Despite horrid free-throw shooting, St. George’s boys advance to State 2B

The St. George’s Dragons made it much more difficult than it needed to be Saturday.

The Dragons made just 4 of 15 free throws in the first half, 13 of 34 overall, but managed to get solid efforts elsewhere from Cade Peplinski and Erik Farias to hold off the Kalama Chinooks 54-47 in a 2B regional basketball game at University High School.

St. George’s (17-8) moves on to a State 2B loser-out game Wednesday at the Spokane Arena against Seattle Lutheran (20-4) in a morning opener at 9.

The Dragons made 9 of 19 in the final 2:52 – just enough to keep the Chinooks alive.

“That (free throws) plagued us in the first half along with missed layins,” St. George’s coach Ryan Peplinksi said. “So you think what do we need to adjust at halftime. We just need to make our layins. It’s kind of like hitting, right? You get one guy not hitting it gets contagious. We’ll have to make them down the road.”

When the Dragons needed a basket or a rebound, Cade Peplinski and Farias stepped up.

Peplinski finished with a game-high 18 points, 17 rebounds and two steals. Farias had 13 points and five assists.

Farias found Peplinksi on back cuts three times in the fourth quarter.

It was a driving basket from Farias that gave the Dragons their biggest lead at 41-30 with 3:10 remaining.

Every time the Chinooks made a charge, the Dragons answered.

What pleased coach Peplinski was the defense his son played on the Chinooks’ leading scorer, Cameron Walker, who finished with six points.

Kalama had the lead just once, at 14-13.