St. George’s, DeSales win

On a night when freshmen made the difference, the St. George’s Dragons and DeSales Irish decided sending one team to state just wasn’t enough.

Both boys and girls teams for DeSales and St. George’s won Friday night in winner-to-state, loser-out games in the District 7/9 2B playoffs at Mead and Mt. Spokane.

St. George’s coaches were relieved to earn the state berths, but both agree there is no room to relax now that they are there.

“We will have to keep playing loose and playing together,” boys coach Ryan Peplinski said. “This year state will be as tough as ever with so many of the bigger schools there, so we have to keep doing what we are doing well to be successful.”

Girls’ coach Allie Bailey agreed.

“We can’t relax much,” Bailey said. “If we come out with a (No. 4) seed, we will face a really tough opponent in the first round. We probably will even as a (No. 3) seed, that’s just how it is. But I am so proud of the team – this was a huge goal for the girls all year long.”

Boys

St. George’s 65, Liberty 48: Senior Matt Vaughn led all players with 18 points and nine rebounds and freshman Jordan Dickson hit five 3-pointers as the Dragons (19-8) blew the game open in the second half to earn the state berth at Mead.

The Lancers (20-7) trailed 28-26 after the first half.

But the Dragons outscored Liberty 16-8 in the third quarter, led by eight points from Vaughn.

“(Matt) started the year injured and has really come on in the second half of the season,” Peplinski said. “He makes the midrange jump shot, which is kind of a lost art, and he can also take the ball inside.”

Dickson and St. George’s senior Miles Deife gave the Dragons their largest lead of the game, 61-38, with three consecutive 3-pointers in the fourth quarter.

“The key for us was that we moved the ball well,” Peplinski said. “We knocked down our open shots real well, we nailed a lot of 3-pointers and we did a good job of getting the ball inside.”

Lane Salsbury and Aaron Weis combined for 20 points to lead the Lancers.

St. George’s plays DeSales at 12:30 p.m. today at Mt. Spokane for the third and fourth seeds to state. The Irish held on to beat Selkirk 51-50 at Mt. Spokane. Jake Moore scored 18 points to guide the victorious Irish. Travis Zimmerman scored 19 for the Rangers (17-10).

Girls

St. George’s 46, Lind-Ritzville 36: The Dragons (18-9) led 20-8 at halftime and forced 17 turnovers in the game to bring the Broncos’ (16-10) season to an end at Mead.

“I think the key for us was staying strong defensively,” Bailey said. “When we play good defense we are able to translate that on offense, our energy level gets higher and that allows us to do well on offense.”

In the third quarter, L-R made it a game with a 12-2 run capped by a Katlin Fowles’ 3-pointer that pulled the Broncos within 22-20.

But the Dragons responded quickly, and freshman Chessey Thomas, who led the Dragons with 18 points, lifted St. George’s to a five-point lead at the end of three quarters.

Lind-Ritzville didn’t come close again.

“(Chessey) is one of those gym rats and it really shows,” Bailey said. “She wants the ball in her hands, which we love. She is willing to step up and she hits a lot of big shots for us.”

Senior Kerry Blake added 13 points for the Dragons and freshman Lena Leveret-Standal pulled down 11 rebounds and had three steals.

Ky Lee Schmunk led the Broncos with seven points.

The Dragons will take on DeSales, which defeated Dayton 54-22 in another consolation semifinal at Mt. Spokane, today at 11 a.m. for seeding.

All of today’s games are at Mt. Spokane.