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Serving Lincoln County for more than a century!
Screaming Eagles get fifth at Districts
Reardan sophomore Rysen Soliday makes a bounce pass into the post during the first quarter against Colfax Saturday, Feb. 11. The Screaming Eagles upset the Bulldogs 57-46 in the District 7 2B Boys 5th/6th place game at West Valley High School.
SPOKANE VALLEY - To reach the promised land, a team must slay its giants. The Reardan boys basketball team finally conquered one such giant last weekend, defeating the Colfax Bulldogs 57-46 in the District 7 2B 5th/6th Place game at West Valley High School Saturday, Feb. 11.
With the win, Reardan advanced to the District 6/7 Crossover and eliminated Colfax in the process.
"It means a lot to us because we haven't made it out of Districts in a long time," senior Logan Flaa said. "It means a lot to the program and to the team."
Rysen Soliday got the party started for the Screaming Eagles, scoring eight quick points as Reardan took a 10-6 lead into the second quarter. Then, Flaa went nuclear, hitting four second-quarter threes.
On the defensive end, the Screaming Eagles put the Bulldogs in the turnover pound, forcing 12 giveaways and allowing just 12 points in the first half to take a 26-12 lead into intermission.
Colfax began to chip away at the lead in the third quarter behind 12 points from Seth Lustig before cutting Reardan's lead to six on a Carson Gray layup. But huge threes from Evan Krupke and Zander Thornton helped the Screaming Eagles maintain a seven-point lead into the fourth quarter.
"We were able to withstand their surge," Reardan head coach Brian Graham said. "We knew it was coming."
In the fourth quarter, Reardan put the game away by navigating Colfax's full-court press with careful ball-handling by Flaa and Cohen Little and a couple full-court passes for layups from football quarterback Soliday to receiver Jakari Singleton.
Singleton's dunk in traffic in the final minutes put an exclamation point on the celebration for the maroon and gray.
"We have an injured senior (Tristo McCrea) and we were playing for him," Flaa said. "That was the first thing we said in the huddle, was we were playing for him."
Flaa finished with 17 points, while Singleton notched a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds. Soliday had 12 points and six rebounds, while Krupke had six points and eight boards.
"They excelled in their role better than we've had all year," Graham said. "When everyone is clicking (and) doing what he can do best, we feel so confident."
Lustig led Colfax with 20 points and eight rebounds. No other Bulldog reached double figures in scoring.
Colfax's season ended early with the upset loss despite entering the tournament as the top seed from the NE2B South Division.
"It was just a struggle for us to put two halves together this whole tournament," Colfax head coach Reece Jenkin said. "We would play well in spurts, but I think when you get to the playoffs you've got to be more consistent, and we just didn't have that consistency over four quarters in our last couple games. It's frustrating, but sometimes that's how things go."
Reardan will play the District 6 champion Lake Roosevelt Raiders in a crossover game to go to state at Wenatchee High School this weekend. Tip-off is scheduled for 5 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 18.
Drew Lawson is the editor of the Davenport Times. He is a graduate of Eastern Washington University.
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