White Swan knocks off Freeman boys at State 1A

YAKIMA – There will be no golden ball at the end of this season for the Freeman Scotties.

Freeman, the No. 2-ranked team in the state, ran into the super-charged White Swan Cougars in Thursday night’s quarterfinal round and dropped a 58-40 decision.

It was a free-wheeling, up-and-down game, and with a big hometown crowd cheering them on, White Swan grabbed momentum early, leaving Freeman struggling to find traction the entire game – and wondering what, exactly, had just hit them.

It was a textbook example of the dangers of allowing a team to grab momentum in a state tournament.

The 10th-ranked Cougars shot 69 percent from the floor in the second half (9 of 13) and 51 percent for the game (18 for 35).

Leading 24-18 at intermission, White Swan caught fire in the third quarter and blazed its way into tonight’s semifinals, where the Cougars will play top-ranked Bellevue Christian.

Chris Jones, a 6-5 forward, struck the match for White Swan, burying three 3-pointers in the first 3:30 of the second half – the last putting the Cougars up 34-18. Jones finished with a team-high 18 points.

Malcolm Soelberg battled hard for Freeman, scoring 22 points on 9-for-19 shooting, hitting just 2 of 9 from long range.

Freeman shot 32 percent for the game, connecting on just 15 of 47 shots from the field.

To show just how things went for the Scotties (22-3) down the stretch, Soelberg pulled up to shoot a 3-pointer in transition midway through the fourth quarter, hoping to ignite a comeback. The ball ricocheted off the backboard, bounced untouched into the Freeman backcourt and was turned into a fast-break basket by the Cougars going the other way.

Freeman, looking to draw the offensive foul against White Swan and its attacking guards, wound up called for two offensive fouls during a minute stretch of the final period.

The Scotties play Napavine, a 74-38 loser to Bellevue Christian, in a 2 p.m. consolation game.

Zillah 58, Colfax 44

The Bulldogs (9-17) had their tournament come to an end at the hands of the local favorite Leopards.

Erik Wick scored 11 points and Adam Bruya added another 10 to lead Colfax.