Broncos, Wildcats Play For Title Again

Haven’t we been here before?

Only two teams are left standing at the girls State B basketball tournament - the Ritzville Broncos and the Wilbur-Creston Wildcats.

Wilbur-Creston (20-7) opened the semifinal round Friday night at the Arena with a hard-fought 48-45 victory over St. George’s (23-6).

Ritzville (28-0) closed out the session with a convincing 44-25 win over state tourney first-timer Sprague-Harrington (19-11).

History repeats itself.

Last year, the same two teams battled in the championship game with the Broncos coming out on top 33-26.

This season, top-ranked Ritzville has won all four games against the Wildcats.

“We’re just going to forget all about the first four games,” said Broncos coach Howard Manke. “They mean nothing now. We’re both 0-0 as far as we’re concerned.”

Bethany Hopkins, Wilbur-Creston’s first-year coach, knows her team faces a daunting task.

“Our matchups with Ritzville this year have all been about the mental aspect of the game,” she said. “We get out there with them and start thinking too much. We have to remember that basketball is all about having fun.”

Sprague-Harrington actually hung with the Broncos through the first half, trailing 20-14 at the break.

But Ritzville hit another gear in the third period.

Junior Megan Yerxa scored eight of her game-high 16 points and the Bronco defense held S-H to just one field goal in taking a 35-21 lead into the final quarter.

A lot of teams have been known to play some tough defense come tournament time, but Ritzville, which has now won 38 straight games dating to last season, is in a class by itself.

The Broncos have yet to give up 30 points in this year’s tourney.

“If we can do it one more time on defense we’ve got a good chance to win,” said Manke. “We’ve really struggled at times on offense, but our defense has been there for us every night.”

Wilbur-Creston had a little bit tougher time advancing to the finals.

Lisa Arden provided the spark for the Wildcats with some long-range marksmanship.

The senior guard helped the Wildcats jump out to a 14-1 lead in the first period by nailing three 3-pointers.

But W-C’s offense ran hot and cold all game long. The Wildcats went scoreless over the final 2:25, and five points from Miranda Routh-Corker and a Wenchi Liu 3-pointer brought the Dragons to within 14-9 at the quarter.

“We came out a little tentative,” said St. George’s coach Ross Thomas. “We’re a real young team and I think that was a factor for us early on in each half.”

Alyssa Erickson had eight second-quarter points to help the Wildcats take a 28-20 halftime lead.

Arden got Wilbur-Creston off and running to start the third quarter. Her 3-pointer started a 7-0 run as the Wildcats stretched their lead to 15 points.

“I’m basically a 3-point shooter,” noted Arden. “I really don’t like to take it inside much. It felt good to come out and hit a couple of 3’s early … it kind of got us going.”

Give the Dragons a lot of credit for fighting the good fight.

“A lot of teams would have quit, being down 14-1 early,” said Thomas. “But we kept battling and got back into the game. Then we find ourselves down 15 in the third quarter and we still didn’t give up. I couldn’t be prouder of this team.

”(Wilbur-Creston) is a real good team, but if we’d played hard for 32 minutes instead of 22 minutes who knows what would have happened.”

The Dragons had cut the lead to 38-37 when starter Alyssa Henley fouled out. Cherie Dreger hit both ends of a one-and-one to lengthen the lead to three.

Most of the scoring came via the freethrow line in the fourth quarter. The Wildcats made 10 of 17 attempts, while St. George’s hit 10 of 12.

The foul that broke the hearts of the Dragons fans came when Routh-Corker picked up her fifth at the 2:50 mark with her team trailing 43-40. Dreger stepped up and hit both of them, and for all intents and purposes that was the ballgame.

“That really helped us when (Routh-Corker and Henley) fouled out,” said Arden. “They were making some big plays down the stretch for them.”

But that’s ancient history now.

“We know we have to step up and play some tough defense against Ritzville,” Arden stated. “Hopefully, I’ll keep myself calmed down, so I can help the rest of the team stay calm. That will be a big key for us. It will be a competitive game against them. It always is. We like to battle each other but we’re also friends off the court.”

