State 2B, 1B boys semifinals: Liberty hits 10 3-pointers to counter size of Morton-White Pass in victory

Not often this season has Liberty had to face a team with the size and physical play of Morton-White Pass.

But it didn’t take long for the second-seeded Lancers to realize the best way to beat the Timberwolves frontcourt, which features 6-foot-7 center Josh Salguero, was to use a long-range approach on offense.

Liberty hit 10 3-pointers, including four from Tayshawn Colvin, en route to a 75-65 victory Friday night over the fifth-seeded Timberwolves to advance to Saturday’s State 2B title game against fourth-seeded Brewster.

“Basketball is a game of adjustments, and coming in we knew they had multiple guys who were 6-4 along with their big center, so we couldn’t expect to just get into the lane and finish easy,” Colvin said. “Those dudes are huge and them being able to adjust and alter shots made us alter our game plan.”

Colvin finished with a game-high 34 points on 10-of-19 shooting. Fellow senior guard London Foland had 14 points and eight rebounds.

“We struggled with the size a little bit at the start since it’s not something we’ve seen of their caliber this year,” Foland said. “But we have some big guys, we have some quick guys and there’s no quit in our team.”

The Lancers were also the benefactors of a few obstacles thrown in the Timberwolves’ path.

Salguero picked up his second foul late in the first quarter, forcing him to sit most of the second quarter. In the third quarter, Salguero rolled an ankle and was sent back to the bench until midway through the fourth.

“It’s never fun playing someone not at 100% and my heart goes out to anyone who gets hurt in a big game,” Liberty coach Jared Hodl said. “But we always tell our guys to look for body language, listen to the other team. And if they are getting down or on each other that we need to apply the pressure.”

Apply the pressure the Lancers (22-2) did. Leading by only two at halftime, Liberty took advantage of Salguero’s injury with a 22-11 third quarter. But the Timberwolves (18-8) weren’t ready to throw in the towel.

MWP went on a 14-0 run between the end of the third and start of the fourth quarters to cut the Liberty lead to seven. That’s when Colvin and Foland took over.

Colvin connected on back-to-back 3-pointers, getting more animated with the Liberty fans after each make. Foland followed up with a pair of 3s to get the Lancers’ lead safely back to double figures.

“That’s a huge run that they went on, so I knew we just needed something to break it and get us back going,” Colvin said. “And it’s not just about getting us going on the scoreboard, but getting the crowd and team back pumped up after you lost all that energy on their run.”

With the victory, the Lancers advance to their fourth title game in school history, a 3 p.m. matchup with fourth-seeded Brewster. The short turnaround time is slightly nullified by the teams already playing once this season, with Liberty topping the Bears 68-59 in December.

“We have to focus on ourselves first. It’s going to be a late night and we have to recover,” Hodl said. “We have to expect that they have gotten better since we played them just as we’ve gotten better. Brewster is the last team to have that state trophy and they have some great players, so it’s going to be another battle.”

(4) Brewster 56, (1) Kalama 53: Brady Wulf scored 14 points to help the Bears (22-5) upset the Chinooks (21-2) in the other 2B semifinal.

Tyson Schertenleib and Adaih Najera added 13 apiece for the Bears. Jackson Esary led Kalama with 25 points.

Wulf hit two free throws with 15 seconds left to make it a three-point margin. Esary’s 3-pointer at the buzzer was off the mark.

State 1B

(1) Almira/Coulee-Hartline 52, (3) Northwest Yeshiva 43: Reece Isaac scored 29 points to lead the Warriors (19-3) over the Lions (18-4) to advance to Saturday’s title game against Cusick at 7 p.m.

ACH controlled the paint, outscoring Northwest Yeshiva 32-12 down low. Grady Murray added 17 points and 10 rebounds for the Warriors.

Yoel Kintzer and Aryeh Goldberg scored 15 points apiece for Northwest Yeshiva.

(2) Cusick 59, (5) Sunnyside Christian 48: Colton Seymour scored 21 points as the Panthers (22-1) defeated the Knights (19-6) to advance to the 1B finals for the first time in school history.

Celias Holmes added 12 points for Cusick, which split its two regular-season matchups with championship-opponent Almira/Coulee-Hartline.

Cole Wagenaar led Sunnyside Christian with 12 points.