Curlew, ACH secure state berths
Ethan Mannix dribbled through the Wellpinit defense and hit a 4-foot floater in the lane as time expired to give Curlew a spot in the State 1B boys basketball tournament with a 67-66 win over the second-ranked Redskins in District 7 1B play at Deer Park.
It was a wild Saturday as Almira/Coulee-Hartline snared a state berth in Yakima in two weeks by beating Cusick 61-60 when freshman Derek Isaak drained a 21-footer with 1.5 seconds left.
The winners play for the district title at 7 p.m. Saturday at DP.
Curlew 67, Wellpinit 66: Jordan Wakefield led the charge for the Cougars (14-8) with 23 points, 16 rebounds and six blocks. Mannick and Tanner Somday, who hit 4 of 7 3-pointers, added 14 points apiece. Cody Flett and Kennedy Seyler each had 26 points for Wellpinit (19-2). Flett had made two free throws just before the heroics by Mannix.
The Redskins will have a chance to qualify for state Thursday when they face Inchelium at 6:45 at Riverside.
ACH 61, Cusick 60: The Warriors (18-4), tied for second in the rankings, led the No. 5 Panthers (16-5) by four with 27 seconds left but missed a layup. Then Tyler Edwards, who led Cusick with 22, cut it to one with three free throws.
Another free throw tied it. After an ACH miss, Cusick’s Riley Bauer made two free throws for the lead. A timeout with 9 seconds left set up the finish for Isaak, who finished with 12 points.
Kyle Tucker led the winners with 20 points and Cody Jess added 11.
Cusick, which plays Odessa at 6:45 on Thursday at DP in a winner-to-state, loser-out game, got 22 points from Edwards. Spencer Shanholtzer, Dustin Villegas and Louie Bluff each added 11.
Inchelium 45, Wilbur-Creston 32: At Riverside, Tony Louie scored 12 of his 20 points in the fourth quarter and had eight assists as the Hornets (6-15) stayed alive by eliminating the Wildcats (6-11). Brandon Kohler added 17 points and Tyrone Swan had 12 rebounds for the Hornets, who came up with 15 steals. Logan Jannot had 13 points for W-C.
Odessa 51, Northport 42: Travis King scored 16 points and grabbed 16 rebounds as the Tigers (7-11) eliminated the Mustangs (4-17) at Riverside. Aaron Bruya added 13 points and Nick Campbell 10. Marseilles DeAugero led Northport with 15 and T’ien Tai Zemelka added 12.
Greater Spokane League
Rogers 35, Mt. Spokane 27: Pat McCabe scored 14 points, six in the fourth quarter, as the Pirates (9-11) secured the third-seed in the district tournament by holding the Wildcats to 9-of-46 shooting at Mt. Spokane (7-13). Although leading scorers Jesse Vaughan and Zach Nelson were held to a total of seven points, the Pirates hit 12 of 37 field goals in the makeup game to earn a matchup at second-seeded North Central Wednesday night. The Wildcats will play at top-seeded Shadle Park. Both games begin at 7:15 p.m.
Inland Empire
Lewiston 59, Moscow 38: The Bengals used a 25-8 surge in the fourth quarter to secure the top seed for the 5A Region I tournament that begins Friday in Lewiston.
Lake City (16-4, 8-2), which shared the regular-season title with Lewiston, is the No. 2 seed and plays Post Falls (15-5, 6-4) at 5:45. In the second game at 7:30, the Bengals (16-3, 8-2) take on No. 4 Coeur d’Alene (8-12, 4-6).
Great Northern League
Clarkston 67, Colville 45: The 10th-ranked Bantams (11-5, 10-1) hit 9 of 14 free throws in the fourth quarter and Cody Brown, who hit 8 of 9 shots and all six of his free throws, scored 22 points to turn back the Indians (6-11, 3-8). Colville hit just 1 of 13 3-pointers.
Intermountain League
Bonners Ferry 49, Timberlake 35: Dillion Dietz scored 14 of his 18 points in the second half when the Badgers (5-12) clamped down on defense to pull away from the Tigers (3-14) for the road win at Spirit Lake. Derek Tymesen had 13 points in a losing effort.
District 9 1B
Rosalia 55, St. John-Endicott 43: The Spartans (15-6) led 10-0 after one quarter and went on to secure a berth in the title game by beating the visiting Eagles (12-7). Jim Maley had 18 points, 14 rebounds and seven steals for Rosalia, which plays Touchet, a 52-51 winner at Tri-Cites Prep, for a state berth at 7:30 Friday in Endicott. SJE, which plays a loser-out game in Endicott against Colton at 6 p.m. Monday, got 13 points from Wyatt Sitton and 12 from Warren Miller.
Non-league
Garfield-Palouse 57, Dayton 47: Tyson Palmer had 17 points and 10 rebounds as the fifth-ranked Vikings (17-3) closed out the regular season with a win over the visiting Bulldogs.
Lake City 68, Priest River 52: The Timberwolves (16-4) closed out the regular-season by breaking away from the visiting Spartans (14-1) in the second half, giving coach Jim Winger his 200th victory. LC, the third-ranked 5A team, had a balanced attack with Logan Frederickson and Jason Wheelock splitting 24 points and Ben Frisbie adding 10 to go with five assists. Erick Holbrook led the Spartans, ranked third in 3A, with 17 points.
St. Maries 63, Kendrick 31: Zach Lehman scored 18 points to go with six assists and six steals, as the Lumberjacks (13-2) won at home.