals - McClelland, Robinson 2, Coleman 2, Bursch 3, Servine 2. Total fouls - Richland 17, Ferris 15. Fouled out - Lehrschall, Servine. Technical foul - McClelland.

, DataTimes