Curlew earns 1st berth since ‘85
How nice it must be for a coach to have a floor leader and a consistent inside threat.
Curlew’s Ted Torzewski had just that Friday night as senior point guard Brittany Strandberg and sophomore post Nichole Miller led the Cougars to a 46-30 win over Lind-Ritzville in a loser-out, winner-to-state Northeast B matchup at Mt. Spokane High School.
The win gave Curlew (22-4) its first state tournament appearance since 1985 and had Torzewski feeling pretty good after the game.
“It’s darn nice,” he said. “… It’s great. It’s a warm feeling, that’s for sure. We were talking about it in the locker room, we said, ‘Close your eyes and see it happen.’ “
In Thursday’s loss to Almira/Coulee-Hartline, the Cougars lacked aggressiveness on both ends of the floor and struggled to get the ball inside to the 5-foot-11 Miller.
On Friday, however, defense set the tone. Led by Strandberg and sophomore forward Amanda Grumbach, who had three steals, Curlew got its hands on a number of ACH passes and forced the Broncos into 14 turnovers.
The Cougars also found Miller, who took advantage of the undersized Broncos (14-13) to the tune of 24 points, including 18 in the first half.
Curlew took the lead for good with 6 minutes left in the second quarter. The Broncos fronted Miller, but Strandberg, who had an off game against the Warriors on Thursday, had no trouble sending lob pass after lob pass over the top of defenders. Miller scored nine points during an 11-2 run midway through the second quarter, and the Cougars never looked back.
“(Nichole) is huge,” Torzewski said. “She is just a strong player. You can go to her inside and out. She just works hard all the time.”
Strandberg had just four points, but she was very active, finishing with four steals and four rebounds, and was the key to Curlew’s offense. Her constant penetration and dishing led to seven assists.
“She’s the type of player who can take over a game when she wants to,” Torzewski said. “If she decides we’re going to win the ballgame, we’re going to win the ballgame. She just takes it over.”
And with this being her last shot at state, Strandberg wasn’t about to let it slip away from the Cougars again.
“We talked about it all today,” Strandberg said. “We need to get up, this could be our last game. Everyone came out and turned up the intensity. … I’m ecstatic. This is the best feeling.”
Sprague-Harrington 60, Inchelium 56
Down 19 points 1 1/2 minutes into the fourth quarter, Sprague-Harrington’s chances at a second straight state appearance were fading fast. But in a stunning reversal, the Falcons outscored Inchelium 28-5 over the final 6 1/2 minutes, 20 points of which came in the final three minutes, for a 60-56 win at Mead High School, good for a state berth.
“We just got shots to fall,” S-H head coach Ed Shields said. “It shows what happens when you never give up.”
Junior Stacie Shields, the coach’s daughter, scored 10 of her 19 points in the fourth quarter for the Falcons (21-5). Senior guard Abby Hatten had eight of her 11 in the decisive quarter.
S-H took the lead for the first time with 17 seconds left when Shields found sophomore Natalie Deking for a breakaway layin.
Leah Dick led Inchelium (19-8) with 19 points, and Steven Carson had seven points and 10 rebounds. The Hornets will return their entire team next year.