Columbia-Burbank has WA state 2B boys basketball championship in its sights
The Columbia-Burbank boys basketball team advanced to the 2B state quarterfinals in Spokane after forcing 31 Brewster turnovers, beating Brewster 93-72 on Friday night at Richland High School.
The two teams battled over the first two quarters in a high-speed contest, and Burbank led 42-39 at intermission.
“We started the game, we had a little nerves,” said Burbank coach Todd Schumacher, whose team is now 22-1. “But we worked our way back, and then the dam burst.”
It broke open early in the third quarter, as the Coyotes kicked things into overdrive.
After Brewster’s Kelson Gebbers sank a short jumper to cut Burbank’s lead to 44-43, Quincy Scott quickly answered with a 3-point field goal.
That jump-started a 16-2 run that put Burbank in control of the game, and the Coyotes were never threatened after that.
Scott who led the Coyotes with 29 points, well over his average of 17.5 points a game.
Tristan Frimodt added 23 points and 7 rebounds, while Michael Lenke finished with 18 points.
Scott said the Coyotes are on a mission.
“Last year, the state committee put us in there as a 10 (seed),” said Scott. “That rubbed us the wrong way. This time around, we thought we’d be a 1 or a 2. But we were a 4.”
Gebbers finished with 23 points and 13 rebounds, as the Bears fall to 17-6.
“People don’t understand how important it is to win this game,” he said. “Now we don’t have to play four games in a row. By the fourth day, the legs are wiped out. But it’s also so draining emotionally. It’s so emotional. Now we get an extra day of rest.”
TRI-CITIES PREP 63, AUBURN ADVENTIST 42: Mike Conner has had a lot of fun this season with his Tri-Cities Prep boys basketball team.
Now 17-7, the Jaguars advanced to the Spokane Arena next week after knocking off Auburn Adventist on Saturday at Richland High.
“They’re gutsy,” Conner said of his team. “They’ll turn the ball over one time, then come back and make a great play. They’re young, and it’s been fun.”
In fact, Conner revealed the the seven losses the Jags have “are to teams that are still playing.”
In Saturday’s win, Prep used an 11-0 run to finish the second quarter to get control over the Falcons.
The Jags had three players in double-figure scoring: Clayton Calderon with 15 points; Blake McClure with 14 points; and Bryson Wilde with 12 points and 11 rebounds.
Brandon Russell led the Falcons with 18 points.
Game 4 — Friday: (4) Columbia-Burbank 93, (5) Brewster 72 (both to Spokane)
Game 5 — Saturday: (9) Lind-Ritzville-Sprague-Washtucna 53, (16) Dayton-Waitsburg 35 (winner to Spokane, loser out)
Game 8 — Saturday: (12) Tri-Cities Prep 63, (13) Auburn Adventist 42 (winner to Spokane, loser out)
Spokane Arena
Wednesday, March 1
Game 11 — (12) Tri-Cities Prep vs. (5) Brewster (loser out), 12:15 p.m.
Thursday, March 2
Quarterfinals
Game 13 — (4) Columbia-Burbank vs. (11) Wahkiakum or (3) Lake Roosevelt, 9 a.m.
Class 1A girls
ANNIE WRIGHT 48, COLLEGE PLACE 40: On Friday in Richland, Annie Wright’s Aaliyah Martin scored 8 points to key a 15-0 run to end the second quarter.
That was the difference, as the Gators won to advance to Yakima, and eliminating the Hawks from further play.
Martin finished with 22 points and 9 rebounds, while teammate J’Lyn Doodigian added 21 points and 5 boards.
Jenna Hill led College Place with with 10 points, while Sumi Leavell and Lena Weaver each added 9 points.
Game 6 — Friday: (15) Annie Wright 48, (10) College Place 40 (winner to Yakima, loser out)
Class 2B girls
Game 1 — Saturday: (1) Colfax 77, (8) Mabton 37 (both to Spokane)
Game 4 — Saturday: (4) Warden 64, (5) Adna 52 (both to Spokane)
Spokane Arena
Wednesday, March 1
Game 12 — (9) Liberty-Spangle vs. (8) Mabton (loser out), 9 p.m.
Thursday, March 2
Quarterfinals
Game 13 — (4) Warden vs. (11) Northwest Christian-Colbert or (6) La Conner, 3:45 p.m.
Class 1B boys
SUNNYSIDE CHRISTIAN 56, CUSICK 45: This was a rematch of one of last year’s state semifinals, in which Cusick won en route to taking the state title.
This time, though, the Knights got a bit of revenge.
SSC head coach Dean Wagenaar is looking for his Knights to give the school a 10th state championship.
“And this is the 24th straight year we’ve gone to state. I wanted so much to go to state with this group,” said Wagenaar.
A state title would be the perfect ending for Wagenaar, as he says he’s done coaching when the season ends.
“This is it for me,” he said. “The superintendent, some others have said they’d chain me to the bench if they had to. I’m still the principal at the school. I’m just going to be done with coaching.”
So it’s pretty cool that he gets to make this run with his youngest son, Cole Wagenaar.
The senior forward scored a team-high 21 points, grabbed 12 rebounds and dished off three assists in the win. Things are looking good for the Knights, who came into the tournament seeded No. 2 and now boast a 20-4 record.
“We’re getting farther than we thought we would,” admitted Cole Wagenaar. “We were worried about (Cusick’s) quickness. But our press did pretty well too.”
Indeed it did.
And the key was the third quarter, when SSC outscored Cusick 16-2.
“We hit a lot of shots in the third quarter, and we got a lot of stops,” said Cole Wagenaar. “We got in their face better.”
Dean Wagenaar agreed that the third quarter was key.
“In the third quarter, we made good adjustments defensively,” he said. “And we settled down offensively. I told them we’ve gotta wait, and probe, probe, probe. This year we’ve been more consistent as an outside shooting team.”
But there is a reason Dean Wagenaar has over 500 coaching victories.
“I’m very competitive,” he said. “I’m very frustrated with some of the inconsistencies we had. We didn’t box out. Just some fundamental things we didn’t do. Cusick played better offensively. And credit to them that they were playing a good 1-2-2 zone.”
De Boer finished with 11 points for Sunnyside Christian, while teammate Buddy Smeenk added 10.
Junior Bode Seymour had an outstanding game for Cusick, now 18-5, scoring a game-high 25 points, grabbing 13 rebounds and dishing off 6 assists.
DESALES 74, LUMMI NATION 56: Jack Lesko scored a game-high 26 points and dished out 6 assists to lead the Irish over the Blackhawks in a game involving two of the top eight seeds at Richland High on Saturday.
DeSales used a 10-0 run in the third quarter to take control of the game, and now the Irish are headed to the quarterfinals.
Joe Baffney added 14 points and 7 rebounds for DeSales, while teammate Carter Green had 13 points.
Jerome Toby paced Lummi with 19 points.
Game 2 — Saturday: (2) Sunnyside Christian 56, (7) Cusick 45 (both to Spokane)
Game 3 — Saturday: (3) DeSales 74, (6) Lummi Nation 56 (both to Spokane)
Spokane Arena
Thursday, March 2
Quarterfinals
Game 15 — (3) DeSales vs. (12) Sound Christian Academy or (5) Moses Lake Christian, 7:15 p.m.
Game 16 — (2) Sunnyside Christian vs. (16) Orcas Island or (8) Oakville, 9 p.m.
Jeff Morrow is former sports editor for the Tri-City Herald.
