Titans’ quest for State ends

ELLENSBURG – Odessa-Harrington’s quest for a State 2B tournament berth ended in the regional round for the second straight year, as the Titans were eliminated by Three Rivers Christian, 53-46, at Ellensburg High School.

The Titans season ends at 16-8. Odessa-Harrington lost in the district championship game to Wellpinit last Saturday.

The Titans fell behind Three Rivers Christian by 10 points in the first half, 28-18, as the Eagles hit 6 of 9 shots from 3-point range.

The Titans struggled to hit outside shots, hitting just 4 of 22 shots from beyond the 3-point arc for the game. The Titans hit just 1 of 8 shots from behind the arc in the first half and 8 of 26 shots overall.

The Eagles compounded that misery by hitting 7 of 14 from beyond the stripe and outrebounding the Titans 37-28.

Three Rivers Christian’s 3-point shooting tailed off in the third period but the Eagles stretched their lead to 41-27 by hitting 6 of 10 shots from inside the arc.

Odessa-Harrington coach Travis Schuh ramped up the defensive pressure in the fourth period. It worked in spots but wasn’t consistent enough to catch TRC despite hitting two 3-pointers in the period.

The Titans cut the deficit to four points at 50-46 on a 3-pointer by Madison Charlton but the Eagles answered with a 3-pointer of their own and held on. Shane Whitaker led the Titans with 13 points, Charlton had 11 and Sam Schafer 10.

“We wanted to at least trap them a little bit; we didn’t think they’d handle the ball that well under pressure,” Schuh said. “But we didn’t hit enough shots to get back in it and we didn’t attack their zone like we needed to.”