Defense Helps Colton Shock T-O

Boys basketball

When Tekoa-Oakesdale defeated Colton 73-45 on Jan. 22, it improved the Nighthawks’ lead in the all-time series to 34-4.

Make that 34-5 after Saturday night, when Colton shocked the visiting Nighthawks 61-50 to continue its strong season in the Whitman County League.

Colton had never defeated T-O by double figures. The Wildcats pulled off the trick with defense, as Ben Moehrle and Brandon Mcintosh held T-O’s leading scorers, Anthony Buergel and Pat Heaton, to a combined 15 points.

Colton senior Brian Busch topped 800 points for his career.

The Wildcats had recently defeated league neighbor LaCrosse-Washtucna for the first time in five years.

Colton 61, Tekoa-Oakesdale 50

Tekoa-Oakes. 9 12 10 19 - 50

Colton 18 12 12 19 - 61

Tekoa-Oakesdale (8-9, 5-4) Buergel 5, Heaton 10, Smith 11, A. Ellis 3, Wagner 5, Thompson 7, S. Ellis 2, Crossett 7, Sperber 0, Bruce 0.

Colton (11-6, 5-4) - M. Weber 0, Wolf 10, R. Weber 2, Shaffer 0, T. Weber 3, Moehrle 9, Schlee 1, Busch 14, Stout 8, Olson 0, Mcintosh 14.

LaCrosse-Washtucna 70, Asotin 66

Matt Meyers hit two free throws with 2 seconds left to clinch the visiting Tigercats’ win over the Panthers.

Ryan Uptmor’s basket with 9 seconds left allowed Asotin to close within two. In the first half, L-W’s Shane Hammond scored 12 and Asotin’s Uptmor and Brad Smith combined for 22 points.

LaCrosse-Wash. 25 15 17 13 - 70

Asotin 23 17 17 9 - 66

LaCrosse-Washtucna (9-7, 5-3) - B. Colter 2, D. Colter 10, Goll 8, Schneider 11, Meyers 11, Stueckle 12, Hammond 14, Henley 2.

Asotin (7-10, 1-8) - Welch 2, Rozell 5, Peer 11, Appleford 0, Witty 0, Vantrease 14, Weiss 2, Uptmor 16, Smith 16.

Garfield-Palouse 66, Rosalia 46

Aaron Elder scored a season-high 34, with three 3-pointers, and added six assists to lead the visiting Vikings over the Spartans.

Gar-Pal shot 18 of 23 from the line and held Rosalia to 14-percent shooting from the floor. The Vikings’ Jason Fox had 12 rebounds. Rosalia’s Craig Shindler scored 20.

Garfield-Palouse 7 22 11 26 - 66

Rosalia 12 11 11 12 - 46

Garfield-Palouse (14-2, 8-1) - Evenson 2, Aa. Elder 34, Kriebel 0, Riedinger 0, Kimble 11, Fox 4, Wride 3, Smick 0, Ad. Elder 10, Rosebrook 2.

Rosalia (2-13, 0-8) - S. Nelson 15, Slemp 0, Van Dyke 5, Shindler 20, Porter 1, Workman 3, A. Nelson 2.

Bi-County League

Valley Christian 62, Odessa 33

Eric Smith hit 8 of 11 field goals and added six rebounds as the Panthers defeated the visiting Tigers for their 19th consecutive win.

Matthew Barriero added five assists and five steals for VC, and Jared Evans hit two 3-pointers. VC played its second consecutive game without scoring leader Brent Decker, who has anemia.

Odessa 4 11 13 5 - 33

Valley Christian 14 17 19 12 - 62

Odessa (6-10, 5-9) - Dart 4, Ku. Starkel 0, Strohmaier 7, Voise 4, C. Smith 0, Jeske 9, Kagele 2, Ky. Starkel 4, S. Smith 3, Scrupps 0.

