Eagles Win One For Poll Voters

Area boys

The folks at St. John-Endicott sent a strong message Saturday to Associated Press poll voters.

Todd Strader scored 10 of his career-high 13 points in the second half, and Josh Hames and Grant Bafus combined for 17 rebounds as SJE defeated LaCrosse-Washtucna 58-49 at St. John to wrap up the Whitman County League title.

The Eagles have been ranked No. 8 in the AP poll, one spot behind L-W despite a previous victory over the Tigercats and a better overall record.

Derek Miller added eight assists for SJE, which has won 12 consecutive games.

By winning, SJE earned an automatic spot in the league tournament’s title game Feb. 15 at Endicott. The Tigercats, as Whitman No. 2, open the league tourney Saturday against No. 3 Tekoa-Oakesdale.

St. John-Endicott 58, LaCrosse-Washtucna 49

LaCr.Wash. 16 5 13 15 - 49

SJE 16 12 13 17 - 58

LaCrosse-Washtucna (14-4, 8-2) - Colter 0, Schweiger 13, Henley 15, Wigen 0, Meyers 0, Stueckle 3, Whitman 5, Startin 0, Goll 11, Schneider 0, Hammond 2.

St. John-Endicott (18-2, 10-0) - Riehle 0, Miller 5, Siler 2, Bafus 13, Strader 13, Shawgo 0, Hames 8, Scheuerman 15, Duncan 2.

Tekoa-Oakesdale 67, Garfield-Palouse 58

Eric Smith’s rebound and basket with 1:30 left followed by Josh Brown’s 12-foot jumper helped the Nighthawks defeat the Vikings at Oakesdale and claim the No. 3 berth in the league tournament.

Gabe Smith scored 22, including a 3-pointer at the buzzer, Eric Smith had nine rebounds and Josh Taylor had five assists for T-O.

Gar-Pal will make its league tournament debut Saturday in a loser-out game against Friday’s Rosalia/Colton winner.

Gar.-Palouse 11 17 17 13 - 58

Tekoa-Oakes. 13 17 19 18 - 67

Garfield-Palouse (12-8, 4-6) - Kimble 9, Tharp 11, Aa. Elder 0, M. Kriebel 3, Fox 21, Johnson 12, Ad. Elder 2, Smick 0, J. Kriebel 0.

Tekoa-Oakesdale (10-10, 5-5) - Brown 4, Buergel 4, Heaton 9, G. Smith 22, Perrins 0, E. Smith 14, Ellis 8, Crossett 0, Taylor 6.

Colton 66, Rosalia 48

The visiting Wildcats picked up the win by holding the Spartans to 27 percent shooting from the field, including a 1-for-15 effort on 3-pointers.

Rosalia’s Craig Shindler had 16 rebounds.

Colton finished in fifth place, Rosalia in sixth. The teams meet again Friday in the loser-out opener of the league tournament.

Colton 19 22 16 9 - 66

Rosalia 10 16 9 13 - 48

Colton (6-14, 3-7) - Busch 16, Wolf 14, T. Weber 4, R. Weber 4, Moehrle 13, Schlee 4, Pewitt 0, Jones 8, Stout 3.

Rosalia (3-17, 0-10) - Bernard 8, Watkins 5, Nelson 4, Slemp 15, Vandyke 0, Shindler 8, Conradi 4, Workman 4, Brown 0.

PANORAMA LEAGUE

Northwest Christian 60, St. George’s 55

Doug Malott scored 24, and he and Gabe Goldman combined to hit 13 of 23 from inside the 3-point line as the Crusaders defeated the Dragons at Mead Junior High to clinch the South Division’s No. 2 spot.

NWC finished 7 of 15 on 3-pointers while the Dragons were 5 of 17.

NWC will open the league tournament at 7 p.m. Wednesday, at home against North No. 3 Inchelium (10-8). St. George’s, as South No. 3, must travel to North No. 2 Republic (16-4).

St. George’s 6 16 14 19 - 55

NW Christian 12 16 15 17 - 60

St. George’s (11-9, 11-5) - Johnson 2, Dhillon 11, Moser 19, Davis 2, Helms 3, DePonty 18.

Northwest Christian (13-6, 12-4) - DiStefano 0, Proffitt 8, Orr 0, Smith 0, Descoteaux 0, Strandy 4, Malott 24, Sharkey 3, Goldman 17, Crouch 4.

