Tigers topple Toutle Lake

In the end, it was just about survival.

Riding the top-10 performance of Zach Gianukakis, Republic overcame a late Toutle Lake rally and free-throw woes – the Tigers made just 3 of 12 free throws down the stretch – to knock off the Ducks 66-56 in the first round of the boys State B Tournament Wednesday at the Spokane Arena.

The Tigers, who led by 18 after the third quarter but were up just four with 42 seconds remaining, got 38 points from their 6-foot-4 senior wing Gianukakis, who was 15 of 25 from the floor, many coming within 5 feet of the basket. The 60 percent effort was good for 10th on the State B single-game field-goal percentage list.

“Our plan was to get him the ball inside,” Tigers head coach John Gianukakis said. “When teams play man-to-man like they did, we want to take the ball to the hole.”

In the first half, Republic (24-4), led by junior guard Todd Orestad, shut down the Ducks (21-4) and leading scorer Ryan Hoff. Hoff shot just 3 of 9 in the first half as Toutle was 6 of 22 (27 percent) in the opening 16 minutes and trailed the Tigers 31-17.

“Todd’s defense in the first half won us the game, basically” Zach Gianukakis echoed. “(Hoff) got hot in the second half, but Todd played real good defense.”

Hoff scored 15 second-half points to finish with 23, but Zach Gianukakis – who finished with eight rebounds, six steals, three assists and three blocks – owned the third quarter.

With his brother Derek in foul trouble – though the 6-3 junior finished with 12 points and 11 rebounds – the elder Gianukakis scored 17 points in the third quarter as the Tigers led 51-33 entering the fourth.

“If one of us isn’t going, usually the other is,” Zach Gianukakis said. “We knew before the game they were undersized, so we wanted to go to the rim, and I was able to make some shots.”

Toutle made its late push when Republic, which lost in the first round to DeSales last year despite being considered a favorite, began struggling with its free throws.

The Ducks pulled to within 59-55 with 42 seconds remaining.

But the Tigers survived, making their last eight free throws to erase last year’s upset from their minds and set up a quarterfinal matchup today at 4 p.m. with Neah Bay, a team Republic has beaten the last two years at State.

“In the end, maybe the jitters creeped up on us,” Zach Gianukakis said. “Our free throws didn’t fall, but we stayed calm. … It was very important to win the first game. It was a mental lift that will help us now that we’re past the first game.”