Valley Christian (16-0, 14-0) - Miller 5, Smith 19, Knigge 3, Barriero 7, Evans 16, Bolster 10, Lacy 2, Fomenko 0.

Sprague-Harrington 61, Christian Heritage 33

Travis McPeak hit 7 of 15 field goals, including 5 of 7 on 3-pointers, and the visiting Falcons defeated the Patriots at Edwall.

The Falcons’ Colin Floyd hit 7 of 13 from the field and added seven rebounds.

Sprague-Harr. 20 12 22 7 - 61

Chr.Heritage 7 9 7 10 - 33

Sprague-Harrington (12-4, 11-3) - Engles 0, Harding 1, Timm 1, McPeak 19, Floyd 17, Badgley 2, Green 4, Becker 0, Scholten 3, Henry 14, Whipple 0.

Christian Heritage (2-14, 1-13) - Klein 5, Bell 6, Stromberger 2, Bishop 0, N. Colvin 0, Flowers 0, Stuhlmiller 9, Busby 3, Brennan 0, Schumacher 8.

Ritzville 64, Almira/Coulee-Hartline 35

Josh Whitman scored 19 of his 21 in the first half to guide the Broncos over the Warriors at Hartline.

Ritzville’s Jason Heider scored 11 in the third quarter, with three 3-pointers.

Ritzville 7 21 19 17 - 64

ACH 7 9 13 6 - 35

Ritzville (11-5, 11-3) - Reilly 0, Heider 12, Plager 2, B. Arlt 10, Borth 1, J. Arlt 3, Marcus 0, Kuster 6, Whitman 21, Pflugrath 9.

Almira/Coulee-Hartline (3-13, 3-11) - Cooper 0, Aldrich 4, Ladwig 0, Jess 7, Roberts 0, Fuller 3, Pierce 0, Carstensen 5, Malone 5, Malloy 4, Jordan 7, Johanson 0.

Wilbur-Creston 65, Davenport 33

A.J. Nelson scored 14 in the first half and the visiting Wildcats defeated the Gorillas, who were slowed by 20 first-half turnovers.

Davenport’s Alan Curtis had 11 rebounds.

Wilbur-Creston 18 19 16 12 - 65

Davenport 5 15 7 6 - 33

Wilbur-Creston (12-3, 11-3) - Arden 8, Sheffels 4, Johnson 6, Morrison 10, Curo 0, Brunnell 5, Erickson 4, Llewellyn 0, Larkin 6, Krause 2, Nelson 16, Dunlap 4.

Davenport (8-8, 6-8) - Paul 0, Buchmann 6, Warwick 6, Hein 0, Schreck 6, Curtis 10, Pauls 3, Dietrich 2.

Reardan 78, Lind 50

Aaron Landreth hit 6 of 7 field goals, including two 3-pointers, and added 10 rebounds to guide the Indians over the visiting Bulldogs.

Reardan finished 31 of 53 from the field.

Lind 13 10 14 13 - 50

Reardan 27 20 17 14 - 78

Lind (3-13, 2-12) - Kulm 5, Labes 2, Wilson 9, Al. Ritz 2, Starring 2, Horpedahl 0, Fode 8, Coyle 0, An. Ritz 4, Schrenk 15, Alcocer 3.

Reardan (7-9, 6-8) - Soliday 18, Schultz 0, Krupke 6, Dilg 0, A. Landreth 14, Falk 18, Addington 9, N. Landreth 7, Altizer 6.

Panorama League

NW Christian 70, Cusick 28

Seth Hutchins and Gabe Goldman had seven rebounds apiece to guide a 40-21 edge, and the Crusaders defeated the visiting Panthers at East Valley High to clinch the South Division title.

Patrick Orr hit 5 of 9 field goals and Zach Strandy had six assists for NWC.