Ritzville vs. Wilbur-Creston II tips off at 7 p.m. , DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: 2 Color Photos

MEMO: These 3 sidebars appeared with the story:

1. STATE B ON TV KHQ-TV (channel 6 in Spokane) will show both title games live. Girls championship Ritzville vs. Wilbur-Creston, 7 p.m. Boys championship Valley Christian vs. Chief Leschi, 9 p.m.

2. TODAY’S GAMES Noon: Waitsburg (20-7) vs. Tekoa-Oakesdale (26-4) 1:30 p.m.: Manson (20-6) vs. Sunnyside Ch. (20-5) 3 p.m.: St. George’s (23-6) vs. Spr.-Harrington (19-11) 7 p.m.: Wilbur-Creston (19-7) vs. Ritzville (28-0)

3. Waitsburg 63, Shoreline Christian 46 Key to the game: The Crusaders couldn’t get untracked. Shoreline Christian connected on just 18 of 66 shots for 27 percent. Shoreline actually shot better from 3-point range, making 4 of 13 (31 percent). The Cardinals had a 48-35 rebound advantage, led by the 16 of 6-foot-2 junior Anne Bickelhaupt. Other highlights: Bickelhaupt connected on 12 of 19 shots from the floor and 6 of 9 free throws for a game-high 30 points. She scored 10 in the first quarter as Waitsburg jumped out ahead 19-2. Karen Glover paced Shoreline with 13. The senior guard closed out her career with 92 points in state tournament play. Shoreline 2 13 14 17 46 Waitsburg 19 15 19 10 63 SHORELINE De Yager 0, Vander Linden 4, Goold 5, Glover 13, Koops 4, Morse 3, Lamont 0, Hauptli 0, Larson 0, Prins 8, Paris 7, Andreasen 2. WAITSBURG - Jones 6, Hulce 5, Ryckman 0, Lambert 0, Smith 0, Abbey 0, McCaw 7, Seney 2, Cunz 0, Bickelhaupt 30, Klefel 11, Conover 2.

Tekoa-Oakesdale 48, Napavine 30 Key to the game: Turnovers cost the Tigers a shot at a trophy. With 31, Napavine had a tough time holding onto the ball long enough to put up shots. The Tigers, who never scored in double figures in any quarter, managed just 27 shots, making 10. Tekoa-Oakesdale had a decided edge in offensive rebounds. The Nighthawks had nine players contribute to an 18-3 advantage. Other highlights: T-O’s Heather Cox made 7 of 13 shots from the floor, hit both her free throws and finished with a team-high 16 points. The junior forward also joined the Century Club. Cox has 107 career points at the state tourney. Napavine sophomore Carrie Spencer led all scorers with 17. She averaged just under 21 points per game in the tournament. In three games, she scored 62 points and grabbed 27 rebounds. Even more impressive, Spencer accounted for 56 percent of the Tigers’ offense and grabbed 26 percent of their rebounds. Napavine 7 6 9 8 - 30 Tekoa-Oakes. 9 12 17 10 - 48 NAPAVINE - Mummert 0, Moon 0, Snodderly 0, Sweeny 0, Cain 0, Boling 6, Voie 2, Winslow 0, Wichart 0, Spencer 17, Russell 5, Jones 0. TEKOA-OAKESDALE - K.Driscoll 2, S.Brown 0, S.Driscoll 7, Smart 2, M.Brown 4, Hay 9, Graffis 4, Smith 2, Je.Bruce 0, Ja.Bruce 2, Cox 16, Crow 0.

