By Steve Christilaw, NWPrepsNow.com
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Coaches don’t like surprises.
Lind-Ritzville-Sprague got one to open its regional showdown with Lake Roosevelt and it took some significant bailing by the Broncos bench to overcome the shock with a 67-49 victory that was closer than indicated, punching a ticket into Thursday’s state Class 2B quarterfinal round.
“We took them lightly,” LRS coach Dustan Arlt said, flatly. “We watched them on film and they did nothing the way we expected them to do and they threw a defense at us that no one has used before – a triangle and two. We have some big guys and they weren’t moving their feet and we just could not finish at all – we kept missing lay ins.”
The defense coupled with a frenetic pace spelled a 12-9 lead Lake Roosevelt after a quarter and threatened to extend the lead in the second.
But Arlt looked down his bench and called on Jacob Saetre and Kyle Canaday.
Each sub drilled three 3-pointers in the second quarter and LRS hit the lockerroom at intermission with a five-point lead, 36-31.
“We made some adjustments in how to deal with their triangle,” Arlt said. “I think it helped that Lake Roosevelt had to respect our outside shooters and that opened things up for our big guys a little.
“Our big guys were much more effective in the 2nd half and the third quarter was huge for us.”
The Broncos extended their own lead to 18 points after three quarters as their defense exerted control over entry passes and could have pushed the lead higher but for a dearth of misses from the free throw line in the final period.
The Broncos’ big guys recovered from their early frustration to lead the offense. Tyler Frederick finished with 15 points, with Ryan Whitmore adding 12. Saetre finished with 11.
Chance Garvin and Jackson Louie finished with 14 and 12 points, respectively, to lead Lake Roosevelt.
