Groth’S 1,900Th Point Lights Curlew’S Fire

Boys basketball

Jeremy Groth’s 1,900th career point for Curlew came on a special shot.

The basket, a 3-pointer, was launched from NBA range midway through the third quarter Saturday night. The long-range shot changed the tone of Curlew’s 66-57 Panorama League win over Northwest Christian at East Valley High.

NWC led 41-32 when Groth, a senior, began a 15-3 Cougars run with his memorable 3-pointer.

Groth and his brother, sophomore Craig, hit 8 of 10 free throws in the fourth quarter to salt away the win.

“That’s weird how it worked out, how it all came together,” said Groth, who finished with 33 points to push his career total to 1,919.

Just 11 boys are known to have scored 2,000 career points in Washington prep history. Groth, who is averaging 32.4 points per game, should reach the mark before the end of the month.

“It’s in the back of my head, but it’s not as big as the `W’s,”’ Groth said after Curlew’s 13th `W’ in 14 games.

“Nine points up definitely didn’t feel like a safe lead,” said NWC coach John Edwards. “I felt like Jeremy hadn’t shown us all of the shots we felt he was going to put up.”

The game matched North Division-leading Curlew and the Crusaders, tied for the South lead with St. George’s. Curlew defeated both South leaders over the weekend.

“I’d rather play games like this, win or lose, every time,” said Cougars coach Steve Brown. “It betters Northwest and it betters us.”

Groth, J.B. Olsen and Matt Anderson combined for four 3-pointers in the final 2:47 of the first quarter to turn a 9-6 NWC lead into a 22-11 Curlew edge.

NWC rallied in the second quarter, with 6-foot-7 senior Gabe Goldman scoring nine points and junior Matt Descoteaux adding eight off the bench.

Zach Strandy’s flurry of three baskets in the third quarter pushed NWC’s lead to 41-32 before Groth responded. Groth scored nine in the final 3:36 of the third quarter, then added two 3-pointers early in the fourth quarter to erase NWC’s final lead.

“Jeremy’s just like the guy in `Waterboy,”’ Brown said. “The madder he gets, the better he plays.”

NWC had won seven consecutive games. Goldman closed in on 900 career points with his 8-for-18 effort from the floor.

Craig Groth, in a little more than 1 seasons, already has exactly 400 career points.

Curlew 66, Northwest Christian 57

Curlew 22 8 17 19 - 66

NW Christian 11 18 18 10 - 57

Curlew (13-1, 10-0) - Anderson 9, C. Groth 11, J. Groth 33, Olsen 13, Stotts 0, Garrison 0.

Northwest Christian (10-3, 8-2) - DiStefano 6, Proffitt 0, Descoteaux 8, Strandy 11, Malott 10, Sharkey 4, Goldman 18.

Republic 54, St. George’s 39

Kris Krohn scored 25, hitting 9 of 16 from the floor and 6 of 6 from the line, and the visiting Tigers defeated the Dragons.

Republic finished 11 of 11 from the line. St. George’s played the weekend without Drew Moser (23.3 ppg), who broke his pinkie finger in practice. He’s out for at least two weeks.

Republic 16 14 6 18 - 54

St. George’s 10 12 11 6 - 39

Republic (9-5, 8-2) - Russell 7, Burnside 0, Krohn 25, Rickard 13, Wilson 0, Walden 4, Maycumber 5.

St. George’s (10-4, 8-2) - Johnson 3, Longinotti 8, Holte 7, Thomas 2, Fix 0, Witherspoon 15, Wysham 4.

Wellpinit 67, Selkirk 62

Ivan Abrahamson scored a season-high 25, hitting five 3-pointers and 9 of 17 from the floor, to lead the Redskins over the visiting Rangers.

Selkirk’s Joe Hodges scored 23 of his season-high 35 points in the fourth quarter, hitting 9 of 10 free throws.

Selkirk 9 15 7 31 - 62

Wellpinit 16 22 8 11 - 67

Selkirk (7-6, 5-5) - Villegas 0, Smith 0, Batch 0, Hodges 35, Carlson 21, Damron 0, Anderson 6.

Wellpinit (5-7, 4-6) - Filkins 4, I. Abrahamson 25, V. Wynne, G. Abrahamson 3, Flett 12, M. McCrea 4, T. McCrea 11, Moyer 6.

