Steady Highlanders reach semis

TACOMA – A year after being humbled in a 0-2 showing at the boys State 3A basketball tournament, the Shadle Park Highlanders are a win away from playing for the state championship.

To get there, though, the Highlanders must beat No. 1-ranked and undefeated Enumclaw (26-0).

Shadle Park cruised to a 63-54 win over the O’Dea Irish in the quarterfinals Thursday at the Tacoma Dome.

The Highlanders and Enumclaw face off at 8:30 tonight.

The North Central Indians stayed alive with an impressive 71-55 win over Bremerton.

NC (16-12) takes on defending state champ Franklin (16-13) this morning at 11.

Shadle Park 63, O’Dea 54: The Highlanders (22-4) were steady throughout. Leading the way offensively was senior point guard Robby Douglas, who finished with a game-high 23 points to go with seven rebounds and three assists.

And big on the boards was 6-foot-5 senior post Jake Rodgers, who had 19 rebounds as Shadle outrebounded O’Dea 50-33.

“That was a tough game,” Douglas said. “It got a little out of control at the end, but we kept our heads.”

Douglas can’t wait to take on Enumclaw.

“This is what we came here to do,” Douglas said about possibly advancing to the final.

Douglas got off to a rough shooting start in the first half, making just 3 of 14 from the field. Then he opened the second half by making his first four shots as the Highlanders pushed their lead to 51-37 going into the fourth quarter.

The Highlanders played well from the opening tip. Douglas was fouled shooting a 3-pointer late in the first quarter, and he made all three foul shots to give Shadle a 19-9 lead going into the second.

Shadle led by as many as 10 points, but the Irish pulled within 26-23 with 2:33 to go before halftime. A 10-5 spurt allowed the Highlanders to go into half with a 36-28 lead.

Highlanders coach Tim Gaebe was pleased with his team’s defense.

“We expected them to drive a little more, but they were content with shooting from the outside,” he said. “I was pleased overall. The kids played well.”

Gaebe knows his team must play one of its better games of the season against Enumclaw.

“They’re very good,” Gaebe said. “We’re going to have our hands full, but we’ll be ready.”

North Central 71, Bremerton 55: Unselfish play didn’t come easily early in the season.

So says NC 6-foot-9 senior post Lucas Evans.

“We started off the season pretty selfish,” Evans said. “Usually one person thought he had to do it by himself.

“We started to get more into teamwork. We showed each other how much better we are as a team than just as (individuals).”

It was evident Thursday by the scoring as four Indians reached double figures. Evans led with 18 points and six rebounds, senior point guard Brandon Olsen had 15 points and seven assists, junior guard Gunnar Swager had 12 points and senior forward Ed Richardson had 10 points.

“We played good from the start and kept it going,” Olsen said.

Olsen hit a 3-pointer from 26 feet at the buzzer to give the Indians a 33-26 lead at halftime.

By the end of the third quarter NC had stretched its lead to 12 points, and the Indians applied more offensive pressure in the fourth, extending their margin to 22 points before coach Jay Webber went deep into his bench.