Cheney girls, Clarkston boys off to state

There will be no Tacoma Dome appearance for the Pullman Greyhounds.

Despite being the higher seed, both the Pullman girls and boys were eliminated on the final night of the District 7 2A basketball tournament Friday.

Ceri Palk drilled an open 3-pointer with three seconds left in the game to lift Cheney to a 45-44 upset victory over Pullman in the final girls game of the tournament at West Valley High School.

In the nightcap, Clarkston needed a blocked shot by junior forward Cary Conklin to hold off the Greyhounds 55-53.

The Cheney girls and Clarkston boys each claimed the district’s final berth into next week’s State 2A tournament in Tacoma.

In the girls game, Cheney coach Hal Sautter had one instruction for his players.

“Coach told us before the game to empty the gas tank,” Palk said. “We all just wanted to play hard and leave it all on the floor. If this was going to be our last game, we didn’t want to have any regrets.”

“We came into the tournament as the No. 3 seed and we told the players that, if we wanted to get to state, we were going to have to kick at least two big doors in to get there,” Sautter said. “We didn’t have anything to lose and we played that way.”

The Blackhawks used a hot-shooting second quarter to build a nine-point lead. Pullman sliced into it and trailed by four points at intermission. Then the Greyhounds went on a tear in the third period, outscoring Cheney 21-6 in the quarter to carry a 40-29 lead after three.

Then they stopped scoring. Pullman did not score a point in the final 4:28 of the game.

Cheney, meanwhile, went on a patient, 16-4 run through the final eight minutes.

Senior point guard Amanda Swenson scrambled all over the court, scoring eight points and collecting six steals while putting intense pressure on the Pullman backcourt.

“We gave Amanda a nickname because of the way she plays,” Sautter said. “It doesn’t sound all that flattering, but she loves it. We call her ‘The Rat.’ We turned The Rat loose.”

Senior Gina DeCaesare’s free throw with 1:05 left cut the Pullman lead to 44-42, but the Blackhawks missed chances to both tie the game and take the lead in the final minute.

Cheney went into its final possession just looking for the best shot.

“We weren’t necessarily looking for the 3-pointer,” Sautter said. “We were going to be happy taking a good 2-pointer and going to overtime.”

Swenson drove inside, but the Greyhounds collapsed and the ball kicked out to a wide-open Palk.

“I was actually out past the 3-point line, but there was no one around me,” she said. “I knew the clock was winding down, but the coaches have been working with me on that shot all year and I felt confident.”

The Pullman girls were undefeated through their first 21 games, but were upset by Clarkston 52-51 in the district championship game Wednesday.

The Pullman boys, meanwhile, were the No. 2 seed in the district tournament with a 10-4 league record, but lost three of four games to the Bantams, including two straight in the district tourney.

The thought that the Bantams would still be around for the final game of the district tournament would have been a shock back in December.

“First of all, we were 1-19 last year,” Clarkston coach Brendan Johnson said. “This year we lost our first six games and then we lost our point guard, Clayton Johnson, who started every game for us last year. Those are things to overcome.”

The Bantams turned to junior Brian O’Kelly and freshman Dustin McConnell to run the point, and the tandem came through for Clarkston in the tournament, driving the team into the championship game Wednesday night, but dropping a 63-55 decision to West Valley.

Conklin, in addition to blocking the final Pullman shot, led all scorers with 14 points. McConnell added another 12.

Marty Guettinger and J.T. Levenseller each scored 13 to lead Pullman.