Columbia 74, Cusick 52

Cody Young scored 13 of his 22 in the second quarter, and he and Justin Young combined for six 3-pointers to lead the Lions over the visiting Panthers at Hunters.

Columbia made 13 of 31 3-point attempts.

Cusick 12 12 10 18 - 52

Columbia 13 21 20 20 - 74

Cusick (0-14, 0-10) - Person 0, Sattleen 9, K. Haikkila 10, Ernst 2, J. Smith 4, A. Smith 10, Wykes 4, Foster 9, Robinson 3, Ford 1.

Columbia (4-9, 3-7) - K. Donohue 3, McCrea 0, Turner 0, C. Young 22, Benson 5, Preston 13, Weston 5, J. Young 16, Hudspeth 6, Schurger 0, Berg 0, Montgomery 0, S. Donohue 4.

Inchelium 74, St. Michael’s 69

Jon Simmons and David Tonasket scored four points apiece in the late stages to lift the visiting Hornets over the Warriors.

Matt Edwards, who had missed the last two games, scored 24 for St. Michael’s. The Warriors played without John Schindler (19.5 ppg).

Inchelium 23 20 17 14 - 74

St. Michael’s 17 22 13 17 - 69

Inchelium (6-6, 5-5) - Hoffman 4, Jolley 4, Eaglebear 6, Simpson 16, Michel 2, Mason 6, Tonasket 19, Simmons 6, Burch 11.

St. Michael’s (8-6, 4-6) - C. Vogel 14, Edwards 24, Durazo 11, B. Schindler 2, K. Vogel 15, Spruil 3.

Springdale 80, Northport 72

Lyle Norman scored a season-high 20 and combined with Louie Brigman for 25 rebounds, leading the Chargers past the visiting Mustangs.

Springdale had its top offensive production of the season despite missing 25 of 44 free throws. Bryce Rieckers scored a season-high 21 for Northport, which hit 20 of 25 from the line.

Northport 13 17 17 25 - 72

Springdale 14 16 24 26 - 80

Northport (3-11, 2-8) - Petersen 0, Gruener 12, A. Weilep 4, Israel 0, Day 6, Rieckers 21, Wiley 0, L. Weilep 15, Wilson 14.

Springdale (3-11, 3-7) - Swearngin 15, Guistini 0, Lebret 15, Brigman 6, Stricker 4, Roll 18, Sanchez 0, Norman 20, Lane 2.

Bi-County League

Wilbur-Creston 69, Sprague-Harrington 55

At Wilbur, Darin Erickson scored a career-high 22 and added 12 rebounds to lead the Wildcats over the Falcons, creating a three-way tie for second place.

Sprague-Harr. 4 17 14 20 - 55

Wilbur-Creston 11 15 22 21 - 69

Sprague-Harrington (9-3, 8-2) - Engles 14, Timm 0, McPeak 12, Floyd 19, Green 1, Becker 0, Scholten 2, Henry 7, Whipple 0.

Wilbur-Creston (9-2, 8-2) - Arden 10, Sheffels 5, Johnson 7, Morrison 2, Curo 2, Erickson 22, Larkin 0, Krause 0, Nelson 21, Dunlap 0.

Davenport 51, Reardan 49

Andy Schreck scored 20, hitting three 3-pointers, and the visiting Gorillas made 12 of 16 free throws to edge the Indians.

Reardan’s Aaron Falk scored 21.

Davenport 13 8 13 17 - 51

Reardan 16 13 3 17 - 49

Davenport (6-6, 4-6) - Paul 0, Buchmann 7, Warwick 7, Schreck 20, Curtis 13, Pauls 4, Dietrich 0.

Reardan (5-7, 4-6) - Soliday 1, Krupke 6, A. Landreth 11, Falk 21, Addington 0, N. Landreth 3, Altizer 7.

Ritzville 48, Odessa 25

Josh Whitman scored a season-high 34 and Jason Heider added five assists, leading the Broncos over the visiting Tigers.

Odessa 10 2 8 5 - 25

Ritzville 11 11 12 14 - 48

Odessa (4-8, 3-7) - Dart 7, Ku. Starkel 0, Strohmaier 6, Voise 0, C. Smith 0, Jeske 6, Kagele 1, Ky. Starkel 5, S. Smith 0, Scrupps 0.

Ritzville (8-4, 8-2) - Reilly 0, Heider 1, Plager 2, B. Arlt 4, Borth 2, J. Arlt 0, Marcus 0, Kuster 0, Whitman 34, Pflugrath 5, Dirks 0.

