Almira/Coulee Hartline boys, girls ready to make late-season run

COULEE CITY, Wash. – The sign on the wall in the gym at Almira/Coulee-Hartline High School reads: “I have 99 problems, but my game isn’t one of them.”

Whatever issues the Warriors (13-5, 10-2) have, having twice lost to Odessa, were nowhere to be seen in Friday night’s 69-11 win over Curlew at the Paul Lauzier Activity Center. The Cougars (1-14, 1-15), who have one senior on a roster that includes two eighth-graders and four freshmen, no match for the likes of Payton Nielsen, Maguire Isaak and Hayden Loomis.

It was a spread-the-love around kind of night. Isaak finished with 22 points and 10 assists. Loomis knocked down three from 3-point range en route to 13 points and Reese Isaak finished up with 13 as well. Nielsen was content rebounding and distributing the ball, finishing the night with 11 rebounds, five assists and six points.

Friday night was a means to an end and the Warriors stayed disciplined in their approach.

ACH followed Friday’s rout with another one Saturday, holding Northport to single digits in each quarter en route to a 72-20 road win, which included another 17 points for Isaak and 15 from Nielsen.

The Warriors, rated No. 11 in Class 1B in WIAA’s RPI system, “played up” at 2B Davenport on Tuesday and took the Gorillas to overtime before falling 65-62. Again, it was Nielsen (21 points) and Isaak (17 points) leading the way.

But it’s certainly not the end game for a team that played for a State 1B championship two years ago.

“We’re getting close to the point where the games take on new meaning. We want to stay in position on defense and stay disciplined no matter who we’re playing,” ACH coach Graham Grindy said. “We’re trying to lock some things up and break some bad habits, so we had a chance to work on those things tonight.”

The Warriors opened the season slowly, losing the first two games, including a 54-49 decision at Odessa in the second game. They had a three-game winning streak in the middle before getting blown out by Okanogan.

ACH put together a seven-game winning streak before the holidays that carried over into the new year, but the Warriors lost for the second time to district-leading and No. 5 rated Odessa at home on Jan. 16.

Grindy has gone unbeaten into the state championship game before. He doesn’t mind a few hiccups along the way as long as they have their best game at tournament time.

“This is a talented team,” he said. “I’m waiting for that moment where it all clicks. I know it’s getting late (in the season), but I’d rather have a team peak late than early.

“Moving forward, we need to learn how to hold a lead and finish. I’d rather beat Odessa when it counts.”

Girls win with ease

The ACH girls had won their prior four games by a combined score of 279-123, so Friday night’s 73-42 dismantling of Curlew was pretty much expected. They followed that by routing Northport 55-30 on Saturday.

Despite the lopsided wins, Warriors coach Mike Correia shook his head as he left the locker room after talking to the girls afterward.

“We’re still looking for consistency. We’ve had some health issues, some injuries, and we haven’t played at the level of where we need to be,” Correia said. “I know what’s out there and if we’re going to go deep into the tournament, we’ve got to start playing better, and it starts with being more consistent.”

The Warriors (16-2, 11-1), rated No. 5 in Class 1B in WIAA’s RPI system, broke it open with a 9-3 run in the third quarter, going from a 36-23 halftime score to 45-26 midway through the third. The eventually led 71-40 in the fourth quarter to remain unbeaten at home.

“By consistency, I mean the same focus every day in practice and every night we play,” Correia said. “We have a lack of focus at times. Sometimes we have a great first quarter and blow the doors off people, then fade for three quarters. Sometimes we come out and go deer in the headlights and get surprised when a team scores on us, and it takes us a while to get back into it.

“It’s hard to keep that hunger. Tonight, Curlew was playing like it was the state championship and they’re down 30 points. Sometimes complacency is an issue and we have to find a way to get that hunger back to get where we want to go.”

The Warriors ran into a highly regarded 2B Davenport squad on Tuesday and took some lumps, falling 54-39 on the road to the No. 3-rated team in Class 2B. The teams were even at 13 after the first quarter, but the Gorillas outscored the Warriors in each of the subsequent quarters. Tiffany Boutain paced ACH with 16 points.