Rosalia handles North River
YAKIMA – The Rosalia Spartans came to this Central Washington oasis with an idea in mind to establish a new state tournament tradition in a new location.
Put a check mark in the mission accomplished box after a 51-40 win over North River on Wednesday in the first round of the State 1B boys basketball tournament at the Yakima Valley SunDome.
Jim Maley scored 15 points and had 14 rebounds to pace Rosalia (18-8). Zach St. John added 13 and eight rebounds and Bob Baskett chipped in 10 points.
A lot had been made in the past few days about the Spartans playing in a state tournament not in Spokane after six trips to the event while it was there. That talk is over.
“This is state and our kids are just excited to be there regardless of where it is,” Rosalia coach Rob Hudkins said.
The win moved the Spartans into the quarterfinals – facing defending champion Sunnyside Christian at 5:30 p.m. – for the fifth time in seven trips to the state tournament. But it was not anything close to as easy as one might expect against an opponent with only nine players suited and making its first state tournament appearance in 42 years.
Rosalia put a methodical end to the tournament’s Cinderella story. North River is the smallest public high school to offer basketball without a co-op partner. The school reinstated the program just four seasons ago after a nearly 30-year absence.
Rosalia never led by more than eight points until the final three minutes and every time it seemed that North River had run out of gas, the Mustangs found a reserve tank.
“We knew a team that played with nine kids and in a gym that small would have to be scrappy,” Hudkins said. “I don’t know what everyone else thought, but we knew they wouldn’t be an easy team to deal with.”
Sunnyside Christian 48, Odessa 20: The Knights needed a late run in the third quarter to finally establish some room between themselves and the disciplined Tigers en route to a quarterfinal date with Rosalia.
The game was a rematch of last year’s tournament opener for both teams. That game ended in similar fashion with SC on top 49-29. The loss is the fourth straight for Odessa in state tournament play dating back to a loss to Valley Christian in the game for fifth and eighth in 1999.
The Tigers will play North River at 10:30 a.m. in a loser-out game.
The Tigers shot just 21 percent (6 of 29) from the field (thanks in large part to five blocks by SC’s Jason Friend) and turned the ball over 15 times to the Knights’ eight.
Despite nine Odessa turnovers, the score was 19-11 at halftime. That was primarily because the Tigers were maximizing each possession and pestering the Knights into 33 percent shooting.
The second half was a different story.
Sunnyside Christian shot 65 percent in the final 16 minutes, making 13 of 30 attempts, including 3 of 5 from behind the 3-point line.
Garfield-Palouse 50, Klickitat 34: Gar-Pal hit six 3-pointers in the first half, raced to a 31-19 lead at the break and was never challenged in the final 16 minutes.
The Vikings advance to today’s quarterfinals and will face Moses Lake Christian at 5:30 p.m. It was the fifth first-round win in a row and 13th in 14 tournament appearances for Gar-Pal.
Gavin Burt had three of the long-range missiles for Gar-Pal. The Vikings actually shot better from beyond the arc (43 percent) than elsewhere, hitting just 3 of 13 shots otherwise.
Burt finished with 12 points leading Gar-Pal’s balanced attack.
Tekoa-Oakesdale 56, Cusick 50: Josiah Tampien scored 21 points including four pressure free throws in the final minutes as the Nighthawks advanced to the quarterfinals by holding off a late Panthers rally.
The Panthers finally ran out of gas in the closing minutes, getting just one free throw in the final 2 minutes.
T-O (17-9) snapped a two-game losing streak at state and will face Lake Quinault in the 9 p.m. quarterfinal today. Cusick, in its first state tournament since 1991, will face Lopez Island in the loser’s bracket at 2 p.m.