Comeback Sends Freeman To State
Prep tournaments
Freeman boys basketball coach Mike Thacker won’t be asking his team to kick this habit.
The Scotties like to come from behind. And Reardan has been the victim twice in a week’s time.
Saturday night, they were behind against Reardan in the District 7 1A tournament but used a strong second half to rally for a 45-39 win at Mead High School.
It was the same a week ago. Freeman trailed the Indians but prevailed in overtime of a tie-breaker game to earn the Northeast A League’s top seed into districts.
Saturday’s victory guarantees Freeman a trip to state for the first time in 12 years. The State 1A tournament begins next week in Tacoma.
Freeman (14-7) will play Friday for state seeding against the winner of Tuesday’s loser-out game between Colfax and Reardan.
“They’ve been showing a little bit of that all year,” Thacker said of the comeback tendency. “We haven’t been in too many close games so I’m glad to see they have a habit of coming back. That’s a good habit to have.”
So is blocking out. Freeman overcame 18 turnovers in large part because of a 20-9 second-half rebounding advantage. The Scotties outboarded Reardan (12-8) 34-24 for the game.
Senior Ryan Snyder, a 6-foot-5 post, had a team-high 10 rebounds to go with his team-leading 17 points on 7-of-8 shooting. Freeman shot 48.4 percent from the field, including 9 of 17 in the second half.
Snyder said the Scotties calmed down in the second half. And their defense picked up.
Reardan made just 2 of 17 field goals after intermission, and only 13 points, 12 of those by senior Reece Jenkin. Peter Eastman scored all of his 13 points in the first half.
“They played tough defense and hurt us on the boards, too,” said Jenkin, who finished with a game-high 20 points. “It came down to we turned the ball over and didn’t block out. That hurt us big time.”
Freeman guard Ryan Love tied the game at 32 on a free throw with 5:08 left and Snyder put the Scotties ahead for good with a rebound and put-back basket at the 3:42 mark. Freeman made 9 of 16 free throws in the fourth quarter.
“They’ve played a lot better second halves than we have,” said Reardan coach Dan Smith, whose team split with the Scotties in league play. “They’ve made plays down the stretch to win games.”
Freeman 45, Reardan 39
Reardan 13 13 3 10 - 39
Freeman 10 8 8 19 - 45
Reardan (13-8) - Bocook 0, Alexie 0, Eastman 13, Wynecoop 0, Krupke 0, Jenkin 20, Anderson 0, Landreth 2, Falk 4, Flaa 0, Addington 0, Hicks 0.
Freeman (15-7) - Townsend 0, Love 5, Taylor 0, Carrell 3, Snyder 17, Custer 0, DePell 6, Pope 8, Shkuratoff 4, Hendrickson 0, Hyndman 2.
Colfax 45, Kettle Falls 39
Also at Mead, Jarod Hall hit 4 of 9 3-pointers and added four assists as the Bulldogs eliminated Kettle Falls. Carey Kirkpatrick added 10 rebounds for Colfax, which outscored KF 12-5 at the free-throw line. John Payne’s 10 rebounds helped KF to a 37-34 advantage.
Kettle Falls 6 10 11 12 - 39
Colfax 16 8 9 12 - 45
Kettle Falls (4-18) - Fuhriman 0, Rogalette 1, A. Azzarito 0, Lickfold 2, M. Azzarito 4, Musson 9, Jo. Payne 11, Urhausen 2, Boone 3, Je. Payne 7.
Colfax (8-14) - Gylling 4, Ju. Hall 2, Kirkpatrick 6, Dhillon 3, Ja. Hall 17, Danaher 3, T. Watts 4, Burke 4, K. Watts 2.
DISTRICT 7 1A GIRLS
Colfax 49, Freeman 37
Tiffany Pittman hit 3 of 6 3-pointers and Jessica Rohner added eight rebounds as the Bulldogs defeated the Scotties at Mead High to advance to the championship round.
Rohner, Emily Hall and Becky VanTine combined to hit 11 of 21 from the floor. Colfax will earn the district’s lone berth to state by winning either Friday or, if necessary, Saturday.
Marissa Dahmen had eight rebounds and Krista Freeman hit 2 of 5 3-pointers for the Scotties. Freeman plays Kettle Falls at 6 p.m. Tuesday in a loser-out game.
Colfax 11 12 8 18 - 49
Freeman 7 0 24 6 - 37
Colfax (17-5) - L. Mellor 2, Widman 0, Pittman 15, J. Mellor 0, Hall 6, K. VanTine 11, B. VanTine 11, Rohner 10, Baldree 2, Tribbett 3.
Freeman (8-14) - Floch 4, Pratt 10, Wilkerson 10, Freeman 6, White 0, Larson 0, Davey 0, Halverson 0, Murphey 0, Yunker 0, Dahmen 7.
Kettle Falls 52, Reardan 33
Leslie Fredrickson totaled 20 points and 10 rebounds as the Bulldogs eliminated the Indians.
Kerry Olson added four assists, and Mandy Madlin and Chelsea Combs had four steals apiece for KF. Lindsay Krupke hit two 3-pointers for Reardan, and Julia Seyler added eight rebounds before becoming one of three Indians to foul out.
