EV Girls, Cheney Boys Advance
Distict 7 3A
East Valley’s girls (that’s a surprise) and Cheney’s boys (that isn’t) won District 7 3A high school basketball championships Friday night at Reese Court, sending the Knights and Blackhawks into next week’s Region IV tournament.
East Valley, with a 10-12 record, will enter as the district’s top seed after a stunning 45-32 victory over Cheney (16-6), which had defeated the Knights by 21 and 26 points during the Border League regular season.
The Cheney boys (17-5) dominated inside to beat West Valley 77-61, surviving a fourth-quarter run that cut Cheney’s lead from 15 points to seven. The Eagles (12-10) had defeated the Hawks at West Valley in their last meeting.
In losers’ bracket games Friday, West Valley’s girls eliminated Clarkston 40-28 and East Valley’s boys beat the Bantams 57-42.
That set up survivors’ matches today at Reese. The Cheney and West Valley girls meet at 1 p.m. and West Valley’s boys play East Valley at 2:45. Winners go to the Region IV tournament as No. 2 seeds, losers are done for the season.
Girls
East Valley 45, Cheney 32
The last time East Valley’s girls were district champions, disco was king and Gerald Ford was the president. So you could say it’s been a long wait for the Knights - since 1976, to be exact.
The Knights’ leading scorer, 6-foot junior Rebecca Triplett, went down with a dislocated shoulder on the opening tip, and EV’s future didn’t look bright.
But not content to just hang around, the Knights worked hard to beat the Cheney press down the floor and held a 20-16 halftime lead.
The Blackhawks, looking to get untracked, went inside early in the second half and tied the score at 24 with 5 minutes to play in the third quarter, but nearly 8 minutes passed before they scored again. By then, the Knights had scored 15 points for a 39-24 lead.
Cheney scoring leaders Anna Getz and Kara Weitman were a combined 5 for 32 from the field as Cheney shot 19 percent for the game.
April Tomblin led East Valley with 12 points, and Malea Schumacher and freshman Sarah Shogren scored 11 each. Shogren had nine in the second half, all during EV’s big scoring run. Getz led Cheney with 14.
West Valley 40, Clarkston 28
The Eagles (12-10) eliminated the Bantams (2-20).
WV will meet Cheney at 1 p.m. today in a winner-to-regional, loser-out game.
Clarkston 8 11 6 3 - 28
West Valley 7 10 12 11 - 40
CLARKSTON - Blankinship 6, Smith 0, Jones 2, Tucker 8, Murray 0, Strohbehn 0, Blake 0, Johnson 0, Rodgers 1, Munden 0, Haight 11.
WEST VALLEY - Hilsabeck 6, Lyman 0, Groh 0, Morris 0, Thomas 0, McClintock 9, Huffman 6, Holstrom 12, Pedey 0, Parvey 0, Vermeers 7, Cortez 0, Lawler 0.
Boys
Cheney 77, WV 61
Big guys Paul Malisani, James Kiger and Chris Bond combined for 61 points and the Blackhawks made only five turnovers against the Eagles.
West Valley fell behind by 10 points at halftime after Cheney went on an 8-0 run late in the second quarter.
Malisani scored 17 points in the first half and Kiger had 15 in the second against the smaller Eagles, who pressed their way back to a 58-51 deficit with 5 minutes to play.
That threat was short-lived, however, as Bond scored and was fouled next trip down the floor and the Blackhawks made 11 of 12 free throws in the final 4:17. Cheney was 17 for 18 at the line.
Ryan Browning led WV with 17 points, 13 in the second half.
East Valley 57, Clarkston 42
Blake Horgan had a game-high 10 rebounds and hit 8 of 11 free throws as the Knights (5-17) eliminated the Bantams (5-17), finishing 3-0 against Clarkston this year.
Jesse Quirk added 5-of-7 shooting from the floor for EV, which will meet West Valley at 2:45 p.m. today in a winner-to-regional, loser-out game. Clarkston shot 33 percent from the field.
Clarkston 8 8 11 15 - 42
East Valley 16 8 12 21 - 57
CLARKSTON - Nielson 7, Olson 16, Norland 1, Tucker 5, Smith 4, Blankinship 2, Fuchs 0, Harrington 5, Cummings 0, Cridlebaugh 2.
EAST VALLEY - Henderson 0, Smith 0, Sitton 2, Quirk 12, Burgess 18, Shogren 2, Sterling 5, Storey 2, Pooley 0, Horgan 16.
, DataTimes