Onalaska’S Parade At Line Tops Freeman

A1 boys basketball

It didn’t seem significant at the time, but when Onalaska scored three of its five first-quarter points from the free-throw line, Freeman should have taken it as an ominous prelude of things to come.

The Loggers paraded one player after another to the foul line Wednesday and came away with a 47-35 victory over the Scotties in the first round of the State A boys basketball tournament in the Tacoma Dome.

Freeman (17-9) will face Zillah (22-3) in a loser-out game at 10:30 a.m. today. Onalaska (23-2) will meet Toledo (19-5) in the quarterfinals at 5 p.m. today.

“One guy hits a free throw and it gets to be contagious,” Onalaska coach Dennis Bower said.

That turned into an epidemic. The Loggers took 44 free throws and made 30 of them. Freeman, on the other hand, made just 7 of 13. The Scotties were called for 26 fouls to just 16 for the Loggers.

Freeman coach Mike Thacker was reluctant to criticize the officiating, but admitted he would liked to have seen a more equal distribution of the fouls.

“Overall, I was happy with the way our kids played,” Thacker said. “I think we did everything we wanted to do.”

That was especially true at the defensive end, outside of the fouls, of course. Freeman held Onalaska to just 8-for-43 shooting, 18.6 percent, and forced 12 turnovers. The Loggers were equally impressive with their defense. Onalaska held the Scotties to just 22 percent shooting, 12 for 54, and forced 17 turnovers.

“They didn’t handle our press well in the second half,” Bower said. “It’s like vultures circling around the kill. You know sooner or later, we going to swoop down.”

The good defense wasn’t matched at the offensive end by either team. The only two runs worth mentioning came early in the second quarter, when Ryan Love and Jordan Shkuratoff hit back-to-back 3-pointers. The treys sparked an 8-0 run for a 14-5 Freeman led.

Onalaska countered with a 9-2 run to tie the game 16-16 at halftime.

The second half was all Loggers at the free-throw line. Onalaska made just two baskets in the third quarter and one, a 3-pointer, in the fourth. The rest of their 31 points came on foul shots.

Five free throws early in the fourth quarter gave Onalaska a 33-26 lead. Freeman junior Bill DePell answered with a free throw and a 3-pointer to pull the Scotties back to within three points at 33-30.

However, the Loggers regained control when Andrew Meade Onalaska’s only 3-pointer with 3 minutes, 58 seconds left in the game.

DePell led the Scotties with 10 points. Jeff Hyndman scored just four points, but had 13 rebounds.

Onalaska 47, Freeman 35

Onalaska 5 11 12 19 - 47

Freeman 7 9 8 11 - 35

Onalaska (23-2) - Brady 8, Hadaller 1, Meade 12, Oien 13, Morcom 3, McPheeters 8, Luke Bluhm 2.

Freeman (17-9) - Love 3, Snyder 7, DePell 10, Pope 4, Shkuratoff 3, Carrell 4, Hyndman 4.

Toutle Lake 50, Reardan 48

Reardan came back from a 17-point deficit in the second half to take a one-point lead midway through the fourth quarter but couldn’t close it out.

It marks the third time in two years that the Indians have lost a state tournament game by three points or less.

“We’re going to try and do our best to get over that tomorrow,” said Reardan coach Dan Smith. “We’re getting tired of that. It lets us know we can play with any team but to beat a quality team, we’ve got to finish in the end.”

Reardan (15-11) plays LaCenter (16-9) today at 1:30. LaCenter lost to King’s 53-48 in double overtime.

Reardan 8 12 11 17 - 48

Toutle Lake 9 18 15 8 - 50

Reardan (15-11) - Eastman 16, Krupke 4, Jenkin 16, Falk 5, Flaa 4, Landreth 2, Hicks 1.

Toutle Lake (21-1) - Frandsen 11, Gardner 3, Sullivan 10, Gosselin 22, Depalo 2, Cooper 2.