State basketball quarterfinals: Columbia River Rapids keep dream alive, advance to final four

Columbia River boys basketball and coach Mark Ganter, shown here last weekend at the state’s opening round game, will be playing Friday night in the Class 2A boys basketball state semifinals. Photo courtesy Heather Tianen

Columbia River topped Pullman in the Class 2A boys basketball state tournament to advance to Friday’s semifinals, and four other Clark County teams — Union girls (4A), Evergreen girls (3A), Seton Catholic girls (1A) and Columbia Adventist boys (1B) — lost in the quarterfinals

Paul Valencia
Clark County Today

The Columbia River Rapids keep making more and more memories this basketball season.

The Rapids have reached the Class 2A state boys basketball final four in Yakima.

That, in itself, is an accomplishment. But the Rapids have done this as the 11-seed in this tournament, and they beat the 3-seed and the 4-seed to make it to the championship semifinals.

Kellen Clary had 16 points and five rebounds, and Luca Phillips had 13 points and eight rebounds on Thursday as Columbia River rolled to a 54-48 victory over No. 4 Pullman.

Rolled? Perhaps that word does not work in a six-point game. But get this: The Rapids went on a 26-0 run in this game, and after Pullman scored a point, the Rapids added three more for a dominating 29-1 stretch.

Columbia River went from down by five points at 9-4 in the first quarter to a 33-10 advantage in the second quarter.

The Rapids did not do much on offense in the second half at the Yakima Valley SunDome, but the defense was strong enough to hold off any potential Pullman threat.

Alex Pont and Josh Paxton each added nine points for the Rapids, who defeated No. 3 Selah in Wednesday’s round-of-12 elimination game, sending Columbia River into the quarterfinals.

With Thursday’s win, Columbia River heads to the state semifinals for the first time since the program reached the championship game in 2009, back when Columbia River was a Class 3A program.

The Rapids will take on No. 1 Bremerton at 7:15 p.m. Friday.

Thursday’s victory also assures Columbia River of placing at state for the second year in a row. Last year, again as the 11-seed, Columbia River placed fourth in this tournament.

Clark County had five teams in five different state tournament quarterfinal matchups on Thursday. Columbia River was the only one to earn a victory.

Union, the No. 2 seed in the Class 4A girls tournament, was taken down by No. 8 Sumner in the Tacoma Dome. The Evergreen girls were close all the way but fell to No. 1 Bellevue in the 3A quarterfinals. Back in Yakima, the Seton Catholic girls lost to the top seed in the 1A tournament. And in Spokane, Columbia Adventist’s incredible run in the championship bracket came to an end in the Class 1B boys tournament.

Here are some of the highlights from those games:

Brooklynn Haywood of Union scored 32 points in the state quarterfinals Thursday in the Tacoma Dome, going up against tough Sumner defense all game. Sumner got the job done down the stretch in a 58-53 victory. Photo courtesy Heather Tianen

Class 4A Girls

No. 8 Sumner 58, No. 2 Union 53 — Union senior Brooklynn Haywood scored 32 points, and the No. 2 Titans rallied from a double-digit deficit to take the lead in the second half, but Sumner got its momentum back and got the job done down the stretch.

The result sends Union into the consolation bracket. Union will take on No. 4 Woodinville at 10:30 a.m. Friday, with the winner advancing the fourth-place game on Saturday.

Not exactly what the Titans had in mind after securing the No. 2 seed to the Tacoma Dome.

Kawehi Borden scored 27 points Thursday to lead Sumner to the victory.

The Titans will be regretting their rebounding performance in the quarterfinals. Sumner had 18 offensive rebounds, leading to a 16-1 advantage in second-chance points.

Myla Larry added nine points and seven rebounds for Union.

Class 3A Girls

No. 1 Bellevue 56, No. 7 Evergreen 46 — It will go down as a 10-point victory, but the Wolverines got all they could handle from Evergreen.

The Plainsmen led at the half, and they had their chances in the fourth quarter. Bellevue, though, proved to be too strong.

Kimora Ross led Evergreen with 16 points. Amaya Paschal and Harmony Fallin each had 11 points for the Plainsmen.

Very similar to Union’s loss on the same court earlier in the day in the Tacoma Dome, the Evergreen team just could not pull down a clutch rebound. Bellevue had 20 offensive rebounds which led to a 16-0 advantage in second-chance points.

Evergreen still has plenty to play for in this tournament. Evergreen will take on No. 11 Lakeside at 12:15 p.m. Friday in the consolation bracket. If Evergreen wins, it will advance to the fourth-place game and assure a trophy at the state tournament for what is believed to be the first time in program history.

Class 1A Girls

No. 1 King’s 54, No. 7 Seton Catholic 36 — It was such a great start for the Seton Catholic Cougars, but King’s proved why it is the top seed in this tournament with a huge second quarter to take the lead, and, eventually, command of the game.

Seton Catholic had a nine-point lead after the first quarter, scoring 17 points. The Cougars managed just 19 points the rest of the game.

Riley Seymer led Seton Catholic with 14 points. She also had five rebounds. Remy Jenniges had nine points and five assists. Naomi Jackson added six points and grabbed eight rebounds for the Cougars.

Seton Catholic is now in the consolation bracket, but with plenty on the line. Seton will take on No. 6 Bellevue Christian at 12:15 p.m. Friday in the Yakima Valley SunDome with the winner advancing to the fourth-place game. Seton Catholic is looking to place at state for the first time in program history.

Class 1B Boys

No. 2 Almira-Coulee-Hartline 80, No. 17 Columbia Adventist 54 — A couple of Columbia Adventist Kodiaks put up big scoring numbers Thursday, but it wasn’t enough against No. 2 Almira-Coulee-Hartline in the quarterfinals in Spokane.

Evan Akrawi scored 21 points for the Kodiaks. Tristan White added 18 points.

Columbia Adventist, a small school from Battle Ground, played close for a half, trailing by seven, but Almire-Coulee-Hartline took control for good in the third quarter.

Still, what a run in the championship bracket for Columbia Adventist, which needed to win three games in the tournament to reach the elite eight.

Columbia Adventist is scheduled to take on No. 5 Moses Lake Christian/Covenant Christian at 10:30 a.m. Friday in the consolation bracket.