Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
Garfield/Palouse and Oakesdale have been the class of Whitman County 1B boys basketball for the past two years. Last season, the Vikings beat Oakesdale at Oakesdale in the district playoffs to send the Nighthawks into the loser’s bracket where they met Touchet in Walla Walla and their season ended in upset.
Gar/Pal went on to take the second league slot into regionals (behind Pomeroy) and came within a basket of Spokane Arena and the state tournament.
This year, with senior-laden rosters, Gar/Pal and Oakesdale were tied most of the season, though the Vikings beat them both times, including a fight at Oakesdale two weeks ago that was in doubt until the last four seconds.
That was the last weekend of the regular season.
Gar/Pal took the no. 1 seed for the Southeast 1B/District Nine tournament and handled no. 4-seed Pomeroy at home Feb. 9. No. 2 Oakesdale, after a snow delay, finished off no. 3 Prescott a third time Monday to set up Gar/Pal-Oakesdale III.
The two teams were to meet Wednesday night at Colfax for the district championship game. The winner would advance to play a team from District 7 at Colfax Saturday for allocation to regionals.
The loser of Gar/Pal-Oakesdale III would drop to a last-chance elimination game Friday against the winner of Prescott-Pomeroy.
That game will also be played at Colfax High School. The winner of it will go to Deer Park Saturday to play another District 7 team for allocation to regionals.
Amidst the confusion, one certainty is that winning keeps a team on the road, and all roads lead to Spokane Arena.
Gar/Pal 51-Pomeroy 39
Blake Jones led with 17 points and nine rebounds as Gar/Pal won their first round game. Ely Hawkins added 12 points. Freshman Trent Gwinn led Pomeroy with 12 points also. Garfield/Palouse kept the Pirates at bay with a 12-rebound edge in the second half.
Oakesdale 57-Prescott 45
Evan Henning led the Nighthawks with 13 points in the win as Oakesdale advanced to the district championship game. Prescott, who beat Garfield/Palouse at home 73-64 Jan. 12 dropped into the loser’s bracket to play Pomeroy in an elimination game.
Garth Meyer is a former Whitman County Gazette reporter.
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