Cheney, East Valley Teams Fall Shy Of State Berths

3A eastern regional

Moses Lake took the air out of the ball and the wind out of Cheney’s sails for a 46-42 victory to join three other Mid-Valley League teams in next week’s 3A State tournament in Seattle.

The Chiefs stalled nearly the entire final 4 minutes to complete the Mid-Valley sweep of the berths.

West Valley of Yakima’s boys and girls teams won Saturday mornings 3A eastern regional championships.

The teams they conquered, the Chiefs and Ellensburg, bounced back in the evening to eliminate both Cheney teams, which had won afternoon loser-out contests.

Cheney scored only 13 second-half points after leading by as many as nine points earlier in the game.

The Chiefs outscored Cheney 9-2 to take a 44-40 lead. After Paul Malisani scored with 3:55 remaining, the Chiefs went into their delay.

“We had to get them into man (defense) because I was afraid we’d get careless with the ball and burp up something,” said coach Lonny Brown.

Cheney missed two opportunities to tie, and Emerson Ferguson sealed the win with a two-hand dunk with 6 seconds left.

Moses Lake’s 6-foot-2 Josh Kast gave the Blackhawks fits, scoring 18 points on open looks or by challenging their big men inside.

“I can’t even dunk,” he said. “It’s mainly concentration, shooting with a big arc, pump faking, doing what you can to put the ball in the hole.”

Cheney 16 13 9 4 - 42

Moses Lake 12 11 12 11 - 46

CHENEY - Stiffler 2, Oyolokor 2, Donnelly 4, Ervin 6, Malisani 6, Kiger 10, Bond 12.

ELLENSBURG - Sandburg 6, Ferguson 4, Geiger 3, Jackson 0, Kast 18, Gelzinger 2, Green 3, Maygreen 10.

WV-Yakima 52, Moses Lake 39

West Valley’s state qualifying victory was a matter of too much Jared Christianson.

He scored 24 points, getting 13 in the first half while the champions took a 30-16 lead.

He scored eight more fourth quarter points to help WV get away after Moses Lake had rallied to within five points after three quarters.

Christianson, a 6-foot junior, was 8 for 10 from the field, including three first-half treys and 5 for 6 from the free-throw line.

Cheney 52, Hanford 39

The Blackhawks intimidated the Falcons with an aggressive defense and superior size that forced their foe into wild shot selection.

It resulted in a 25-12 halftime advantage.

Malisani had his way with a dozen first-half points and finished the game with 18. James Kiger hauled down 11 first-half rebounds and 14 overall, scoring 10 points as Cheney hit 50 percent from the field.

Little worked for Hanford, which ended up 16 for 56, even after briefly reducing a 19-point deficit to eight in the third quarter.

Cheney 12 13 15 12 - 52

Hanford 4 8 14 13 - 39

CHENEY - Stiffler 6, Eggart 2, Oyolokor 0, Goetz 0, Donnelly 4, Caskey 1, Malisani 18, Kiger 10, Bond 7.

HANFORD - Powers 2, Birmingham 0, Kincaid 10, Gailler 12, Gillespie 0, Cramer 3, Volkman 0, Kracmer 2, McLellan 8.

Girls

Ellensburg 51, Cheney 49

One basket separated Cheney’s girls basketball team from a fourth consecutive state basketball appearance.

Ellensburg, which had lost 60-58 earlier in an overtime winner-to-state game, weathered the plucky Blackhawks’ fourth-quarter comeback for a state-qualifying victory.

“I’m liking it,” said the Bulldogs’ Lori Chrismer, whose clutch baskets included the game winner. “I felt that it was our time.”

Chrismer scored 10 points that seemed to come at particularly critical times.

After the Blackhawks took a 47-46 lead on Anna Getz’s 3-point play with 1:29 to go, Chrismer backed star Tami Standish’s go-ahead score with the basket that gave Ellensburg a three-point cushion.

Standish, a 6-foot point guard, took the game into her hands from the outset, scoring 24 points and grabbing 15 rebounds. Ellensburg led by as many as 11 points.

But Cheney outscored its foe 14-6 in the fourth quarter to nearly pull out the win.

The loss came despite a gritty performance from senior post Tiffany Van Matre, who hauled down five fourth-quarter rebounds and who had a near-perfect offensive day.

Van Matre made 4 of 6 field goals and was 9 for 10 from the free-throw line to share team scoring honors at 17 points with Getz.

Cheney 13 8 12 16 - 49

Ellensburg 11 16 13 11 - 51

CHENEY - Conrath 4, Weitman 9, Getz 17, Urdahl 0, Birchler 2, Van Matre 17.

ELLENSBURG - Preppernau 0, Standish 24, Cauterberry 10, Panattoni 0, Oltman 7, Ulmer 0, Wipple 0, Chasmer 10.

Cheney 54, East Valley 48

It may have seemed the Blackhawks were saving themselves for later in the evening in this game 4 hours earlier.

Leading scorers Getz and Kara Weitman took only 14 shots between them.

Once comfortable leads of as many as 10 points melted to a 37-35 lead over the short-handed Knights with 7 minutes remaining in the game.

It was left to reserve Meghan Conrath and Van Matre to help win the game. Conrath, who also played well against Ellensburg the night before, scored 10 second-half points for a total of 12.

Van Matre led the team with 14 points. Still, EV trailed just 48-44 with 58 seconds remaining before Cheney gained some breathing room.

East Valley 8 13 10 17 - 48

Cheney 15 13 7 19 - 54

EAST VALLEY - Conard 4, Schumacher 12, Birdsbill 14, Neal 0,Am.Tonani 2, Schultz 4, Shogren 4.

CHENEY - Fockler 0, Conrath 12, Weitman 6, Getz 12, Urdahl 0, McLaughlin 0, Birchler 1, Van Matre 14, Boline 0, Krogh 9.

WV-Yakima 60, Ellensburg 58, OT

The unbeaten Rams (23-0) were stretched to the limit by their Mid-Valley rival before capturing this winner-to-state basketball game.

A running shot by Standish failed to connect in the final seconds after the Bulldogs had forced the extra 4 minutes.

, DataTimes