Redskins enact revenge

YAKIMA – The Wellpinit Redskins boys waited nearly three months for a chance to avenge a season-opening, buzzer-beater loss to Rosalia.

Thursday night in the State 1B basketball tournament, the second-ranked Redskins (23-3) made the wait worth it, toppling the top-ranked and previously unbeaten Spartans (23-1) 63-53 at the SunDome to earn a spot in tonight’s semifinals.

The schedule was changed to avoid conflicts for schools with both teams in the tournament. St. John-Endicott will play in the 8 p.m. semifinal against Moses Lake Christian and Wellpinit will play Sunnyside Christian at 6. Cusick will play Lummi at 4 and Almira/Coulee-Hartline will play Rosalia at 2:30.

“We thought we might see (Rosalia) again,” Wellpinit standout Cody Flett said. “We didn’t come down here to have fun, we came here for one thing like all the other teams.”

Flett made his mission clear, scoring 20 points, pulling down eight rebounds and grabbing four steals to lead the Redskins. Kennedy Sayler added 14 points and Drake Wynne chipped in 11.

The key to the game was free throws. Wellpinit made 23 of 34; Rosalia just 11 of 25.

Rosalia’s Jim Maley led all scorers with 24 points to go with 11 rebounds. Zach St John added 11 points for the Spartans.

SJE 71, Cusick 59: Dylan Schmick scored 17 of his 28 points in the second half as the Eagles (15-11) upset the fourth-ranked Panthers in the first quarterfinal.

Warren Miller and Cole McKenna each scored five points in an 11-point, second-quarter surge when the Eagles took control. Miller finished with 24 points.

SJE stayed in control by shooting 74 percent (14 of 19) from the field in the second half. Schmick hit 7 of 8 shots during that time.

Sunnyside Christian 55, ACH 53: Steven Broersma’s reverse lay-in with 1 second left gave the Knights a comeback win.

Sunnyside Christian rallied from a 13-point halftime deficit to advance to the semifinals. The loss is the Warriors’ second quarterfinal round loss in a row.

Sophomore Derek Issak scored 18 points in the first half and the Warriors’ defense forced 10 turnovers in the half as ACH dashed out to a 30-17 lead. But the Knights held him to five points in the second half.

Girls

Columbia 72, Wilson Creek 32: The Lions led a trio of area teams into the semifinals, thrashing the outmanned Devils.

The Lions forced 20 turnovers and had 17 steals in the first half, taking a 35-15 lead in the process.

“Our offense comes about from our defense,” Lions coach Roy Graffis said.

Lindsay Loe led Columbia with 22 points and nine rebounds in just 20 minutes of playing time. Casey Kieffer chipped in 13 points.

Columbia will play Colton at 6 tonight. ACH will play Pateros at 8 p.m. SJE will play a consolation game against Cusick at 12:30 pm

Colton 76, Bickleton 18: The defending champion Wildcats raced to a 20-1 lead after one period and were not slowed in a second straight rout.

Haley Moser led Colton with 20 points, including five 3-pointers. Mollie Kramer added 12 points for the Wildcats, who have allowed 33 points in two games and forced 39 turnovers.

Colton held Katelynn Clinton, who scored 35 points in the Pirates’ tournament opener, to just seven points.

ACH 59, Sunnyside Christian 57: The Warriors outlasted the Knights in a back-and-forth contest that wasn’t decided until a long SC jumper missed everything with 3 seconds left. The game had 14 lead changes and four ties.

Madeline Issak led the Warriors with 26 points, including a 14-foot jumper with 1:05 remaining that proved to be the winning margin. Nikki Osborne chipped in 14 points and 14 rebounds.

Cusick 32, Wishkah Valley 17: The Panthers (12-14) advanced in the consolation bracket behind Andrea Heinen’s 13 points, eliminating the Loggers.

Heinen and Jamie Cutshall each had 10 rebounds for Cusick.