Cusick 7 6 7 8 - 28

NW Christian 24 16 15 15 - 70

Cusick (0-19, 0-15) - Person 2, Sattleen 2, Haikkila 4, J. Smith 0, A. Smith 7, Wykes 6, Foster 2, Robinson 5, Ford 0.

Northwest Christian (15-3, 13-2) - DiStefano 0, Proffitt 6, Orr 11, Hutchins 5, Descoteaux 8, Strandy 2, Malott 10, Sharkey 12, Goldman 12, Clouse 1, Iranon 3.

Curlew 71, Inchelium 65

Jeremy Groth scored 25 to surpass 600 points for the season, and the visiting Cougars used a six-point advantage at the line to turn back the Hornets’ upset bid and win their ninth straight.

Groth had an off night on 3-pointers, missing 9 of 10 attempts. Nigel Michel scored 23, and Jon Simmons and Jacolby Simpson combined for 20 rebounds for Inchelium.

Curlew 23 13 11 24 - 71

Inchelium 15 12 20 18 - 65

Curlew (18-1, 15-0) - Lindgren 0, Anderson 6, C. Groth 14, J. Groth 25, H. Barkley 0, Olsen 10, Stotts 0, Baker 0, Garrison 11, W. Barkley 0, Strandberg 5.

Inchelium (9-9, 7-8) - Jolley 2, Eaglebear 5, Simpson 13, Michel 23, Mason 0, Tonasket 8, Simmons 4, Burch 10.

Selkirk 81, St. Michael’s 64

Joe Hodges scored 28, hitting 10 of 11 free throws, and Colt Smith hit four 3-pointers on the way to a season-high 22 points to lead the Rangers over the visiting Warriors at Ione.

Selkirk shot 53 percent from the field and had a 41-25 rebounding edge. The Warriors’ Kevin Vogel scored 20, hitting 6 of 8 3-pointers.

St. Michael’s 15 16 12 21 - 64

Selkirk 18 18 28 17 - 81

St. Michael’s (10-9, 6-9) - C. Vogel 11, J. Schindler 14, Edwards 10, Durazo 0, B. Schindler 3, K. Vogel 20, Spruil 6.

Selkirk (10-8, 8-7) - Villegas 2, Smith 22, Huffine 0, Batch 4, Hodges 28, Carlson 16, Anderson 9.

Republic 71, Wellpinit 49

Dorian Russell and Kris Krohn combined for 19 third-quarter points as the Tigers roared back from a halftime deficit to defeat the visiting Redskins.

Republic’s Cory Rickard added 17 rebounds and seven assists. Wellpinit finished with 10 3-pointers.

Wellpinit 15 19 12 3 - 49

Republic 15 17 18 21 - 71

Wellpinit (6-11, 5-10) - Filkins 8, I. Abrahamson 12, Ford 0, M. Wynne 0, G. Abrahamson 0, Flett 12, M. McCrea 11, Allen 3, T. McCrea 3, Brigman 0, Evans 0.

Republic (13-6, 12-3) - Haggerty 0, Russell 20, Burnside 2, Lembcke 1, J. Bauer 0, Krohn 20, C. Bauer 0, Rickard 13, Wilson 0, Walden 11, Long 4, Maycumber 0.

Columbia 79, Northport 54

Kris Benson scored a season-high 22 and Cody Young added 12 rebounds to lead the Lions over the visiting Mustangs at Hunters.

Benson, Young and Thomas Preston combined to hit 23 of 40 field goals and 11 of 14 free throws.

Northport 17 12 15 10 - 54

Columbia 15 23 19 22 - 79

Northport (4-15, 3-12) - Petersen 0, Gruener 21, A. Weilep 5, Israel 0, Day 2, Rieckers 6, Wiley 0, L. Weilep 9, Wilson 11.

Columbia (6-13, 5-10) - K. Donohue 8, Turner 2, C. Young 19, Benson 22, Preston 21, J. Young 4, Hudspeth 3, S. Donohue 0, Aslan 0.