Eagles look to block Colton in district championship

St. John/Endicott hopes the third time’s the charm, as the Eagles will look to bounce Colton out of the top perch of SE 1B play in the SE 1B District title game Friday night.

Colton beat the Eagles in the squads’ two regular season match-ups by a combined score of 152-125. They meet up again Friday night in Doc Hardy’s gym at Endicott.

Winner goes to the regional round of the state championships, loser dukes it out Saturday for the district’s number two ticket to the regional round.

Regionals will be held next Friday at University High School in Spokane. The SE number one will face the number three seed from District 7 in the northeast corner of the state. SE number two faces the top seed from District 5 in the Yakima area.

Both the Wildcats and the Eagles advanced to the championship game by virtue of close wins over tough league foes in last Saturday’s second round.

Colton withstood a barrage of bombs from a game LaCrosse/Washtucna team to post a 72-65 win at Colton Saturday night.

The Wildcats grabbed a quick lead, but LW canned seven shots from outside in the first half to enter the third quarter down just four points, 36-40.

Rims in the Colton gym stiffened, as did the Wildcat defense, in the second half to let Colton pull away.

Colton pivot Dustin Patchen ruled the paint, plunking in 28 points and grabbing 12 rebounds. Point guard Josh Straughan threw in 15 points and 11 dimes.

Darcy Stamper posted 18 to lead a LW attack which had four score in double-digits.

St. John/Endicott staked its lead early and held on the rest of the way to force Rosalia into the elimination rounds with a 72-66 win.

Cole McCanna had the high hand for the game with 25 points for the Eagles. Dakota White added 16 and Kaleb Simon put up 14.

Craig Nelson’s 20 points were tops for the Sparts. Damian Loucks added 17.

Rosalia and LW will showdown in Friday’s elimination round to stay alive for the last ticket to state. Winner will play the loser of Friday’s championship for the last ticket Saturday night.

Rosalia stayed alive Tuesday night by cruising past Pomeroy 62-44 at Endicott. Nelson put up a game-high 19, with seven coming in the fourth quarter, as the Spartans balanced scoring attack was too much for the Pirates.

Rosalia had eight players find the bottom of the net. Pomeroy, which ended its season with a 9-12 record, was led by the 15 points of Riley Bott.

LW advanced to Friday play with a second half charge that put down Garfield/Palouse 62-51 Tuesday afternoon at Endicott.

The Tigercats entered the third quarter with a slim two-point lead, but guard Darcy Stamper found his stroke in the third on the way to a game-high 19 points. Austin Summers added 16 for the T-cats.

Jesse Lopez had 14 points and Tyson Lowley 12 to lead Gar/Pal, which ended its season with a 5-15 record.

Rosalia sank GP 52-36 last Thursday in opening round action at Rosalia. Nelson again led the team with 18 points, and Damian Loucks contributed 17. Lopez had a team-high for the Vikings with 13 points.

Down two entering the second half last Thursday, LW found a way to crack the Pomeroy zone and hand the Pirates a 53-42 opening round loss. Jake Aune and Darcy Stamper led the charge for the Tigercats with 22 and 21 points, respectively. Mitch Ruchert’s 18 was tops for the ‘bucs. TUESDAY

ELIMINATION ROUND

LaCrosse/Washtucna 62- Garfield/Palouse 51: 17/16 10/9 13/9 22/17: Darcy Stamper 19, Austin Summers 16, Jed Zimmer 8, Jake Aune 8, Justin Wargo 4, Sam Harder 4, Alec Fleming 3. GP: Jesse Lopez 14, Tyson Lowley 12, Anthony Floyd 8, Nathan Cocking 7, Tyler Thurman 6, Wyatt Mitchell 4.

Rosalia 62- Pomneroy 44: 18/12 17/7 13/15 14/10: Craig Neson 19, Zane Brown 12, Dalton Jacobs 6, Damian Loucks 6, Grant Gelhaus 6, Micah Pittsley 6, David Littleton 5, Nathan Sims 2. Pomeroy: Riley Bott 15, Matt FitzGerald 11, Mithc Ruchert 11, Tyson Feider 4, Bryan McGreevvy 2, Cole Snyder 1.

SECOND ROUND

St. John/Endicott 76- Rosalia 66: 21/14 18/16 16/16 21/20: Cole McCanna 25, Dakota White 16, Kaleb Simon 14, Zach Hollingsworth 8, Joey Kucklick 7, EEvan Jones 6. Rosalia: Craig Nelson 20, Damian Loucks 17, Grant Gelhaus 16, Zane Brown 6, Micah Pittsley 5, Steven Maley 2.

Colton 72- LaCrosse/Washtucna 65: 23/18 17/18 17/13 16/15: Dustin Patchen 28, Jake Straughan 19, Josh Straughan 15, Dalton Patchen 8, Dustin Devorak 2. LW: Darcy Stamper 18, Jake Aune 16, Justin Wargo 12, Jed Zimmer 10, Austin Summers 7, Alec Fleming 2.

FIRST ROUND

Rosalia 52- Garfield/Palouse 36: 13/5 10/10 13/4 16/17: Craig Nelson18, Damian Loucks 17, MIcah Pittsley 6, Grant Gelhaus 5, Zane Brown 2, David Littleton 2, Dalton Jacobs 2. GP: Jesse Lopez 13, Anthony Floyd 11, Tyson Lowley 6, Jon Kuehner 2, Tyler Thurman 2, Wyatt Mitchell 2.

LaCrosse/Washtucna 53- Pomeroy 42: 9/15 10/7 18/12 16/8: Jake Aune 22, Darcy Stamper 21, Jed Zimmer 7, Justin Wargo 2, Matt Stubbs 1. Pomeroy: Mitch Ruchert 18, Matt FitzGerald 11, Riley Bott 10, Cody LaMunyan 3.