Elma’s Dougherty, Clark Too Much For Medical Lake

The Medical Lake Cardinals prepared for Ben Dougherty.

They got Dougherty and more than they bargained for during Friday night’s semifinal loss to Elma.

Junior guard Dustin Clark, who averages eight points plus change per game, scored 19 in the first half as the Eagles (21-5) flew past the Cardinals 83-63 in the State 2A boys tournament at the Tacoma Dome.

Clark didn’t score in the second half, but he didn’t need to. Elma already led by 18 points, and the Cardinals (17-9) never came closer than 15.

“We watched (Elma) for the first couple of games, and we didn’t know Clark could shoot like that,” said Dave Olzendam, coaching ML in its fourth state semifinal.

Dougherty, who had averaged 21.5 points and 11.5 rebounds in two tourney games, came through with 27 and 11.

Elma plays Blaine (24-1) at 8 tonight for the state title. ML plays Foster (24-4) at 2:30 p.m. for third and sixth places.

Earlier Friday, Chewelah (19-8) defeated Castle Rock 43-26 in a loser-out game. Chewelah will play Cascade-Leavenworth (18-9) at 10:30 this morning, with the winner placing fifth and the loser eighth. Chewelah placed fourth at the State A Tournament three years ago.

Pullman’s goal of a state trophy came up short after the Greyhounds lost to Steilacoom 56-53 in an afternoon loser-out game. Pullman finished its season 20-5.

Steilacoom (21-6) plays for fourth place at 12:30 this afternoon against Cleveland (15-13).

Elma 83, Medical Lake 63

What seemed an innocent 10-8 game midway through the first quarter exploded into a 19-8 Eagles lead, with Dougherty providing five points.

ML steadied the ship, trailing 21-15 after the first quarter when Emery Meeks’ 3-pointer beat the buzzer. Then Clark caught fire, scoring 11 points during the first 6 minutes of the second quarter for a 40-19 lead.

“He’s playing the best basketball of his season,” said Elma coach Tim Snodgrass. “That was a phenomenal performance.”

Snodgrass made goal No. 1 stopping a Cards group that had averaged a tourneybest 48.5 rebounds per game. Elma finished with a 52-27 edge, holding Brandon Moore (13.5 rpg in the tourney) to four.

The Eagles shot 55 percent from the floor, with Dougherty hitting 13 of 20.

“Dougherty keeps getting tougher and tougher as the stakes get higher,” Snodgrass said.

Clark added eight assists and was in charge of slowing down Andre Jackson’s play-making abilities. Jackson scored 12, but was stymied with his third foul early in the second half.

ML senior Freddie Miller hit 5 of 10 field goals and had nine rebounds. Cards 6-6 post Jeff Nichols was held to one missed field-goal attempt in 13:21.

Medical Lake 15 13 17 18 - 63

Elma 21 25 17 20 - 83

MEDICAL LAKE - Jackson 12, Brown 3, Headlee 8, Shirley 2, Meeks 8, Mitchell 0, Miller 13, Chappell 6, Mace 0, Nichols 0, Bellamy 2, Moore 9.

ELMA - Fisher 6, Dougherty 27, Lyle 0, Freymond 8, Self 3, Clark 19, Basler 2, Butorac 0, Rennie 3, M.Ferrier 4, N.Ferrier 11, Trail 0.

Chewelah 43, Castle Rock 26

The Cougars had their top defensive effort of the season, holding the Rockets (21-5) to nine points and 12-percent fieldgoal shooting in the first half, and 9-for-50 field-goal shooting for the game.

Castle Rock’s senior inside players, Aaron Lund and Brian Masten, who had averaged a combined 26.6 ppg for the year and 35 for the tourney, were held to two points apiece. Lund was 0 for 10 from the floor, Masten 1 for 7.

“There was no doubt from the first minute,” said Cougars coach Drew Landram. “We took them completely out of it.”

“Our point guards took away their jump shots and we doubled down on their big guys,” said Cougars junior center Josh Parrish, who finished with game highs of 12 points and 10 rebounds.

The Rockets’ season low had been 34 points, against Tenino. Chewelah’s best defensive showing had been in its fourth game, when it held Priest River, Idaho, to 27 points.

“It’s sad our season is coming to an end because we’re playing our best ball,” Landram said.

CR’s lone lead was 3-2. Chewelah then reeled off a 12-2 run, and led by five or more the rest of the way.

Chewelah’s Travis Meserve hit 7 of 9 free throws and added five assists.

Chewelah 8 8 13 14 - 43

Castle Rock 3 6 8 9 - 26

CHEWELAH - Landram 6, Forsberg 0, Carpenter 4, Meserve 11, Miller 2, Puthoff 0, Nitschke 4, Grubbs 0, Churape 0, Kinley 2, Sunday 2, Parrish 12.

CASTLE ROCK - Ogden 0, Crisman 0, Keatley 0, McAlister 9, Hottell 0, Kleine 0, Kandoll 6, Masten 2, Davis 3, Hall 0, Lund 2, Schwinn 4.

Steilacoom 56, Pullman 53

The fourth-ranked Greyhounds made an early exit, courtesy of Johnny-on-the-spot junior forward Naaman Hinton.

Hinton hit 8 of 8 from the field on his way to 20 points, and, most frustrating for Pullman, totaled 13 rebounds, seven on the offensive end.

“He’s not a banger, but he’s always in position,” Pullman coach Ken Swanger said of Hinton, whose 16 first-half points put the Greyhounds in a 35-26 hole.

Pullman scored nine consecutive points, ending early in the fourth quarter, for a 43-41 lead. Pullman’s Brent Cummings then missed a short jumper, and the Sentinels answered with a fastbreak and Dwayne Cardwell’s three-point play. The Greyhounds never led again.

Pullman’s Nate Brown hit two free throws with 39 seconds left for a 54-53 game. Brown then stole the in-bounds pass, drove the middle, lost the ball and fouled Brian Ford. Although Ford missed the free throw, Hinton snared the offensive rebound and was fouled. He hit one shot for a 55-53 lead.

Ryan Harms’ layup attempt on the other end played with the rim but refused to drop with 7.4 seconds left. Hinton took the rebound, was fouled, again hit one free throw, and again collected the offensive board after the second miss.

“We kind of fell into their style,” Swanger said. “We’re not a team to run up and down the court after two passes.” Brown finished with two 3-pointers and 6-of-6 shooting from the line. Cummings had 10 rebounds, Aaron Linehan four steals.

Pullman graduates starters Brown and Randall and reserves Linehan, Tony Camp and Cheickna Camara.

Pullman 15 11 15 12 - 53

Steilacoom 17 18 6 15 - 56

PULLMAN - Brown 14, Cummings 12, Linehan 6, Camp 0, Bray 0, Harms 15, Randall 5, Camara 0, Poole 1, Petz 0.

STEILACOOM - Nelson 2, Kelley 2, Ford 8, Salas 0, Ho 0, Hinton 20, Cardwell 12, Wilson 10, Simmons 0, Wofford 2, Satterfield 0.

, DataTimes