Liberty topples ACH in Bi-County League tourney opener

Liberty staked Almira/Coulee-Hartline to a 21-8 second-quarter lead before storming back to earn a 51-37 victory in a first-round Bi-County League Tournament game at Spangle.

Jake Ballard canned back-to-back 3-pointers to start the Lancers’ comeback, which cut the lead to just 25-20 at halftime. Andy Hodgson scored 11 of his 15 points in the second half to lead Liberty (12-9) down the stretch.

The Lancers advance to play Lind-Ritzville at Reardan on Tuesday.

Greg Giese scored 11 points to lead ACH (11-10), which plays Reardan in a loser-out game Tuesday at Reardan

Northwest Christian 63, Odessa 32: The Crusaders (20-2) roared out of the gate at Colbert, building a 36-12 lead at intermission. Josh Greer scored 18 of his 20 points in the first half to lead NWC, which plays Valley Christian in the tournament semifinal Tuesday at Reardan. Odessa (8-13) got a game-high 22 points from Derek Costlow. The Tigers play Wilbur-Creston in a loser-out game. … Lind-Ritzville 58, Reardan 41: The Broncos (20-1) pulled away in the fourth quarter behind back-to-back 3-pointers by Cameron Stevenson, who finished with 24 points. Andy Wellsandt added a steal and a layin to cap a 10-2 run for Lind-Ritzville. The Broncos advance to play Liberty. The Indians (6-15) plays ACH. … Valley Christian 60, Wilbur-Creston 52: Vitaliy Kozubenko scored 12 of his game-high 20 points in the first half and teammate Josh Pope scored 10 of his 11 points in the second to lead the Panthers (13-8) to a win on their home court. VC advances to play NWC on Tuesday at Reardan in the tournament semifinals. The Wildcats (8-13) play Odessa in a loser-out game, also at Reardan.

PANORAMA LEAGUE TOURNAMENT

Selkirk, Republic to play for title

The two divisional champions will face off to decide the league tournament championship Friday at Colville. Selkirk (15-7), the South Division champion, survived a furious fourth-quarter comeback from visiting Curlew (15-7) to score a 62-50 victory in a semifinal game at Ione. Travis Zimmerman led the Rangers with 15 points and five steals while Brandon Corkill held Curlew’s leading scorer, Cameron Kroupa, to eight points. Selkirk plays North Division champion Republic at Colville. Curlew plays host to St. George’s on Tuesday. … Republic 84, Wellpinit 57: The Tigers (21-1), the top-ranked Class B team in the state in the latest Associated Press poll, cruised into the semifinals behind the 20-point performance of Zach Gianukakis and the 19 points of Tyler Orestad. The Redskins (12-10), who trailed by three points at halftime, got 12 points from Sage Sonneck, but just 10 from leading scorer Preston Wynne. Wellpinit hosts St. Michael’s on Tuesday. … St. George’s 53, Cusick 36: The Dragons (11-11) stayed alive in the tournament by breaking open the game in the second quarter, outscoring the Panthers (6-16) 21-8. Davis Vaughn and Henry Butler each poured in 16 points for St. George’s. … St. Michael’s 71, Columbia-Hunters 61: The Warriors (9-13) sent Columbia (8-14) home by having four players score in double figures, led by Carlos Durazo and Joe Geckle, who combined for 36 points. The Lions got 18 points from Tyrel Sampson, but had four starters foul out down the stretch.

Great Northern League

Pullman uses turnovers to stop Colville

Pullman scored 21 points off 22 Colville turnovers to earn a 63-31 win at home. J.T. Levenseller posted 15 points to lead Pullman (14-5, 9-2), which had four players score in double figures. Brant Olson led the Indians (5-14, 1-10) with 10 points.

Northeast A League

Kettle Falls pull away at Colfax

Kettle Falls pulled away from Colfax in the second half, scoring a 58-50 victory in the league finale. Brandon Holibaugh scored nine of his 17 points in the second half to lead KF (12-8, 4-2), which got 12 points from Zac Barber. Brian Danaher scored 14 points to lead Colfax (7-13, 2-4). The teams will meet Friday at Mead in the opening round of the NEA Tournament.

WHITMAN COUNTY TOURNAMENT

Gar-Pal clamps down on TO

Garfield-Palouse (15-6) held Tekoa-Oakesdale (16-5) to 12 second-half points en route to a 67-43 victory in the league tournament at Endicott. The Vikings advance to play LaCrosse-Washtucna for the tourney championship Monday at 6 p.m. at Endicott. T-O enters the Southeast District tournament as the No. 3 seed. Garrett Parrish and Nels Iverson combined for 37 points to lead Gar-Pal. Derek Flock scored 12 points to lead the Nighthawks. … St. John-Endicott 63, Asotin 54: The Eagles (13-9) turned away Asotin (15-7) at Endicott to earn the No. 4 seed from the tournament. SJE will play Wednesday at Pomeroy, the No. 5 seed from the Blue Mountain Conference, for a berth in the Southeast District tournament. Bryce Johnson scored 18 points, grabbed eight rebounds, dished off three assists and collected a pair of steals to lead the Eagles. John Ausman scored 14 points to lead the Panthers, who trailed 49-47 in the fourth quarter.

WASHINGTON GIRLS

Great Northern League

Greyhounds run past Colville

Pullman got 12 points from Kelli Davis, and 11 points and nine rebounds from Jamie Thornton to score a 57-40 victory over visiting Colville (2-17, 1-10). The Greyhounds (10-9, 5-6) opened the game with a 21-10 roll and closed it with a 16-8 dash. Melissa Rice, with 16 points, and Raylynn Martin, with 13, combined to score 29 of the Indians’ 40 points.

Northeast A League

Young Bulldogs bite Kettle Falls

Colfax (13-7, 4-2) used primarily freshmen and sophomores to down Kettle Falls (11-9, 2-4), 58-41 at Colfax in the regular-season finale for both schools. The two teams will meet Friday at 3 p.m. at Mead High in the first round of the league tournament. Kylie Shaw and Jordan Harazin paced Colfax, the defending state Class 1A champions, with 16 points apiece.

WHITMAN COUNTY TOURNAMENT

Tigercats to face Gar-Pal

LaCrosse-Washtucna (17-4) built a 15-point lead in the first half against Tekoa-Oakesdale (14-7), downing the Nighthawks 59-47 at Endicott in the league tournament, earning the right to face Garfield-Palouse for the tournament championship Monday at Endicott. L-W got 22 points from Jennifer Ayers-Stamper, who scored her 1,000th career point in the game. T-O plays Colton in the third-/fourth-place game Monday at Endicott. … Colton 66, St. John-Endicott 51: Colton (8-14), which needed a buzzer-beater Friday night to get into the game, earned its first district tournament berth since 1996 by eliminating the Eagles (14-8) on their home court. Rochelle Druffel scored 22 points and Natalie Stout scored 12 points and grabbed 12 rebounds for the Wildcats. SJE took a four-point lead in the third quarter, but Colton went on a 22-10 run in the fourth quarter to earn the victory. Sydney Gossard scored 20 points to lead the Eagles.

Caribou Trail League

Lake Roosevelt tames Mountain Lions

Lake Roosevelt used a big second half to down host Liberty Bell 64-38 at Twisp. Rhonda St. Pierre scored 17 points to lead the Raiders, drilling four 3-pointers en route.