NWC boys, Lind-Ritzville girls win regionals

The Northwest Christian boys basketball team continued its quest toward a third consecutive state title in winning fashion on Saturday.

Junior Matt Zandbergen scored 13 of his game-high 22 points in the first half and the Crusaders held off a late St. George’s run and beat the Dragons 61-50 in the District 7/9 2B Regional championship game at Mt. Spokane High School.

The win gave Northwest Christian the top seed to the State 2B tournament, which starts Wednesday at the Arena. St. George’s is the second seed.

The Crusaders took control of the game in the second quarter, opening with a 7-1 run and scoring the final eight points to take a 31-17 lead into the half. The Dragons were held to five points in the quarter, all by Henry Butler.

Northwest Christian coach Ray Ricks was pleased with the way his squad played after a close first quarter.

“In the second quarter we were able to get great post play from Zandbergen and Paul Huffman,” he said. “That kind of set the tone for the rest of the game.”

St. George’s fought back after halftime, coming within 49-45 midway through the fourth quarter after Brennan Yetter’s two free throws. But Zandbergen scored seven points late in the fourth to seal the deal for the Crusaders.

“We hit some big shots down the stretch and we were able to fight through it,” said Zandbergen.

Ricks credited St. George’s for playing good defense on Zandbergen after halftime.

“We try to run a lot of our offense through Matt,” said Ricks. “In the second half they did a really nice job of fronting him and keeping him from getting the ball.”

Butler finished with a team-high 19 points for the Dragons, including seven in the fourth quarter.

Ricks emphasized the importance of limiting Butler’s scoring opportunities.

“He’s hard to pin down,” said Ricks. “As a team I thought we played good defense on him.”

Jordan Dickson had 12 points and Yetter added 11 for St. George’s (22-4).

Jared Descoteaux chipped in 12 points for Northwest Christian (24-1).

Zandbergen said he was impressed with way the team is playing and is looking forward to the state tournament.

“Our confidence is high – we’re playing some good ball right now,” he said. “But we still have a long ways to go.”

Lind-Ritzville 43, Reardan 41: Sophomore Jamie Stevenson scored a game-high 18 points as the Broncos edged the Indians in the game for third and fourth places.

Lind-Ritzville (21-6) outscored Reardan 12-7 in the second quarter to take a 24-17 lead at the half.

James Androes and Ross Nesbitt had nine points apiece to lead the Indians (22-5), who missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer that would have won them the game.

Wellpinit 94, Walla Walla Valley: Wellpinit (17-11) earned the fifth and final seed to state with a 94-65 win.

Girls

Lind-Ritzville also benefited from a strong second-quarter effort in its 48-41 win over St. George’s in the girls title game.

Devon Killian had 12 points and Katlin Fowles added 11 for the Broncos, who outscored the Dragons 16-9 in the second quarter to take a 30-22 halftime lead.

Danielle Sackman, Laura Cain and Fowles all hit 3-pointers in the second for Lind-Ritzville, which converted 6 of 12 from beyond the arc.

The Dragons fought back in the second half, coming within 44-41 on Chessey Thomas’ free throw late in the fourth quarter, but that was as close as they would come.

Thomas finished with a game-high 16 points and Lena Leverett-Standal added 14 to lead St. George’s.

Broncos coach Randy Heidenreich was pleased with the way his team played on offense.

“We executed on offense a little better tonight than we did the last time we played them,” he said.

Lind-Ritzville (22-4) earned the top seed to the state tournament and the Dragons (22-4) took the second seed.

According to Cain, the team expects to do well at the state tournament.

“We’re pretty confident,” she said. “We’re starting to get on a roll now and we believe we have what it takes to be successful at state.”

Northwest Christian 53, Liberty 36: Taryn Russel scored 12 points and Lisa Vandenburg added 10 as the Crusaders defeated the Lancers in the game for third and fourth places.

NWC (22-4) outscored Liberty 13-6 in the second quarter and led 27-13 at the half.

Taz Brooks paced the Lancers (13-15) with 10 points.

Pomeroy 62, Springdale 60 (OT): The Pirates earned the fifth and final seed to state with an overtime victory over the Chargers.

Pomeroy outscored Springdale 11-9 in overtime.

Shealbea Rainbolt had 16 points and Holly Howard and Sara Taulaki added 15 apiece to lead the Chargers (18-10).