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NWC clamps down Will meet Moses Lake Christian in semis
Matthew Haak of Sunnyside Christian has his shot rejected by NWC's Karl Richardson.
(Christopher Anderson The Spokesman-Review ) |
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J.D. Larson
Staff Writer
March 3, 2006 Although they were threatening post-peach basket records for scoring futility, it wasn't because Sunnyside Christian and Northwest Christian were playing poorly offensively. The defense was just that good. So when NWC's Chase Ramey found one of the few lanes to the basket as the clock ran down, he had to make it count. Ramey's tough lay-in with 0.9 seconds left gave the Crusaders a 33-31 win over Sunnyside Christian in a State B quarterfinal game at the Spokane Arena. "It wasn't even what we were supposed to do," Ramey said of the play, which started with NWC (25-3) taking the ball out under its basket with 8.7 seconds left. "Everything was out of control. I had a horrible game, I just made the one that counted. It feels great." Sunnyside Christian (21-5) had tied the game on Matthew Haak's high arcing floater after NWC's Karl Richardson hit both ends of a one-and-one with 20.6 seconds to play. NWC was only in that position late because of the offensive efforts of Richardson, who had 23 of his team's 33 points while facing a box-and-1 defense, and the defensive job of lanky junior 6-footer Derek Iranon, who held the Knights' leading scorer, 6-3 Chad Den Boer, to 14. Richardson was 9 of 11 from the field, and came up big during an important 9-0 NWC run early in the third quarter, a positively volcanic explosion following a 12-point first half. Six of the points came from Richardson, and he also picked up the assist on John Graham's 3-pointer, the final lead change of the game."We had to try to make a run and attack the basket more," said NWC head coach Ray Ricks, who leads his team into a second straight State B semifinal. "We made the one run in the third quarter, and I said, 'Let's try to get good possessions and stay on top.' " Meanwhile, in NWC's man defense, Iranon was close enough to floss Den Boer most of the night. "I just wanted to help my team out in any way," Iranon said. "Defense has definitely been my thing the second half of the season, especially during playoffs, so I had to step up and get in Den Boer's shorts, he's definitely a great player." NWC faces Moses Lake Christian in a semifinal at 8 p.m. tonight. Moses Lake Christian (21-5) held Lummi to its lowest point total of the season, allowing only one field goal in the second and fourth quarters combined to beat the Blackhawks 48-39. Lummi (23-5) shot only 29.5 percent from the field, including 3 of 23 for 3-point range. Moses Lake Christian hit just enough shots too, as the smaller Blackhawks packed in their 2-3 zone, surrounding 6-foot-5 Riggs Yarbro and 6-3 Josh Munoz at all times. "Our game is to go inside, and they sucked down in there and left our guys open," said Moses Lake Christian head coach Lonnie Brown. "We're fortunate we hit a couple and I think guys stepped forward when they needed to."
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