Mules second at state

The Wahkiakum Mules completed a 25-2 basketball season with a second place finish in the Washington Class 2B boys basketball tournament last Saturday in Spokane.

The Mules overpowered their first three opponents before falling 46-38 to the defending champion Northwest Christian of Colbert.

The loss left the team, with its nine seniors, emotionally drained and upset for failing to meet their goal--the state championship.

They were almost there. Fighting against NW Christian's tough man-to-man defense, they over came a slow start and tied the game 34-34 with 2:00 to go. From there, Mule shots didn't fall. NW Christian edged to a 38-34 lead and were able to spread the court, draw fouls, and go to the free throw line.

The night before in the semifinals, the Mules played one of their best games ever, demolishing Republic 60-47. The Mules trailed 12-2 at the end of the first quarter but outscored Republic 16-4 in the second to take control as Republic had no answer for the Mules' balanced offense.

Toby David was named to the all-tournament team. He led the Mule scoring with 61 points, tied for fifth highest total over all. He and Brandon Ferguson led the tournament with steals, eight in four games. Point guard Travis Bain led in assists with 20, six more than the next highest player. Post Romeo Savant was sixth overall in rebounds with 23 for the four games. Ty Briscoe was 17th in scoring with 46 points in four games.

Overall, the Mules had the second highest point total: Republic led with 229; the Mules had 219. The Mules had the fourth best defense: They gave up 178 points, and NW Christian gave up only 149, Willapa Valley 159 and Darrington 173.

Seniors on the team were Bain, Briscoe, David, Damien Deaton, Brandon Ferguson, Josh Gerlach, Bud Hamman, Brenden McClain and Savant.

Wahkiakum 70, LaConner 44

The Mules opened the tournament with a 70-44 win over the LaConner Braves. They jumped to a 21-12 first quarter lead and made it 33-20 at halftime as their tight defense created problems and turnovers for LaConner.

David led the scoring with 22 points; Briscoe added 15 and Savant 13.

In single game statistics, the Mules had the highest score in the tournament, 70, most field goals, 25, most assists, 16, and most steals, 15, all against LaConner.

Wahkiakum 70, LaConner 44

LACONNER (44)

Lindeman 17, Kellerman 9, Thostenson 6, Stamback 4, Schwindler 3, Greathouse 0, G. McKnight 0, Kegel 2, Vander Lei 2, Brenton 1, Pierson 0, C. McKnight 0. Totals 18-37 2-6 44.

WAHKIAKUM (70)

Briscoe 15, Ferguson 6, Tr. Bain 9, David 22, Savant 13, Rongey

0, McClain 3, Hamman 0, Olsen 0, Gerlach 2, Ty. Bain 0. Totals

28-55 11-15 70.

La Conner1281311--44

Wahkiakum 21121720--70

Wahkiakum 51,

Riverside Christian 41

SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) -- Romeo Savant and Travis Bain each scored 15 points to lead Wahkiakum to a 51-41 victory on Thursday in the Class 2B boys state quarterfinals.

The Mules (24-1) led by as many 12 points through the first three quarters before Riverside Christian cut the lead to 36-30 with 7:40 remaining. Wahkiakum then went on a 15-5 run over the next six minutes to take a 51-35 lead. Riverside Christian made consecutive 3-pointers to close out the game.

Chris Pynch led the Crusaders (17-4) with 14 points.

Riverside Christian shot just 33 percent from the field, including 5 of 22 3-pointers. The Crusaders were outrebounded 36-27.

Wahkiakum 51, Riverside Christian 41

Wahkiakum (51)

Briscoe 7, Rongey 0, McClain 0, Ferguson 7, Travis Bain 15, Hamman 0, Olsen 0, Deaton 0, David 7, Gerlach 0, Tyson Bain 0, Romeo Savant 15. Totals 19-43 12-21 51.

RIVERSIDE CHRISTIAN (41)

Bjur 0, C. Pynch 14, Van Beek 3, Crockett 3, J. Pynch 3, Hargrave 0, Cates 6, Boothman 2, Schmidt 2, Allan 8, Smith 0. Totals 16-49 4-10 41.

