Area teams storm into quarterfinals

YAKIMA – Curlew’s Cougars gave coach Landon Swafford a gift Wednesday – his first state tournament win in his first state tournament game.

The Cougars knocked off North Sound Christian 38-34 in the opening round of the State 1B boys basketball tournament at the SunDome.

The young Cougars (15-9), with just two seniors on the roster, didn’t put on a clinic by any stretch.

But the Cougars always seemed to find a solution when NSC closed a gap that got to as wide as 14 points in the second quarter.

Curlew will play Moses Lake Christian (21-2) in today’s third quarterfinal at 7:30 p.m. A win would put them back in the semifinals on their second State 1B trip.

“Wow, that game was a heart attack,” Swafford said. “We just didn’t play up to our potential today.”

Swafford got a strong outing from postman Jordan Wakefield. The 6-foot-9 senior scored 18 points and grabbed 18 rebounds.

Guard Ethan Mannick had 10 points, including a driving layin with 32 seconds left that opened up a 37-34 lead and seemed to knock the Lions on their heels for a final time.

“We’ve played like that all year long,” Swafford said. “I’m totally happy with the win and I think the hustle we showed was a big factor.”

Moses Lake Christian 62, Oakville 51: It took three quarters, but the tournament co-favorites finally stopped the persistent Acorns.

The Lions’ fourth straight state tournament trip looked like for a long while it was in jeopardy of taking a detour to the consolation bracket.

The win was the third opening-round win in those four trips.

The Lions made ample use of 6-7 senior post Riggs Yarbro in the second half, repeatedly pounding the ball inside to the big man and letting him work his short game on an opponent whose tallest player was at least 6 inches shorter than Yarbro.

“We knew if they kept playing man on us that they would have trouble guarding him,” MLC coach Lonny Brown said. “We ran a couple set plays for him where we screen and we have an (isolation play) for him, too.”

Yarbro scored 19 points in the second half and 29 for the day to go with 14 rebounds. Adrian Moffet capitalized on the Acorns’ attention to his taller teammate, chipping in 24 points.

“We lost our poise for about three minutes there, but once we got settled down we were fine,” Brown said. “They’re a quality team and they didn’t let up.”

Almira/Coulee-Hartline 85, Taholah 51: The Warriors outscored the Chitwins 20-4 in the final 3:32 of the first quarter, taking a 25-10 lead, and were never slowed en route to the quarterfinals.

ACH (20-4) will play Tulalip Heritage (21-2) at 5:30 in today’s second quarterfinal in a battle of presumed tournament favorites.

The win snapped a two-game state tournament losing streak for the Warriors.

The three players on whom ACH counts carried the load.

Cody Jess led the Warriors with 23 points – 16 in the first half – and nine rebounds. Kyle Tucker had 21 points and Derek Issak added 15. The ACH trio combined for 36 of the 46 first-half points.

Wellpinit 69, Lake Quinault 46: The Redskins advanced to the quarterfinals for the second time in three state tournament trips with an easy win over the Elks.

Wellpinit (21-3) will play Tri-Cities Prep (18-6) at 4 p.m. in today’s first quarterfinal. A win would put the Redskins into the semifinals for the first time in school history.

Kennedy Seyler led the Redskins with 26 points. Cody Flett had 17 points and 11 rebounds and Billy Flett Jr. chipped in 11 points.

Cusick 39, Rosalia 35: The Panthers shut down Rosalia’s Jim Maley in the second half and advanced to tonight’s late quarterfinal. Cusick (21-4) will play defending champion Sunnyside Christian.

The Spartans (16-7), who had an 11-game winning streak snapped, play Lummi in today’s 2:30 p.m. consolation game.

Maley had 12 points – working mostly off an assortment of inside moves – and five rebounds in the first half as Rosalia opened a 26-19 lead. But Cusick held Maley to just one field goal in the second half and held Rosalia to 3-of-20 shooting from the field.

Spencer Shanholtzer led Cusick with 10 points and six rebounds. Louie Buff had eight rebounds.