Freeman boys fall just short

YAKIMA – The first one fell, the second didn’t.

Andrew Dresback’s 3-pointer with 8 seconds left brought Freeman within two points, but after Overlake missed a pair of free throws, Dresback’s 3-pointer at the buzzer missed as Overlake rallied from a 12-point third quarter to knock the Scotties out of the State 1A tournament with a 57-55 win Friday at the SunDome.

Freeman (15-12) led 28-19 at halftime after holding Overlake to five points in the second quarter and outrebounding the Owls (19-6) 24-10 in the opening 16 minutes. At the break, the Scotties had more offensive rebounds (11) than Overlake had total rebounds (10).

But Overlake righted the ship in the second half. The Owls shot 56 percent from the floor in the second half and took advantage of 20 Freeman fouls to go 20 of 32 from the free-throw line in the third and fourth quarters en route to 38 second-half points. For the game, the Owls 22 of 38 from the foul line, compared to just 7 of 14 for the Scotties.

Freeman also shot well after the break, hitting on 52 percent of their shots in the second half. But the Scotties were forced into eight turnovers, which the Owls turned into 15 points, and a 19-4 Overlake run over the third and fourth quarters ensured Freeman went home without a state trophy for the second straight season.

Dresback led the way for the Scotties, who last won a state trophy in 2004 when they took sixth, with 15 points and a game-high eight rebounds. Chris Davis and Michael Wittwer each added 12 points.

Overlake’s Jonathan Bechtol, who scored nine points during the game-deciding run and 16 in the second half, finished with a game-high 17 points and added four rebounds and three steals. Carsten Schmiedl added 15 points and Colin Madden 11 for the Owls, who advanced into the fourth/seventh-place game today at noon against Granger (21-5).