BI-COUNTY LEAGUE

Ritzville 52, Liberty 48

Dustan Arlt, Josh Whitman and Jason Heider combined to hit 8 of 8 free throws in the fourth quarter, and the Broncos made 18 of 21 for the game to jump over the visiting Lancers into fourth place.

Ritzville took a two-point lead at the third-quarter buzzer on Brett Arlt’s steal and basket. Whitman, who finished with 21 points, had made a layin moments before.

Liberty 15 11 8 14 - 48

Ritzville 5 15 16 16 - 52

Liberty (11-7, 10-6) - B. Wiman 18, Smith 0, Engle 2, B. Holling 8, J. Holling 12, Johnson 2, Repp 2, Horlacher 4.

Ritzville (11-8, 11-6) - Heider 5, D. Arlt 14, B. Arlt 2, Johnstone 0, R. Borth 2, Day 6, Kuster 2, Whitman 21.

Valley Christian 66, Sprague-Harrington 38

Eric Smith totaled 20 points and 12 rebounds as the third-ranked Panthers defeated the visiting Falcons to clinch at least a tie for an automatic District 7 B berth.

Brent Decker finished 6 of 10 from the field and 4 of 5 from the line, and brother Jeremy Decker had five assists for the Panthers. VC can finish no worse than tied for second place. The league’s top two teams automatically advance to the league-tourney title game.

Sprague-Harr. 9 7 11 11 - 38

Valley Christian 16 10 27 13 - 66

Sprague-Harrington (10-9, 9-8) - Engles 4, McPeak 12, Floyd 8, J. Timm 0, M. Henry 8, Darling 2, Johnson 0, A. Henry 4.

Valley Christian (16-2, 14-2) - J. Decker 5, Smith 20, Troyer 4, Brecto 0, Barriero 7, B. Decker 18, Evans 10, Bolster 0, Lacy 2.

Odessa 75, Lind 55

Scott Kramer hit three of Odessa’s eight 3-pointers and the ninth-ranked Tigers defeated the visiting Bulldogs to also clinch at least a second-place tie.

Lind’s Trevor Wilson hit 3 of 4 3-pointers.

Odessa 17 20 16 22 - 75

Lind 12 12 12 19 - 55

Odessa (15-4, 14-3) - Dart 5, Kramer 13, Weber 3, G. Schafer 13, Fisher 1, Floch 17, Smith 4, Jeske 10, Pitts 0, Z. Schafer 2, Walter 5, Shaw 2.

Lind (3-16, 2-15) - Parkins 3, Robertson 1, Kulm 0, Wills 10, Labes 14, Wilson 15, Fode 4, Sikorski 3, Ritz 0, Schrenk 5.

ACH 63, Davenport 49

Jamie Gwinn scored 26 and the visiting Warriors hit 14 of 19 free throws to defeat the Gorillas.

ACH boosted a four-point halftime lead to 14 in the third quarter. The Warriors can finish no worse than tied for third place.

ACH 11 17 20 15 - 63

Davenport 9 15 10 15 - 49

Almira/Coulee-Hartline (12-6, 12-4) - Evans 0, Carstensen 0, Thomas 13, Elder 6, Murray 6, Yirak 0, White 0, Dormaier 12, Gwinn 26, Neilsen 0.

Davenport (4-15, 4-13) - Holderby 4, C. Paul 2, Hein 0, Swain 2, Schreck 7, Strate 19, Curtis 4, Morrison 11.

Wilbur-Creston 75, Christian Heritage 26

Darin Erickson had 12 rebounds and the Wildcats had 29 steals in defeating the Patriots at Creston.

W-C shot 40 percent from the floor and forced 41 Patriots turnovers. The game was moved from Wilbur to Creston because of flooding in Wilbur’s gym.

Chr.Heritage 9 8 5 4 - 26

Wilbur-Creston 14 26 12 23 - 75

Christian Heritage (2-16, 0-16) - Klein 2, N. Colvin 2, A. Bell 8, Stromberger 0, J. Bell 9, Brown 4, Olsen 0, Stuhlmiller 1, Kirstein 0.

Wilbur-Creston (7-12, 7-10) - Johnson 8, Morrison 11, Warnecke 2, Gorr 11, Curo 10, Larkin 3, Krause 0, Snavely 6, Nelson 13, Erickson 11.