Morton-White Pass's Zach Walton puts in a tip dunk as Okanogan's Tyler Cox, center-left, and James Colbert, center, look on during the fourth quarter of a State 2B Boys Basketball Tournament quarterfinal game on Thursday morning in Spokane.
Morton-White Pass's starters, from left, Kaleb Poquette, Zach Hanson, Kolby Dunlap, Zach Walton and Jesse Eveland look on as Rylan Collette is fouled while going in for a layup during the fourth quarter of a State 2B Boys Basketball Tournament quarterfinal game on Thursday morning in Spokane.
The Morton-White Pass celebrate after Derrick Erskine hit a 3-pointer from the corner during the fourth quarter of a State 2B Boys Basketball Tournament quarterfinal game on Thursday morning in Spokane.
Morton-White Pass's Zach Hanson goes in for a layup during the first quarter of a State 2B Boys Basketball Tournament quarterfinal game against Okanogan on Thursday morning in Spokane.
Morton-White Pass's Matt Poquette goes in for a layup during the second quarter of a State 2B Boys Basketball Tournament quarterfinal game against Okanogan on Thursday morning in Spokane.
Morton-White Pass's Zach Walton goes in for a layup during the third quarter of a State 2B Boys Basketball Tournament quarterfinal game against Okanogan on Thursday morning in Spokane.
SPOKANE — The final score was impressive enough, without the added considerations that A) Morton-White Pass was in significant foul trouble the entire second quarter and B) the Timberwolves were in a 2-0 hole before the clock started moving.
Nevertheless, the defending state champions wasted little time asserting themselves in an 80-50 win over Okanogan here Thursday in the quarterfinals of the State 2B Boys Basketball Tournament. The win secures, at worst, a fifth-place trophy for MWP.
“We got a trophy, so I’m proud of the boys for that one, but we got our sights set on hopefully the biggest trophy we can get,” MWP coach Tony Gillispie said. “We wanted to set the tone, come out and play a great game, and I think we did.”
Zach Walton scored 25 to lead Morton-White Pass (26-0), which shot 57 percent from the field (31 of 54) and will play in the state semifinals at 3:45 p.m. Friday against Northwest Christian (18-7).
Morton-White Pass went on an 18-0 run in the first quarter and a 16-0 run in the second quarter to lead Okanogan 44-18 at the intermission. Okanogan was awarded a pair of free throws at the start of the game due to a technical foul assessed the Timberwolves for attempting a dunk during pregame warmups.
The freebies, converted by Jim Townsend, and a first-possession bucket by Mason Guerrette, gave the Bulldogs a 4-0 lead before MWP had its first touches. After the 18-0 tear, the Timberwolves found themselves in a bit of foul trouble, which reached a head when they were awarded their 10th team foul with over a minute left in the first quarter.
“We’re used to coming over here and being able to play, and they were calling it a little more tight than we thought they would,” MWP forward Jesse Eveland said. “But I thought the second group came in and did phenomenal.”
The Timberwolves went to a zone defense in the second quarter, and wound up holding Okanogan to 5 points — and one field goal — for the big halftime lead.
Kolby Dunlap scored 13 of his 18 points in the third quarter, and Gillispie pulled the starters after Walton’s putback-dunk off a missed layup pushed the lead to 73-41 with just under four minutes left to play.
Eveland wound up guarding Townsend, a 6-foot-4 lefthanded post who came into the tournament averaging 23.7 points a contest.
“I thought we did pretty well on him,” Eveland said. “He was going to get his 15-20 points and 10 rebounds, and the whole goal was to stop him. We figured we could win if we did that.”
Townsend finished with 20 points, on 6 of 14 shooting, and seven rebounds, but had just one field goal in the first half.
“He’s a handful. A big, strong kid that jumps well. We were trying to front him, get him some weakside help, and keep him off the boards,” Gillispie said. “I thought Eveland played spectacular on him.”
Zach Hanson added 10 points, Kaleb Poquette scored 8 with six assists and Eveland added 6 points for the winners.
Okanogan will play in a loser-out game against Auburn Adventist.
Northwest Christian 75, Auburn Adventist 43
SPOKANE — The Crusaders used a 24-point second quarter to break things open and rolled in a 75-43 opening-round win over Auburn Adventist Thursday morning in the first round of the State 2B tournament.
Northwest Christian led 41-20 at halftime, and was paced by 23 points from David Olds. Ryan Ricks added 19 points on 7 of 8 shooting from the field, including a sizzling 6 of 7 performance from downtown.
Gabe Chaikin led Auburn Adventist with 15 points.
Liberty 56, Life Christian 51
SPOKANE — Liberty, out of Spangle, rallied in the fourth quarter and handed Life Christian its second loss of the season, 56-51, here Thursday in the first round of the State 2B tournament.
Liberty went on a 13-4 run late in the game and got 20 points and 10 rebounds from Clay Fleming. Six-foot-8 senior Match Burnham, the Lions’ leading scorer, finished with 16 points, and Chase Burnham added 10.
Reid Roelofs scored 19 to lead Life Christian, whose only prior loss was to Toledo in the District 4 semifinals.
Brewster 55, Walla Walla Valley 50
SPOKANE — The Bears trailed by 4 heading into the fourth quarter, but outscored Walla Walla Valley Academy 15-6 in the fourth quarter to advance to the state quarterfinals.
Timbo Taylor led Brewster with 17 points, and the Bears survived shooting just 4 of 17 from long range to seal the win. Josh Hammons added 14 points and eight rebounds.
Malcolm Shaw’s 17 points led WWVA, which got 10 rebounds from Cameron Fitzgerald.
