Adna stuns NW Christian to advance to state semifinals

SPOKANE — For the better part of the last decade, the Adna Pirates have always broken the team huddle with the same word.

“Battle.”

The team’s motto became a literal battle cry throughout a back-and-forth clash with No. 2 Northwest Christian (Colbert) in a 2B State Quarterfinal on Thursday in Spokane, and the Pirates pulled off a 57-55 stunner over the Crusaders to advance to the state semifinals.

It’s Adna’s first semifinal berth since 2018, when the Pirates finished third.

“It’s the greatest moment of my life right now,” Kaden Richardson said amidst a crowd of celebrating Pirates and their families. “I’m just very proud of everybody, and I just love this team.”

From the opening tip, it was clear that neither would allow the other to pull away.

Adna scored the first four points of the game, but Northwest Christian responded with eight straight. Early in the second, the Pirates went on an 8-0 run to build a seven-point lead, and the Crusaders responded with 12 straight points to go up five.

The seven point lead that Adna briefly held would end up standing as the largest lead for either team throughout the entire game. In the final seven minutes of the game, neither team led by more than three.

In total, there were seven ties and 12 lead changes throughout the game.

“It was an absolute battle,” Adna coach Luke Salme said. “I don’t know how many times out of 10 we beat that team when we play them. But we did tonight. I’m just so proud.”

Trevin Salme gave the Pirates the lead with 24 seconds later on a driving layup, and in the game's final moments, he hit a free throw to put the Pirates up two.

In between his go-ahead shot and the final free throw, Jackson Knittle came up with the game’s biggest stop. On NWC’s final possession, NWC’s Jonah Pope drove to the rim, but Knittle hung with him step for step and forced a difficult shot, which Pope missed.

When NW Christian missed its last-second heave at the buzzer, Trevin Salme and his teammates raced back to meet the Pirates from the bench, who were racing towards the middle of the court.

“It doesn’t even feel real right now,” Trevin Salme said.

The game-winner was far from the only clutch shot that the junior guard hit in the victory. He scored 21 points and hit four three-pointers, including a buzzer-beating half-court shot at the end of the third that put the Pirates up 47-45 entering the fourth.

“They were on a run, so it was big to get the energy back and have great energy and momentum going into the fourth,” Trevin Salme said.

The scoring output was enough to make Trevin Salme Adna’s all-time leading scorer, passing Scott Novak, who scored 1,447 from 1978-82. With two games left this winter and his entire senior season to play, Trevin Salme now sits at 1,467.

Grayson Humphrey hit two threes en route to an 18-point night, and Richardson also hit two threes of his own and finished the night with 10 points. Richardson added eight rebounds, Landen Cline dished out eight assists, and Humphrey also logged four rebounds and three steals. Kannen Kephart rounded out the scorebook with two points.

“We were just moving the ball pretty well, and just played our game,” Richardson said.

That game has been developed over countless hours in practices and games since last summer, and Luke Salme was beaming with pride when recounting those memories after the victory.

“It’s all worth it,” Coach Salme said. “We say ‘Just trust in us,’ and they do. And we run them to death, and they do it. If you do all the right things, then sometimes magical things can happen. Now we get to play in a state semifinal game tomorrow night, so it’s pretty sweet.

“We’re undersized,” he continued. “And I keep subbing guys in and begging, ‘Just give me two great minutes of effort and fight like crazy.’ And they do. They do. We always hope that we can just instill grit in teenage boys, and then you see that, and you’re like gosh, this is awesome. That was a gritty performance.”

The Pirates (24-4) will now head to the semifinals, where they will face No. 6 Reardan. The Screaming Eagles earned a first-round bye in Spokane after winning its Regional against No. 3 Okanogan, a semifinalist in the other half of the bracket, 60-48.

On Thursday, Reardan topped No. 12 Columbia (Burbank) 55-31, and it will enter the semifinal with a 23-4 record.

If the Pirates win, they’ll play for their first state championship in school history.

“You’re so focused on that next game,” Luke Salme said. “Now knowing that our next game is a semifinal, come on. I couldn’t be more excited.”

Tip between the Pirates and Screaming Eagles is scheduled for 9 p.m. on Friday night.

“We’ll enjoy the moment, and see what we can do tomorrow,” Trevin Salme said. “We’ll have a blast.”