The B’S Boys
Evergreen Lutheran 65, Pateros 48
Key to the game: The Eagles outscored Pateros 25-2 to open the second half after a 26-all halftime tie, and qualified for the championship in their first state appearance.
Other highlights: The blistering second half included runs of 9-0 and 12-0, with balanced scoring. “If someone wants to shut us down, they can’t focus on one guy,” said EL coach David Habeck. … The Eagles switched their defense at halftime to double-team Clint Hull when possible. Hull scored 16 in the first half but was held to two free throws in the third quarter. He finished with 25 points and 10 rebounds. He has 146 points in six career tournament games. … Senior guard Karl Rodmyre led the winners with 20 points, including the team’s four 3-pointers. Rodmyre also tied a state record Wednesday with eight steals against Odessa.
Evergreen L. 18 8 21 18 - 65
Pateros 12 14 2 20 - 48
Evergreen Lutheran (25-3) - K. Rodmyre 20, L. Wiken 4, Hartwig 6, Thiesfeldt 9, Stokes 16, M. Rodmyre 2, Buel 2, Marlow 6.
Pateros (18-10) - Lopez 3, Hull 25, Evans 10, M. Stennes 7, Carlson 3.
Waterville 46, St. John-Endicott 41
Key to the game: The Shockers shut down an Eagles offense that had shot 62 percent from the floor during two tourney wins. SJE finished 17 of 50.
Other highlights: Waterville held Grant Bafus (19.2 ppg) scoreless while taking a six-point halftime lead. … SJE opened the second half with an 8-0 scoring boost for its first lead (24-22) since 10-9, but the Shockers never allowed the deficit to grow to more than three. … Zach Gormley put Waterville ahead for good with a driving scoop shot at 2:43… . Waterville’s only previous title appearance was a 1994 loss to Northwest Christian in the only overtime game in the last 21 title games.
Waterville 9 13 8 16 - 46
St.J.-Endicott 10 6 14 11 - 41
Waterville (24-2) - Brandt 10, Gormley 12, Greenwood 6, Biggar 6, Finkbeiner 10, Ryan 2.
St. John-Endicott (24-4) - Bafus 13, Hames 12, Scheuerman 12, Riehle 2, Siler 2.
Odessa 62, LaCrosse-Washtucna 48
Key to the game: Odessa switched from man-to-man to a zone defense after the penetration of point guard Cole Schweiger had given L-W a 25-13 lead. “The best we’ve played in a long time was our second half out there,” said Odessa senior post Ryan Floch, who joined the tourney century club (112 points) and surpassed 1,100 points for his career.
Other highlights: The Tigers used 2-3 and 1-3-1 zone defenses with equal success during their 35-21 second half. … Schweiger scored 12 of his 17 points in the first 9:30 for a 21-13 lead. … The rest of the game belonged to Odessa, thanks to a 40-25 rebounding edge. Floch and Michael Jeske combined for 21 rebounds and 11-of-20 shooting. … Odessa will play for fifth place, the trophy it won last season. … Five seniors played their final game for the Tigercats, including starters Schweiger, Derek Henley and Greg Whitman. … L-W is the first Whitman team in 10 years to not place.
Odessa 13 14 17 18 - 62
LaCros.-Wash. 19 8 6 15 - 48
Odessa (20-7) - Kramer 15, G. Schafer 11, Floch 16, Jeske 14, Pitts 4, Dart 2.
LaCrosse-Washtucna (19-7) - Colter 4, Schweiger 17, Henley 4, Whitman 10, Hammond 3, Goll 2, Schneider 6, Fehrenbacker 2.
Valley Christian 63, Chief Leschi 59
Key to the game: Uncontested fast-break points in the third quarter allowed the Panthers to rally from a 10-point deficit in a matchup of last year’s finalists.
Other highlights: The Panthers scored the game’s final six points, going ahead on Jeremy Decker’s steal and layin with 1:48 left. … The Warriors’ final possessions were a charging call, missed baseline jumper, missed 3-pointer followed by two short misses after offensive rebounds, and a missed 3-pointer. … The Warriors put the clamps on Brent Decker in the first half, but the VC sophomore scored 12 of his 15 points in the second half.
Chief Leschi 22 15 8 14 - 59
Valley Christian 15 17 17 14 - 63
Chief Leschi (17-12) - Richardson 2, Lawrence 3, Brown 16, Trent 13, Andriseck 12, Zigen 3, Sotelo 10.
Valley Christian (24-3) - J. Decker 2, Smith 19, Barriero 7, B. Decker 15, Evans 10, Troyer 5, Brecto 5.
Mt. Vernon Christian 49, Sunnyside Christian 48
Key to the game: The Hurricanes blew a 12-point second-half lead, but fought back by holding SC to two free throws in the final 3:30.
Other highlights: Hurricanes senior center Matt VanderKooy, fouled after four defenders collapsed on him, hit the front end of a one-and-one with 25.5 seconds left for the game’s final point, his 26th. … The Knights went to their Mr. Money, senior Michael Van Beek, but he missed a short jumper with 6 seconds left and MVC secured the rebound… . Van Beek, who scored his 1,000th career point Wednesday, finished 10 of 17 from the field and 5 of 5 from the line for 25 points. … VanderKooy, 6-6, hit 9 of 11 free throws. … The Hurricanes play for their first trophy at 2:30 p.m. today against Darrington, 2-0 against MVC this year.
Sunny. Chr. 10 16 6 16 - 48
Mt. Vernon Chr. 19 13 10 7 - 49
Sunnyside Christian (22-3) - VanWingerden 8, Jones 4, Van Beck 25, DeBoer 5, Dekker 6.
Mount Vernon Christian (19-7) - Toeset 3, Klein 7, Kaemingk 5, VanderKooy 26, VandenBosch 8.
Darrington 63, Liberty 49
Key to the game: The Loggers jumped to a 5-0 lead and never trailed.
Other highlights: Three 3-pointers allowed the Lancers to pull within eight in the third quarter, but the Loggers answered back. … Darrington will play for its third consecutive trophy, and 10th overall, in its final B game today. The school moves to Class 1A next season… . “It’s emotional to know that it’s our last year over here,” said Loggers guard Ned Miller, who hit two 3-pointers to increase his all-time tourney lead to 31. His 17 points give him 158 in three years at the B… . Darrington post John Fromong hit 6 of 12 from the floor and had 10 rebounds. … Liberty was hobbled by sprained ankles to two players and a hip pointer to post Matt Horlacher. … Liberty also moves to Class 1A next year after 15 appearances at the State B. … The Lancers’ senior starters were Mike Johnson, Jeremy Engle and Horlacher… . Liberty junior Jake Holling hit 7 of 14 from the field, including three 3-pointers, and added six assists.
Liberty 11 7 18 13 - 49
Darrington 15 19 14 15 - 63
Liberty (18-11) - Engle 12, B. Holling 2, J. Holling 17, Johnson 4, Horlacher 5, Wiman 2, Smith 5, R. Wiman 2.
Darrington (20-8) - Padgett 6, Fromong 12, Wright 5, Miller 17, S. Wright 4, Boyd 11, Grimmer 2, Fether 2, Pomeroy 4.
Attendance: 10,491 (30,027 for three days).
TODAY’S GAMES 5th-8th: Odessa (20-7) vs. Valley Christian (24-3), 12:30 4th-7th: Mount Vernon Chr. (19-7) vs. Darrington (20-8), 2:30 3rd-6th: Pateros (18-10) vs. St. John-Endicott (24-4), 4:30 1st-2nd: Evergreen Lutheran (25-3) vs. Waterville (24-2), 9