Freeman boys win, Lakeside girls lose in 1A State Regional

Sometimes when a team’s leading scorer has an off day, it has a ripple effect.

No worries for the Freeman boys basketball team, which uses a next-man-up mentality.

Interestingly, the guy who stepped up Saturday afternoon, senior Christian Phillips, averaged about three points a game.

Phillips scored a career-high 18 points and added nine rebounds to lead the Scotties to a 61-56 win over Naches Valley in a 1A state regional at University High School.

Freeman (20-3) moves on to Yakima next week.

The Lakeside girls, meanwhile, fell victim to foul trouble and too many missed shots and free throws as Columbia (Burbank) topped the Eagles 52-45 in a 1A state regional game.

Boys

Freeman 61, Naches Valley 56: The start of the game was a harbinger for Phillips.

He scored Freeman’s first seven points as the Scotties got out to a 14-6 lead by quarter’s end.

“We did the game plan coach told us,” Phillips said. “They kind of shut down our leading scorer but all of us can score. We’re an unselfish team.”

Freeman got the lead to 14 points in the second quarter before settling for a 32-21 advantage at halftime when Michael Coumont hit a 37-foot shot at the buzzer.

The Scotties enjoyed a double-digit lead most of the second half until the final three minutes.

Freeman made just 4 of 9 free throws and missed the front end of a one-and-one in the final 1:43.

Ryan Maine made just 2 of 11 shots in the first half but got untracked in the final two quarters, finishing with 16 points.

“They did a great job defensively on him and they were real physical with him,” Freeman coach Marty Jessett said. “He did a great job finding his teammates.”

Maine’s tough start opened the door for Phillips.

“Out of our starting five he’s our rebounder, our scrapper and does the dirty work,” Jessett said. “And he guards guys bigger than him. It’s by far his best offensive output all year.”

Freeman’s style should lend well to play at Yakima.

“We can play multiple ways and multiple guys can score,” Jessett said. “That’s been our strength all year.”

Girls

Columbia (Burbank) 52, Lakeside 45: The Eagles, state runners-up last year, played catch-up all second half, finally pulling within 36-35 by the end of the third quarter.

The Coyotes (20-5) pulled ahead 47-37, and the Eagles (19-4) couldn’t dig out of the hole.

Sienna Swannack led Lakeside with 27 points. Cait Aune led the Coyotes with 17.

“We got some shots we wanted. We missed a lot of layups and free throws,” Lakeside coach Jeff Pietz said. “Unfortunately, in girls basketball it comes down to layups and free throws in big games.”

Seemed every time Lakeside made a move, Aune hit a 3-pointer.

“We had it cut to one point and they made a big run on us again,” Pietz said. “Sometimes we put up shots a little too early in the shot clock and we could have worked for a better shot. Our girls played hard and fought to the end.”