Ashley comes up big late as Broncos win
Nick Ashley scored eight of his game-high 15 points in the fourth quarter, leading Bi-County League champion Lind-Ritzville to a 50-47 victory over St. George’s in a first-round game in the District 7 B boys basketball tournament at Mead.
Ashley drilled four of six free throws in the final eight minutes, including a pair with 11 seconds left that gave the Broncos a three-point lead. He also pulled down 11 rebounds.
Tad Johnson drilled a 3-point field goal with 15 seconds left that cut the Lind-Ritzville lead to a single point, and finished with a team-high 11 points for the Dragons.
Lind-Ritzville (23-1) plays Selkirk in a semifinal game Wednesday at Mt. Spokane.
St. George’s (12-13), the No. 4 seed from the Panorama League, plays Liberty in a loser-out game Wednesday at Mead.
Selkirk 49, Liberty 41: The Rangers (16-8) went on a 13-6 run in the third quarter to take control of their opening-round game at Mead. Clint March scored 16 points and pulled down 13 rebounds and Travis Zimmerman scored seven points and grabbed 11 boards to lead Selkirk, which plays Lind-Ritzville in the semifinals. Andy Hodgson scored 14 for Liberty (14-11). … Republic 77, Valley Christian 40: Zach Gianukakis poured in 21 points in the first half to spark the Tigers (23-1), who held a commanding, 41-17 lead at intermission at Mt. Spokane. Zach finished with a game-high 29 points while his brother, Derek, added another 11 – matching the Panthers’ offensive output. Nick Crooks scored 10 points to lead Valley Christian (14-11), but leading scorer Vitaliy Kozubenko was held to four points.
Republic plays the winner of the Northwest Christian-Wellpinit opening-round game, which was not reported by the time this edition of the Spokesman-Review went to press. Valley Christian plays the loser of the same opening-round game.
District 9 B Tournament
DeSales-LW in title game
DeSales and LaCrosse-Washtucna both advanced into Thursday’s District 9 B tournament championship game with wins Monday at Walla Walla Community College. DeSales knocked off Garfield-Palouse (16-8) 49-32; LaCrosse-Washtucna (19-4) stopped Tekoa-Oakesdale (17-6) 62-58 in overtime.
Tri-Cities Prep, a 52-40 winner over Liberty Christian in a loser-out game Monday, now plays Garfield-Palouse Wednesday at Washington State University in a loser-out game. St. John-Endicott plays Tekoa-Oakesdale, also in a loser-out game at WSU.