Pullman, Ml Win, Meet Today

Bold prediction: The Great Northern League will have a team in the semifinals of the boys State 2A basketball tournament.

Well, not bold so much as can’t-miss.

Pullman and Medical Lake rolled to opening-round wins Wednesday at the Tacoma Dome, setting up today’s 8 p.m. quarterfinal between the GNL neighbors.

“I’m sure they have the confidence that they can play with us, and we’re confident too,” Pullman coach Ken Swanger said of ML after the fourth-ranked Greyhounds (20-3) outraced Cascade-Leavenworth 52-38.

“I just wanted to get the first one,” countered coach Dave Olzendam of the Cardinals (16-8) after a 71-59 win over Omak. “We were more worried about Omak today than anything coming up against Pullman.”

The teams split their league games this year, Pullman winning by four at home and ML by 12 at its place.

Chewelah finished the year 4-0 against ML, but won’t join the Cardinals in the quarterfinals. The Cougars opened with a 63-57, early-morning loss to second-ranked Foster.

Pullman 52, Cascade 38

The Greyhounds worked their way past the Kodiaks of Leavenworth despite having season scoring leader Brent Cummings (21.5 ppg) available for less than 11 minutes because of foul trouble.

Cummings picked up his third foul with 7:39 left in the second quarter and missed the rest of the half. During that time the Greyhounds surrendered what had been a 10-point lead, but they recaptured an edge with a 9-0 run for a 26-20 halftime lead.

Foul No. 4 came moments after Cummings hit a fallaway jumper for a 28-20 lead with 5:32 left in the third quarter. The 6-6 junior forward stayed on the bench the rest of the way, as Greyhounds guards Ryan Harms, Aaron Linehan and Nate Brown took care of the scoring.

“Our guard play has never been a weakness, although we do focus on the inside play,” said Harms, who hit 8 of 14 from the field for a game-high 18 points.

“It’s good to see that we can have players step up and win without Brent,” Swanger said. “We’re not necessarily a one-dimensional team.”

Harms and Brown scored six quick points to open the second half, boosting the Greyhounds to a double-digit lead they never gave up.

Brown added seven rebounds and five assists. Kodiaks junior Brandon Klump had 13 rebounds.

Cascade 11 9 7 11 - 38

Pullman 14 12 9 17 - 52

CASCADE - Armstrong 0, C.West 0, McCauley 3, Rieke 9, M.West 2, B.Klump 7, Plute 0, Anderson 0, Lang 9, Pete 3, D.Klump 2, Darlington 3. PULLMAN - Brown 6, Cummings 9, Linehan 9, Camp 0, Bray 0, Harms 18, Myers 0, Randall 2, Weeks 0, Camara 3, Poole 2, Petz 3.

Medical Lake 71, Omak 59

The Cardinals never trailed, as Omak couldn’t stop guard Andre Jackson from penetrating for 22 points and had no answer for the Cards’ 56-26 rebounding edge.

Olzendam installed a 2-3 zone instead of his typical man-to-man defense. Inside men Brandon Moore, Jeff Nichols and Freddie Miller made the strategy pay off by combining for 42 points and 42 rebounds.

“That was a difference for us, but I kind of liked what I saw,” Olzendam said.

The big four hit 27 of 49 from the floor to lead ML’s 52-percent effort.

Omak’s last gasp, for all purposes, was on Anthony Matt’s 3-pointer late in the first quarter. ML scored 21 of the next 30 points in the game.

Jackson tore through the Pioneers for 11 points in the third quarter. The senior guard was sick Tuesday with a sinus infection.

Omak’s Pete Colomb hit his season average of 23, connecting on 10 of 19 from the field.

Medical Lake 19 20 19 13 - 71

Omak 8 18 16 17 - 59

MEDICAL LAKE - Jackson 22, Brown 2, Headlee 3, Meeks 2, Miller 14, Nichols 11, Moore 17.

OMAK - Hendrick 0, Short 8, B.Draggoo 5, Moulton 6, Colomb 23, Pearson 6, J.Draggoo 3, Gardner 2, Matt 6.

Foster 63, Chewelah 57

Junior forward Yusef Aziz scored six of his 14 during a 14-2, third-quarter run as the Bulldogs (23-3) rallied past the Cougars (17-8).

Chewelah led 40-35 after Andy Nitschke’s 3-pointer with 5:42 left in the third quarter. Foster, of Tukwila, took the lead for good on Jamaal Gary’s basket a little more than 2 minutes later.

Chewelah center Josh Parrish scored 14 in the first half on 7-of-11 shooting from the field, but the Bulldogs held the 6-7 junior to two shots, and one basket, after halftime.

“They worked a lot harder, fronted him up, and we didn’t recognize it quickly enough,” Cougars coach Drew Landram said of second-half defense on Parrish.

No team had been within double digits of Foster since Steilacoom, 11 games ago.

“It was kind of a battle of tempos,” said Foster coach Grant Cussac. “They wanted to slow it down and we wanted to pick it up.”

Foster senior guard Keith Wheeler scored 15 of his 25 in the first half and finished with three 3-pointers. Senior guard Travis Meserve scored 21 for the Cougars, but missed 15 of 23 from the floor.

“We made too many mistakes,” said Landram, whose Cougars return at 9 this morning in a loser-out with Tenino (15-10). “We could have beaten them if we had minimized the mistakes.

“But they have a good club. They’ll be one of the teams to beat.”

Foster meets Naches (14-10) in today’s 5 p.m. quarterfinal. Naches has won nine of its last 10.

Chewelah 16 14 12 15 - 57

Foster 15 15 19 14 - 63

CHEWELAH - Landram 12, Forsberg 0, Meserve 21, Miller 0, Nitschke 5, Churape 0, Kinley 1, Sunday 2, Parrish 16. FOSTER - Aziz 14, B.Lyons 12, Gary 4, Clay 0, Wheeler 25, Jones 0, D.Lyons 8. , DataTimes MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: 2A BOYS Today’s games Riverside vs. Tenino, 9 a.m. Pullman vs. Medical Lake, 8 p.m.