Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
All roads lead to the Palouse gym Saturday night in Whitman County.
The last time the Oakesdale and Garfield/Palouse boys basketball teams played may have sent Dawson Dugger to Mr. Landle's room at Gar/Pal High School, to study why a spherical object on a descending trajectory would fall outside of a circular hole, after it first appeared to fall inside that hole.
That was how it ended last time; at the buzzer in Oakesdale, Dugger's 20-foot shot to win, the ball ricocheting off the rim, dropping in and out.
Both teams have won their league games since, including Oakesdale righting an earlier loss at Prescott.
Now, headed to Palouse Saturday, the Nighthawks hold first in the Southeast 1B, Gar/Pal second.
Whoever wins Saturday, takes the regular season title.
Since Gar/Pal has just one league loss – to Oakesdale – if the Vikings win, they take it outright. The same goes for Oakesdale, which would have two wins over Gar/Pal.
The current chapter of the Oakesdale-Garfield/Palouse boys rivalry goes back through last year when the two teams were neck-and-neck for first in league, and the year before, when they were neck-and-neck for second.
In 2018-19, Gar/Pal swept Oakesdale, barely, in the regular season, but the Nighthawks beat them for the district title and extended past them at state.
This year's Vikings are led by seniors Blake Jones, Dugger and Ethan Hawkins, each of whom will be honored Saturday before the game for senior night.
Oakesdale's lone senior, guard Matt Hockett, will be recognized before the Nighthawks' Friday game against St. John/Endicott/LaCrosse.
Game time in Palouse Saturday is 5:30 p.m.
Oakesdale 70
Colton 21
Oakesdale went to Colton Saturday, Feb. 1, and led by 29 points at the half, then held Colton to no points in the third quarter.
Ryan Henning led the Nighthawks with 14 points while Kit Hockett had 12 and Matt Hockett 10.
Chris Wolf scored 10 for Colton in the loss.
Lakeside 64
Garfield/Palouse 46
Playing at home against non-league Lakeside, the Vikings lead early, then trailed by three points at halftime before the visitors took control.
Jacob Anderson led Gar/Pal with 19 points in the loss while Austin Jones had 14 points and Blake Jones 11.
Garfield/Palouse 63
Touchet 13
The Vikings made quick work of Touchet at home Jan. 31, pressing in the first quarter to build a 28-2 lead. Jacob Anderson scored 14 points for Gar/Pal while Austin Jones had 11 points, six assists and four steals. Blake Jones and Ethan Hawkins both had 10 points and Jaxson Orr got eight rebounds. Dawson Dugger scored nine points.
Garth Meyer is a former Whitman County Gazette reporter.
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