Manson 74, Wahkiakum 53 Key to the game: Manson’s Katie Davis from the field, Katie Davis from the free-throw line and Katie Davis on the boards. Davis shattered the tournament scoring record with 50 points. She hit 18 of 29 from the field, 14 of 17 free throws and had 14 rebounds. Davis and Shayla Gayton together outrebounded the Wahkiakum team, 29-23. Other highlights: The Mules struggled when Sarah Buehler ran into foul trouble. The junior post scored 11 points in just 12 minutes. With Buehler riding the pine, reserve Lisa McNally saw plenty of action and had a team-high 13 points. Manson blew open the game in the fourth quarter. Wahkiakum 17 16 9 11 - 53 Manson 9 15 22 28 - 74 WAHKIAKUM - Hose 0, Johnston 4, Almer 0, Nelson 0, Elven 8, Teachman 0, Hendrickson 8, Cochran 9, Buehler 11, McNally 13. MANSON - Guerra 0, Koenig 0, E.Foster 0, M.Foster 13, Zuluaga 0, Davis 50, England 1, Johnson 0, Gayton 8, Weagant 2.

Sunnyside Christian 60, Morton 42 Key to the game: The Knights’ balanced scoring wore down the cold-shooting Huskies. Sunnyside Christian had four players in double figures, led by the 14 points of Sara Den Hoed and Jana Smeenk. The Knights hit 47 percent (23 of 49) from the floor. Morton managed just 29 percent (15 of 51). Other highlights: Morton got a fine effort from its bench. Leanne Coleman tossed in 11 points as the Huskies reserves outscore the Knights reserves 15-2. Brenda Elenbaas and Heather Den Boer combined for 15 rebounds as Sunnyside Christian outrebounded Morton 39-26. Sunnyside Chr. 15 19 14 12 - 60 Morton 11 12 13 6 - 42 SUNNYSIDE CHRISTIAN - Apol 2, Martin 13, Den Hoed 14, Matson 0, Smeenk 14, Wind 0, L.Harris 0, K.Harris 0, Elenbaas 11, Den Boer 6, De Groot 0. MORTON - Kenny 13, J.Coleman 5, McKenzie 0, P.Schillinger 5, Johnson 3, Sheperd 0, Krotczyk 1, Palmese 0, Finley 4, Richart 0, L.Coleman 11.

Wilbur-Creston 48, St. George’s 45 Key to the game: The Wildcats won it with scoring bursts in the opening minutes of each half. Wilbur-Creston jumped out to a 14-1 lead in the first 6 minutes. Lisa Arden hit three 3-pointers to do most of the damage. W-C opened the second half with a 7-0 run. Other highlights: Both teams had problems on offense. St. George’s made only 13 of 53 shots (25 percent), while the Wildcats hit 14 of 42 (33 percent). The Dragons’ chances took a turn for the worse when starters Alyssa Henley (5:29) and Miranda Routh-Corker (2:55) fouled out in the fourth quarter. Wilb.-Cres. 14 14 8 12 -48 St. George’s 9 11 8 17 - 45 WILBUR-CRESTON - Sherwood 0, Harris 2, Deahl 6, Dreger 6, Erickson 14, Arden 14, Aubertin 0, Nelson 6 . ST. GEORGE’S - Liu 17, Clarke 5, Philopant 0, Henley 3, Blume 0, Nielson 2, De Ponty 0, Routh-Corker 16, Moore 2.

Ritzville 44, Sprague-Harrington 25 Key to the game: Ritzville’s defense was the story, as it has been here. The Broncos harassed Sprague-Harrington into 7-of-47 shooting (15 percent). Ritzville, led by the 6-for-8 shooting of Megan Yerxa, connected on 44 percent (19 of 43). Other highlights: Ritzville outrebounded the Falcons by a 36-29 margin, with Yerxa and Shannon Russel each grabbing eight. S-H’s Kristy Engle was the top rebounder with nine. Ritzville compiled an impressive 16 assists, topped by Jamie Alspach’s five. Sprague-Harr. 7 7 7 4 - 25 Ritzville 12 8 15 9 - 44 SPRAGUE-HARRINGTON - Maurer 0, Whipple 0, Ernst 0, Walters 8, Charlton 0, Hatten 2, Harding 0, Hatcher 0, Engles 6, Morse 2, Scoles 7. RITZVILLE - Wellsandt 2, Warriner 0, Sackmann 0, Weber 2, Horpedahl 0, Fitch 2, Gibler 0, Russel 10, Yerxa 16, Alspach 10, Janzen 2, Zicha 0.