Vc, W-C Will Go To State

NE B boys

Jared Evans was a sophomore the first year Valley Christian qualified for the boys State B basketball tournament.

Seth Dunlap is a sophomore for the first Wilbur-Creston team to qualify for state since 1994.

Evans and Dunlap played pivotal roles in the second half Thursday night as Valley Christian and Wilbur-Creston captured winner-to-state games at the Northeast District 7 B Tournament at Spokane Falls Community College.

Evans, held scoreless in the first half, scored 10 consecutive Panthers points to snap a tie and help VC defeat Northwest Christian 51-44 for its 26th consecutive win over two seasons.

Dunlap was pressed into duty when W-C’s season scoring leader, A.J. Nelson, fouled out just seconds into the fourth quarter. Dunlap scored eight fourth-quarter points to ignite the Wildcats’ 64-56 win over Sprague-Harrington.

Valley Christian and Wilbur-Creston, 1-2 in the Bi-County League this year, will play for the district title at 6 p.m. Saturday at SFCC. VC is the two-time defending district champion.

In Thursday’s loser-out games at Spokane Community College, Ritzville defeated St. George’s 51-43 and Curlew edged Inchelium 59-57.

NWC will play Curlew at 3:15 p.m. today, while S-H will meet Ritzville at 7:45. Both are winner-to-state, loser-out games.

Valley Christian 51, Northwest Christian 44 Offensive powers Evans and Eric Smith, both VC seniors, were held scoreless in the first half. Brent Decker and Matt Barriero scored every point during a 13-0, first-quarter run for a 13-3 Panthers lead.

NWC rebounded with a 10-0 run in the second quarter and entered halftime with an 18-all tie.

“We took charge at the first of the game and should have maintained that,” said Panthers coach Steve Altmeyer. “I think we should have pressured them more.”

Smith finally scored 1-1/2 minutes into the second half, and Evans joined the scoring parade, in a big way, 2 minutes later.

Evans’ 3-pointer with 1:11 left in the third quarter snapped a 26-all tie and put VC ahead for good. Evans had another 3-pointer early in the fourth quarter, after two other baskets.

“I don’t think they expected me to be out there shooting,” Evans said of the 3-pointers. “In the middle of the third quarter, we started bringing (the intensity) up. We got some good defensive stops, and that’s where it turned around.”

NWC senior Gabe Goldman scored 14 of his 22 points in the fourth quarter. Goldman scored 16 of the Crusaders’ final 19 points.

VC shot an uncharacteristic 32 percent from the field, but the Panthers were 10 of 10 from the free-throw line, including Brent Decker’s 6-for-6 night.

“We didn’t move the ball with confidence,” Altmeyer said. “Part of your shooting is how you pass.”

Valley Christian 13 5 13 20 - 51

NW Christian 3 15 8 18 - 44

Valley Christian (23-0) - Miller 0, Smith 8, Knigge 0, Stanaway 0, Barriero 8, Decker 18, Evans 12, Bolster 2, Lacy 3.

Northwest Christian (19-6) - DiStefano 9, Proffitt 3, Descoteaux 4, Strandy 0, Malott 6, Sharkey 0, Akins 0, Goldman 22.

Wilbur-Creston 64, Sprague-Harrington 56

Nelson picked up his third and fourth fouls 18 seconds apart in the third quarter. W-C coach Tom Johnson put him back in to start the fourth quarter, but the junior post was gone in 17 seconds.

S-H held a 48-47 lead when Dunlap made two consecutive fakes and drives for baskets from the top of the key. The Falcons never caught up.

“We just keep bringing (Dunlap) along and bringing him along,” Johnson said. “He just gets better every game.”

The Wildcats had defeated S-H by 14 and 12 points during the league season, but the Falcons hit their first five shots to storm to a 13-2 lead. S-H led 17-8 when the Wildcats powered inside for a 17-0 run, eventually building a ninepoint lead.

Junior guards Colin Floyd and Travis McPeak scored all 29 Falcons points until Scott Engles’ driving layup midway through the third quarter. W-C showed balance, with six players scoring between eight and 14.

Floyd scored 18 in the first half, hitting 7 of 10 from the floor, but was 0 for 6 on second-half field goals.

McPeak hit 6 of 12 3-pointers on his way to 26 points.

But the Wildcats had an inside game to offset eight Falcons 3-pointers.

“This team has matured a lot,” Johnson said. “They were 7-13 last year, but they’ve come together as a team and have started to believe.”

Sprague-Harr. 17 7 17 15 - 56

Wilbur-Creston 10 22 10 22 - 64

Sprague-Harrington (16-9) - Engles 4, Harding 0, Timm 0, McPeak 26, Floyd 21, Badgley 0, Green 0, Becker 0, Scholten 0, Henry 5, Whipple 0.

Wilbur-Creston (18-4) - Arden 12, Sheffels 0, Johnson 11, Morrison 0, Curo 0, Erickson 10, Krause 14, Nelson 9, Dunlap 8.

Ritzville 51, St. George’s 43

Josh Whitman had game highs of 20 rebounds and 15 points as the Broncos eliminated the Dragons.

St. George’s junior Drew Moser completed his season with 14 for 1,115 career points.

St. George’s 12 7 8 16 - 43

Ritzville 10 7 9 25 - 51

St. George’s (15-11) - Johnson 4, Longinotti 2, Holte 12, Moser 14, Thomas 6, Witherspoon 5, Wysham 0.

Ritzville (17-7) - Reilly 0, Heider 2, Plager 0, B. Arlt 13, Borth 0, Marcus 0, Kuster 13, Whitman 15, Pflugrath 8.

Curlew 59, Inchelium 57

Jeremy Groth finished with game highs of 28 points and 12 rebounds as the Cougars edged the Hornets.

His Curlew teammate, J.B. Olsen, scored 21, hitting 8 of 18 from the floor and 4 of 5 from the line, and added nine rebounds. Inchelium’s Chris Burch had 10 rebounds and combined with David Tonasket to hit 13 of 25 from the floor.

Curlew 13 14 13 19 - 59

Inchelium 12 6 20 19 - 57

Curlew (23-2) - Anderson 0, C. Groth 6, J. Groth 28, H. Barkley 0, Olsen 21, Strandberg 4, Stotts 0, Garrison 0.

Inchelium (13-12) - Hoffman 2, Jolley 12, Eaglebear 0, Simpson 5, Michel 11, Mason 0, Tonasket 13, Burch 14.