Valley Christian 54, Almira/Coulee-Hartline 34

The Panthers started the second half with a 13-0 run to pull away from the Warriors at Hartline.

VC’s Jared Evans surpassed 800 career points. The Panthers have won 15 consecutive games.

Valley Christian 11 15 17 11 - 54

ACH 8 6 9 11 - 34

Valley Christian (12-0, 10-0) - Miller 2, Smith 14, Knigge 9, Decker 10, Evans 15, Bolster 2, Lacy 2.

Almira/Coulee-Hartline (2-10, 2-8) - Cooper 0, Aldrich 3, Jess 2, Fuller 8, Carstensen 4, Malone 8, Malloy 2, Jordan 5, Johanson 2.

Christian Heritage 43, Lind 42

Nick Colvin’s jumper with 2:15 left put the Patriots ahead for good, and they defeated the visiting Bulldogs for their first league win since 1997-98.

Lind 10 7 13 12 - 42

Chr.Heritage 12 10 11 10 - 43

Lind (3-8, 2-8) - Kulm 2, Labes 0, Wilson 4, Al. Ritz 4, Starring 3, Horpedahl 3, Fode 15, Coyle 0, An. Ritz 0, Schrenk 11.

Christian Heritage (2-10, 1-9) - Klein 8, Bell 4, Stromberger 5, Bishop 4, N. Colvin 2, Flowers 0, Stuhlmiller 6, Busby 8, Brennan 0, Schumacher 6.

Whitman County League

SJE 53, Tekoa-Oakesdale 39

Josh Hames had 12 rebounds, giving him 25 for the weekend, and the Eagles defeated the Nighthawks at St. John.

Tekoa-Oakes. 8 6 5 20 - 39

SJE 16 8 13 16 - 53

Tekoa-Oakesdale (5-6, 2-2) Buergel 6, Heaton 15, Smith 4, A. Ellis 5, Thompson 3, S. Ellis 4, Crossett 2, Bruce 0.

St. John-Endicott (10-2, 4-1) - Riehle 3, Siler 6, Bafus 4, Bezdicek 13, Duncan 3, Hames 11, Scheuerman 10, Johnstone 3.

Garfield-Palouse 87, Asotin 71

Jeremy Kimble scored 35, hitting 11 of 22 from the field and 10 of 11 from the line to lead the Vikings’ road win.

Asotin’s Brad Smith scored 25.

Garfield-Palouse 23 28 12 24 - 87

Asotin 19 15 24 13 - 71

Garfield-Palouse (10-1, 4-0) - Evenson 2, Aa. Elder 3, Kriebel 1, Riedinger 11, Kimble 35, Fox 11, Wride 5, Smick 1, Ad. Elder 13, Rosebrook 8.

Asotin (5-7, 0-5) - Dickinson 0, Welch 0, Rozell 3, Peer 13, Appleford 10, Witty 6, Vantrease 4, Uptmor 10, Smith 25.

LaCrosse-Washtucna 78, Rosalia 56

Cody Goll scored a season-high 29, hitting 14 of 20 from the floor, to lead the visiting Tigercats over the Spartans.

Rosalia’s Steve Nelson scored a season-best 25.

LaCrosse-Wash. 19 23 17 19 - 78

Rosalia 19 20 0 17 - 56

LaCrosse-Washtucna (7-5, 3-1) - B. Colter 2, D. Colter 13, Goll 29, Schneider 6, Webley 0, Meyers 7, Stueckle 7, Hammond 9, Henley 0, Koller 5.

Rosalia (2-8, 0-4) - S. Nelson 25, Slemp 6, Van Dyke 0, Shindler 12, Porter 7, Workman 6, Taylor 0, A. Nelson 0.

Non-league

Colton 75, Deary 49

Brian Busch surpassed 700 career points by scoring 20, and he added 11 assists and six steals.

Colton’s Blake Wolf added 22 points.

Deary 13 7 15 14 - 49

Colton 21 14 17 23 - 75

Deary - Boles 3, Worner 3, Pomme 11, Main 9, Eggers 14, Orr 9, Branting 0, Miller 0, Strandbakke 0.

Colton (8-4) - M. Weber 0, Wolf 22, R. Weber 8, Shaffer 6, T. Weber 0, Moehrle 5, Schlee 8, Busch 20, Stout 6, Olson 0, Mcintosh 0.