Boys 4A: Lewis and Clark reaches semifinal with win over Enumclaw

Griffin Effenberger scored 22 points, Naje Smith added 21 and No. 9 seed Lewis and Clark (19-8) held off a late charge by seventh-seeded Enumclaw (21-6) to win 69-59 in a state 4A quarterfinal at the Tacoma Dome on Thursday.

The Tigers advance to face Federal Way in a semifinal on Friday at 9 p.m..

Xavier Guillory hit a pair of 1-and-1s late to help preserve a tenuous lead. Guillory finished with 10 points and Jonny Love added 10.

“This team is resilient,” LC coach Jim Redmon said. “Over the last month it’s been pretty incredible. X’s foul shots at the end were huge.”

The Tigers set a season-high for points allowed by Enumclaw. It was 57 before Thursday.

The Greater Spokane League now has two of the four 4A semifinalists, in addition to No. 1 seed Gonzaga Prep.

“I don’t think you could ask anyone in Spokane and they would have never guessed we’d be one of those teams,” Redmon said. “I’m just proud of our team.”

It was a tight first quarter, with Enumclaw’s Kaden Anderson’s 11 points partially offset by Naje Smith’s seven. Smith’s follow-up two-handed stuff at the buzzer pulled LC within one at 18-17.

Smith and Griffin Effenberger drilled back-to-back 3-pointers to open the second and LC went up 23-18.

The Tigers went on a 15-4 run and a pair of free throws by Jonny Love made it 32-22 with just over 4 minutes to go in the half.

Smith drilled a 3 from the corner and Effenberger hit one from NBA distance on a wing and Lewis and Clark led 41-29 at intermission.

Effenberger went 5 of 7 from 3-point range.

“Our game plan was to come out strong, punch them in the mouth to start. We got a nice lead and were able to hold on,” said Smith.

LC got it out to 14 in the third quarter, but Anderson converted a couple of second-chance buckets at the end of the frame and LC led 51-44 after three.

At the start of the fourth, Anderson drilled a 3-pointer then converted a three-point play, and Bryson Engebretsen’s short jumper made it 54-52 with 4:47 left and Jim Redmon called time out.

Lewis and Clark went on a nine-point run.

Love broke loose for a fastbreak layup and the Tigers pushed it back to five, then Xavier Guillory hit a short jumper and a fastbreak layup and LC led 61-52 with 2:14 left.

Enumclaw punched back. Anderson hit a long 3-pointer, then came up with a steal and dunk to make it a six-point game with 75 seconds remaining.

Effenberger hit both ends of a 1-and-1 to make it eight with 51 seconds left, then Guillory added four more free throws to seal it.

Anderson led scorers with 35 points and 13 rebounds. Peter Erickson added 10 for the Hornets.