YAKIMA — Freshman Ryker Van Belle swished a 3-pointer with 29 seconds left in overtime, lifting Sunnyside Christian to a 38-37 win over Tekoa-Oakesdale and its second straight Class 1B boys state championship Saturday night.
Van Belle, in the game because starter Jesse Brouwer fouled out, calmly sank the trey from the left wing. It was his only shot in the one minute, 30 seconds he played.
Kelly Cook got off a hurried, off-balance 3-pointer as the buzzer sounded for Tekoa-Oakesdale, but it hit the backboard, glanced off the side rim and fell away.
“Hey, the kid is a bull rider. He rides bulls. That’s his other sport,” SC coach Dean Wagenaar said of Van Belle. “He’s a tough-nosed kid.”
“Joel (Koopmans) can penetrate, but he may get stuck, and he needs someone he can pop the ball out to if he get stuck,” Wagenaar added.
Koopmans, the tournament’s unanimous MVP, led SC with 20 points, 13 after halftime.
T-O (18-11) forced overtime when Kyle Schultz scored on a driving layup with 11 seconds left in regulation. After an SC turnover, a last-second T-O shot from the right baseline bounced off the far side of the rim as the buzzer sounded.
Moses Lake Chrsitian 62, Entiat 58 (2OT): Kameron Firouzi made four free throws in the second overtime to give Moses Lake Christian the lead for good, and the Lions held on to take third place. Taylor Sandberg scored three of his 13 points in the second overtime for the Lions.
Garfield-Palouse 54, Neah Bay 48: Scott Smith scored 19 points and hit five free throws in the final 40 seconds to help Garfield-Palouse secure fourth place. Smith made 11 of 15 free throw attempts, including seven of nine in the second half. His 31 free throws in four games set a tournament record, breaking the mark of 24 set in 2007 by Tri-Cities Prep’s Matt Campbell.
Liberty Christian 77, Cusick 41: Jeremy Siefken scored 26 points and Mark Wilson added 21 to help Liberty Christian capture fifth place. The Patriots, who finished 21-7 and earned a trophy for the second straight year, bolted to a 23-8 after the first quarter. LC then put the game away with a 19-2 scoring run in the second quarter.
Girls basketball
Garfield-Palouse 44, Colton 36: Katie Redman scored 12 points and had 10 rebounds to help Garfield-Palouse win its first girls basketball title. fter finishing eighth last year, the Vikings (24-4) took the lead for good, 21-19, on a layup by Courtney Shoemaker with 4:54 to play in the third quarter. Garfield-Palouse extended its lead to nine, 37-28, early in the fourth, and Colton never got closer than five points the rest of the way.
Touchet 60, Sunnyside Christian 57 OT: Taryn Short’s go-ahead layup with 1:43 to play in overtime capped Touchet’s rally to a third-place finish. SC had several chances to tie, but missed shots or turned the ball over in the final two minutes. The Knights (20-4) also missed eight of 14 free throws in the second half.
St. John-Endicott 56, Pateros 30: Alli Winters scored 15 points for St. John-Endicott, which rolled to fourth place. Winters hit three 3-pointers, two in the first half, as the Eagles raced out to a 16-8 lead after one quarter. They put away the game with a 13-2 run in the third period.
Lummi 51, Neah Bay 37: Shelby Landsem scored a game-high 14 points and teammate Sara Brady added 13 points and set a tournament record with 10 steals as Lummi took fifth place.
Both teams captured their first-ever state trophy. Lummi, making just its second state trip, finished its year at 20-6. Neah Bay, in its sixth state appearance, finished 14-9.
Led by Brady’s defense, the Blackhawks grabbed 23 steals as Neah Bay committed 28 turnovers.
Shayla Nagel led Neah Bay with 10 points.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
