NWC boys go for 3rd in row
The undefeated and the defending champion will collide tonight as the Toutle Lake Ducks look to punctuate their perfect season with a championship and the Northwest Christian Crusaders vie for a third consecutive state crown.
Toutle Lake got its revenge against Riverside Christian, 39-31, after last year’s loss in the game for fourth and seventh places. Northwest Christian scored a convincing 57-42 win over Liberty Bell, despite a quiet night from NWC standout Chase Ramey.
With Toutle Lake facing off against NWC tonight in the championship, Ducks senior guard Wyant Gardner must be feeling out of place.
This time last year, Gardner was playing bass guitar in the school pep band while his teammates eventually earned a seventh-place finish at state. But this year, he scored two crucial baskets within less than a minute during the fourth quarter that gave the Ducks enough momentum to propel them to victory. He tied for a team-high with eight points.
“I didn’t play last year but I know they wanted it,” Gardner said in reference to Friday night’s victory. “They stole this thing from us last year and we wanted it back.”
With the band cheering for Gardner instead of with him, the Ducks got it back. They held the Riverside Christian to only two second-half field goals and pressured Chris Pynch, who scored 11 points on only 2-of-17 shooting.
Pynch started hot and had a hand in all of RC’s points in the first quarter, scoring seven points and assisting Jered Cates on a driving lay-up. But he was held scoreless in the third when RC had just three points (to the Ducks’ five). He did not receive much offensive help from his teammates throughout the game, and RC head coach Bruce Siebol said his players were standing around too much.
“Sometimes we have a very talented point guard,” Siebol said. “And sometimes we watch him play.”
The other semifinal matchup between Liberty Bell and NWC featured another talented point guard in Ramey. But he struggled with his shot and scored only 12 points, taking a backseat to teammate Matt Zandbergen who had a game-high 19.
“With this team you can’t really just stop one guy to stop the whole team,” Ramey said.
NWC’s Crusaders focused on pounding the ball to their post players. Zandbergen said that when Mountain Lions defenders came to double team him in the post, he kicked the ball out to the guards and waited for them to isolate him with one defender.
“For the most part, Zandbergen did a good job,” NWC head coach Ray Ricks said.
“We were trying to shut down Ramey. (But their posts) not only scored and rebounded but they passed very well too,” Liberty Bell head coach Aaron Burkhart said.
The Crusaders needed a 13-4 run to finish the third quarter and close out the Lions. They went scoreless for the first 5:11 of the fourth, until Ramey, Zandbergen and Cameron Stephens combined to record NWC’s final 11 points.
“You shut one guy down and the dam leaks water somewhere else,” Burkhart said. Despite last night’s loss, this will be LB’s best finish regardless if they earn third or sixth tonight against RC.
The Crusaders can now focus their attention on the championship game. Ricks said being in the final for the third straight year has its pluses and minuses.
“It’s a two-edged sword. It feels wonderful on one end and there’s a fair amount of pressure on the other,” Ricks said. “We’re just going to try and enjoy the ride.”
Toutle Lake head coach Eric Swanson would not elaborate on the strategy for today’s game, but said the Ducks will likely play quite a bit of zone.