Big third quarter propels Liberty past White Swan, into State 2B tournament

Chase Burnham led Liberty with 26 points, Tyler Haas scored all of his 17 points in the second half, and the Lancers advanced to the State 2B tournament next weekend at the Arena with a 79-69 win over White Swan on Saturday at University HS.

Liberty (18-6), the No. 12 seed, will meet fourth-seeded Brewster (21-2), from the Central Washington Athletic Conference, in the first round on Wednesday at 12:15 p.m. Brewster was ranked fourth in state 2B in the final WIAA RPI ratings but lost to Northwest Christian 61-57 in the regional round.

The Lancers went 11 for 13 from the field in the third quarter, all from inside the 3-point line, while holding the Cougars scoreless for close to 4 minutes to turn a two-point halftime lead into 12.

Burham had 10 points in the third, while Haas barreled his way to the rim for several tough inside buckets and hit his ensuing free throws for 11 points in the frame.

“Tyler came to play. That’s what he’s been doing all year,” Lancers coach Mike Thacker said. “That’s what we’ve been doing all year. We attack the basket. We made more free throws than they shot. That’s what we try to do.”

White Swan’s Wesley Abrams and Ray Cheney both hit a pair of 3-pointers in the fourth to get the Cougars (15-7) within nine on two occasions, but Liberty broke the press or got fouled in the process to keep a healthy advantage down the stretch.

Liberty’s Justin Jeske finished with 10 points, including free throws that twice restored a double-digit lead in the fourth quarter.

Thomas Redder scored 13 points for Liberty, while Brandon Holling had 11 points with 11 rebounds, leading the Lancers’ 52-30 advantage.

Abrams finished with 35 points for White Swan. Cheney added 17 points and Ki Castilleja had 15.