GIRLS PREP BASKETBALL
2B State Tournament
South Bend 49, Auburn Adventist 29
The magical playoff run of the South Bend Indians continues.
South Bend used a stifling defense and got a double-double performance from senior Karley Reidinger to upset No. 7 Auburn Adventist 49-29 in the first round of the 2B State Tournament on Wednesday in Spokane.
The 15th-ranked Indians (17-9 overall) trailed by one at the end of the first quarter before South Bend’s defense, which has allowed a mere 31.4 points per game in its five postseason wins, grounded the Falcons offense.
South Bend limited Auburn Adventist (22-3) to six points in the second quarter and 13 points the entire second half. The Falcons hit just 10 shots out of 48 attempts on the evening.
“It took a quarter to get used to the arena,” South Bend head coach Gary Wilson said. “We really got going with our defense, controlling their scorers. As usual, the defense dictates how the rest of the game goes for us.”
South Bend turned defense into offense in the third quarter, scoring multiple buckets off of steals that turned into easy points in transition, breaking the game open.
The Indians also shot well from range and hit 21-of-50 shots from the field during the game.
“We found the range and better shots by being more patient and waiting for good looks,” Wilson said.
Senior center Karley Reidinger had another solid outing, scoring a game-high 17 points and grabbing a team-leading 10 rebounds.
“Karley did a great job of attacking the basket through gaps,” Wilson said.
Alise Rohr battled through a third-quarter ankle injury to score 10 points for the Indians and teammate Jessica Sanchez had her typical night, filling the stat sheet with eight points, eight rebounds, six assists and six steals.
Zaira Medina also scored eight points for South Bend, causing Wilson to remark: “Zaira played big for us tonight, hitting mid-range shots when we needed them.”
South Bend advances to Thursday’s quarterfinal round, where they’ll face No. 1 Wahkiakum, a team that defeated the Indians 61-25 in the 2B District IV Tournament on Feb. 13.
“Everyone played hard and had a big part in the win,” Wilson said of Wednesday’s game. “These girls are giving everything they have. You can’t ask for more.”
South Bend 9 15 15 10 — 49
Auburn Adventist 10 6 7 6 — 29
Top Players: South Bend — Reidinger (17 pts., 10 reb.), Rohr (10 pts.), Sanchez (8 pts., 8 reb., 6 asst., 6 stl.), Medina (8 pts.), Hannah Byington (6 pts.).
Liberty 56, Willapa Valley 26
Willapa Valley’s defense kept the game close in the first half, but the Vikings offense sputtered in a 56-26 season-ending loss to No. 6 Liberty in the opening round of the 2B State Tournament on Wednesday at the Spokane Arena.
“We hung in there on defense and held a really good team to 33-percent shooting,” Willapa Valley head coach John Peterson said. “We had some opportunities, we just couldn’t convert anything.”
Facing an athletic Lancers team that featured three 6-footers, Willapa Valley (19-6) was within striking distance at halftime, trailing 25-14.
But Liberty’s defense shut down the Vikings in the third quarter, holding Willapa Valley to just two points to take a commanding 43-19 lead into the final frame.
“They were huge and must have blocked 10 of our shots,” Peterson said of the Lancers defense. “These girls were athletic.”
Maisie Burnham led Liberty (21-4) with a game-high 20 points.
Willapa Valley senior Hannah Cook led the Vikings with eight points while grabbing two steals in the contest.
Britney Patrick added seven points for a Vikings team that shot 9-of-43 from the field.
Willapa Valley’s only other senior, leading-scorer Brooke Friese, was hampered with an illness and also had two steals in the game.
Peterson praised his outgoing seniors after the loss.
“The fact that (Brooke) could even play was amazing. … Her and Hannah did a great job for us all year,” he said. “If you would have told me before the season we would do this, I’d take that every day and twice on Sundays.”
Willapa Valley 7 10 2 7 — 26
Liberty 10 15 18 13 — 56
Top Players: Willapa Valley — Cook (8 pts., 2 stl.), Patrick (7 pts., 2 stl.), Hailee Layman (5 reb.), Cami Swartz (4 reb.), Katie Adkins (2 stl.), Friese (2 stl.).
1B State Tournament
Selkirk 62, Willapa Valley 49
The No. 7 Taholah Chitwhins lost their 1B State Tournament basketball game to No. 15 Selkirk 62-49 on Wednesday in Spokane.
No further information was provided at the time of this writing.
BOYS PREP BASKETBALL
Willapa Valley 58, Oroville 44
Willapa Valley’s hopes for a state title are still alive after the Vikings defeated Oroville 58-44 in the first round of the 2B State Tournament on Wednesday at the Spokane Arena.
With an early 9 a.m. start time, both teams opened cold, with the Vikings holding a 10-4 advantage after the first frame.
No. 11 Oroville (18-7) cut into Willapa Valley’s lead and trailed 21-17 at the half.
“In the first half, we had a lot of nerves,” Willapa Valley head coach Jay Pearson said. “The big court, bright lights, … It took us longer than I though to adjust to the stand-alone basket. … We played very tentative and had too many unforced turnovers.”
The Vikings shot 10-of 31 from the field and 3-for-9 from the charity stripe in the first half.
But Willapa Valley (20-6) got a spark after the break in the form of junior forward Chad Flemitis, whose back-to-back 3-pointers gave the Vikings the offensive momentum they were looking for.
“You had the feeling the game was on the line. Mid-third quarter and they were making a run at us,” Pearson said. “It just seemed when he made those two threes, it got everyone going and brought the confidence up.”
Willapa Valley senior point guard Matt Pearson scored 25 points to lead all scorers while junior Logan Walker added 19 points for the Vikings.
Vikings center Beau Buchanan had seven blocks in the game to lead Willapa Valley’s defense.
“He was huge for us inside on defense and shut them down with his defensive presence,” Coach Pearson said of Buchanan, before turning his attention to the team as a whole. “Everyone contributed and did what we have been harping on them to do all year.”
No. 6 Willapa Valley advances to the quarterfinals, where they will take on a No. 4 Brewster at 9 a.m. on Thursday. It’s a team they are familiar with.
“We played them several times last summer and it was a battle every time,” Coach Pearson said. “It should be an exciting matchup. … We’re happy to have the opportunity to keep playing basketball.”
Oroville 4 13 12 15 — 44
Willapa Valley 10 11 16 21 — 58
Top Players: Willapa Valley — M. Pearson (25 pts., 6 reb.), Walker (19 pts., 7 reb.), Buchanan (2 pts., 7 blk.).