Wahkiakum1710915--51

Riverside Ch.1061213--41

Wahkiakum 60,

Republic 47

SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) -- Toby David led Wahkiakum with 20 points and 10 rebounds as the second-ranked Mules defeated top-ranked Republic 60-47 Friday night in the semifinals of the state 2B boys basketball tournament.

Ty Briscoe added 13 points and Brandon Ferguson and Travis Bain both scored 10 for the Mules (25-1).

Todd Orestad led Republic (27-3) with five 3-pointers and 19 points. Derek Gianukakis, the only other Tigers’ player with more than six points, had 15 points and eight rebounds.

The Mules were never threatened after a 14-0 run in the second quarter gave them take a 28-17 lead at halftime.

Wahkiakum scored inside baskets far more than the Tigers, who often settled for jump shots against the Mules’ zone defense. Wahkiakum shot 50 percent from the field, but Republic shot just 32 percent, sinking nine of 29 3-point attempts.

Wahkiakum 60, Republic 47

WAHKIAKUM (60)

Briscoe 13, Ferguson 10, Tr. Bain 10, David 20, Savant 7, McClain 0, Hamman 0, Olsen 0, Deaton 0, Gerlach 0. Totals 23-46; 10-16 60.

REPUBLIC (47)

Groth 6, Gianukakis 15, Orestad 19, Besemann 0, Lehn 0, Booher 0, Parker 0, Sharp 4, Schols 0, Koontz 0, Beck 3, Corbett 0. Totals 17-53 4-9 47.

Wahkiakum12161913--60

Republic1341416--47

NW Christian 46,

Wahkiakum 38

SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) -- Matt Zandbergen scored 13 points and Northwest Christian overcame foul trouble with their two leading scorers to beat Wahkiakum 46-38 on Saturday night for their second consecutive state championship in the Class 2B championship game.

Northwest Christian (29-1) led by as many as 10 points in the second half before Wahkiakum tied the score at 34 with 2:19 remaining. Joe Grewe scored five points down the stretch to spark a 12-4 Northwest Christian run to close the game.

Northwest Christian played for most of the second half without its top scorer and tournament MVP Chase Ramey because of foul trouble. Ramey, a starting point guard, picked up his fourth foul with 4:43 left in the third quarter and didn’t return for eight minutes. The Crusaders’ second leading scorer, Joe Grewe, also had limited minutes in the second half after picking up his fourth foul with 2:36 to go in the third quarter.

Grewe scored 11 points and tournament MVP Ramey added 10. Zandbergen entered the tournament averaging five points per game.

Wahkiakum (25-2) was paced by Toby David with 12 points and Ty Briscoe added 11. The Mules shot just 25 percent on 14-for-56 shooting and had 21 turnovers.

Wahkiakum went more than eight minutes without a field goal, starting with 4:46 left in the second quarter. Briscoe ended the field-goal drought with 4:43 remaining in the third. Wahkiakum went on an 8-5 run to close the gap to 29-26 after three quarters.

Northwest Christian held Wahkiakum to two first-quarter field goals and built a 10-5 lead. Wahkiakum took the lead at 13-12 after an 8-2 run to open the second period. Northwest Christian finished the half by outscoring Wahkiakum 6-2 and took an 18-15 lead into the locker room.

Northwest Christian 46,

Wahkiakum 38

NW CHRISTIAN (46)

Ramey 10, Graham 5, Grewe 11, Vandenburg 0, Iranon 3, Descoteaux 2, Richardson 2, Stradling 0, Zandbergen 13. Totals 15-32 15-25--46.

WAHKIAKUM (38)

Briscoe 11, McClain 0, Ferguson 6, Bain 2, Hamman 0, Olsen 0,

David 12, Gerlach 0, Bain 0, Savant 7. Totals 14-56 9-15--38.

NWC1081117--46

Mules5101112--38