Reardan 11 7 6 9 - 33
Kettle Falls 10 13 6 23 - 52
Reardan (2-17) - Mason 0, Seyler 4, Plummer 5, Krupke 12, Rinker 4, Moos 2, Ford 2, Jones 2, Smith 0, Schwartz 2, Hammer 0.
Kettle Falls (8-14) - Haynes 0, Madlin 11, Combs 8, Fredrickson 20, Azzarito 2, Link 3, Olson 6, Crandall 0, Mack 2, Graves 0.
DISTRICT 9 B BOYS
St. John-Endicott 59, Liberty Christian 33
Grant Bafus scored 13 of his 21 in the first half, and surpassed 1,100 points for his career as the fourth-ranked Eagles defeated the Patriots at Walla Walla Community College for their 14th consecutive win.
Karl Scheuerman added eight points in the second quarter, seven rebounds and three steals for SJE. The Eagles’ Derek Miller had four assists. C.J. Conner had eight rebounds for Liberty Christian, and Justin Wyant added eight third-quarter points.
Both teams play Tuesday at Washington State University. SJE meets TekoaOakesdale at 8 p.m. for a berth in the championship game. Liberty Christian plays a 2:30 p.m. loser-out game against Jubilee Christian.
Liberty Christian 4 7 10 12 - 33
SJE 15 18 12 14 - 59
Liberty Christian (9-13) - C. Sapp 0, Phillips 0, Kitze 0, N. Sapp 11, Conner 2, Eslinger 0, Wyant 16, Brown 4, Jarret 0.
St. John-Endicott (20-2) - Riehle 3, Johnstone 0, Miller 2, Siler 2, Bafus 21, Strader 0, Shawgo 0, Hames 8, Scheuerman 16, Shields 0, Howell 3, Duncan 4.
Tekoa-Oakesdale 61, Jubilee Christian 50
Gabe Smith scored nine points in the first quarter and finished 5 of 6 from the line to lead the Nighthawks over the Warriors, also at WWCC.
Anthony Buergel added seven rebounds and Josh Brown four steals for T-O. Jermaine Davis hit three 3-pointers in the fourth quarter for Jubilee, and Tyler Watson and Brian Haak finished with a combined 22 rebounds.
Tekoa-Oakes. 21 14 12 14 - 61
Jubilee Christian 17 11 8 14 - 50
Tekoa-Oakesdale (12-11) - Brown 2, Buergel 6, Heaton 11, G. Smith 14, A. Ellis 4, Wagner 2, Perrins 0, E. Smith 8, S. Ellis 3, Crossett 0, Taylor 11, Bruce 0.
Jubilee Christian (13-7) - Garcia 9, Davis 17, Mays 2, Zaragoza 0, Broetje 3, Watson 19, Haak 0.
DISTRICT 9 B GIRLS
Waitsburg 51, LaCrosse-Washtucna 35
Anne Bickelhaupt had 14 rebounds, and she and Kelly McCaw combined for 17 first-half points as the Class B thirdranked Cardinals defeated the Tigercats at WWCC.
Justina Ryckman added eight assists for Waitsburg. Christine Cronrath of L-W hit four 3-pointers, all before the fourth quarter, and Stefanie Wigen added eight rebounds.
Both teams play Tuesday at WSU. Waitsburg meets St. John-Endicott at 6:30 p.m. for a berth in the championship game. The Tigercats play Pomeroy at 1 p.m. in a loser-out.
LaCrosse-Wash. 5 9 8 13 - 35
Waitsburg 15 11 5 20 - 51
LaCrosse-Washtucna (15-7) - Ayers 0, Schneider 5, Evans 0, Cronrath 14, Wigen 2, Hei. Kinch 4, Bay 4, Kel. Mays 2, Ker. Mays 2, Hea. Kinch 0, Stueckle 2, Hille 0.
Waitsburg (20-2) - W.Jones 6, Hulce 0, Ryckman 8, Smith 2, Abbey 10, McCaw 10, Seney 0, Bickelhaupt 13, Wyatt 0, Conover 2.
St. John-Endicott 48, Pomeroy 31
Breanna Schmick had nine rebounds to lead a 33-23 advantage, and Kim Colyar added three 3-pointers and five of the team’s 19 steals as the Eagles defeated the Pirates at WWCC.
Jennifer Hedlund scored her 11 points in the middle two quarters, when SJE pulled away. Courtney Brandon had eight rebounds, and Cheryl Appel added five steals and four assists for Pomeroy.
Pomeroy 13 4 5 9 - 31
SJE 15 15 10 8 - 48
Pomeroy (7-16) - Appel 0, Deal 0, Slaybaugh 0, Dixon 0, Van Ausdle 4, Kimble 5, Waldron 3, DesJardin 3, Heytvelt 0, Delp 3, Brandon 9, McGreevy 4.
St. John-Endicott (14-11) - Gossard 4, Ki. Colyar 11, Loomis 0, Ko. Colyar 5, Kjack 2, Kile 0, White 5, Schmick 8, Zuger 2, Bass 0, Hedlund 11.