Reardan boys eliminated

SPOKANE VALLEY-The Reardan boys basketball season ended with two losses in the District 7 2B Tournament at West Valley High School after an opening round win over Asotin Thursday, Feb. 1.

Reardan was dominant in the first quarter, crashing the glass and jumping out to a 16-7 lead behind seven points from Rysen Soliday.

After a slightly ugly second quarter, Reardan put a mini run together to build their lead to 29-17 by halftime.

It wouldn't take Asotin long to close the gap. The Panthers went on an 18-6 run to tie the game 35-35.

A Maveric Sobotta floater and Soliday corner three gave Reardan a 40-35 lead heading into the final frame.

That lead would blossom to 49-40 after a key three from Zander Thornton. Asotin wasn't done, scoring five straight.

But Reardan put the game away with five points of its own, capped by a corner three from Sobotta to put the Screaming Eagles up 54-45 with 1:30 left.

"We just stayed positive the whole time, never got down on each other," Sobotta said. "No one was yelling, no one was mad."

Soliday finished with 21 points and eight rebounds, while Sobotta had 10 points and six boards for Reardan.

In the quarterfinals, the Screaming Eagles lost to St. George's 57-56 Saturday, Feb. 3. In the loser-out game, they lost to Kettle Falls 57-53 Wednesday, Feb. 7.

Soliday and Evan Krupke provided the Reardan's offensive punch in a frenetic first quarter. Between them, they scored 10 of their team's 16 points.

Thornton hit a 3-point shot at the buzzer to give Reardan a 34-33 lead going into the locker room at halftime.

Fred Frolov and Sobotta hit baskets down the stretch that helped Reardan outscore St. George's in the last quarter, but the Screaming Eagles came up one point short, losing 57-56.

Soliday and Vaughn led Reardan in scoring with 12 points each. Sobotta and Frolov scored nine points each. Thornton and Krupke scored eight and six points, respectively.

"The kids played the best they have all season," Reardan head coach Jake Green said. "Defensively, they knew their assignments, and offensively they moved the ball well. I'm proud of them and they should be proud of themselves. They are finally starting to figure it out. We are putting it together."

In the loser-out game against Kettle Falls, the Bulldogs jumped to a 16-11 lead after one quarter, which they extended to 31-23 at the half.

Soliday had eight points in the half and Fred Frolov had six points to keep Reardan within striking distance.

Behind Soliday's nine points and Vaughn's five points, the Screaming Eagles tied the game 41-41 with 1:20 left in the third quarter. The third quarter ended with Kettle Falls leading 44-43.

Reardan couldn't quite get over the hump in the fourth quarter. The Bulldogs never relinquished the lead and won 57-56.

Soliday led Reardan with a game-high 17 points.

"This is a great group of kids," Green said. "They made coaching fun. This loss is really hard because they did everything I asked of them. We got better and better, but it's always hard to end a season like this. I'm very proud of them."

The Screaming Eagles ended their season with an overall record of 10-12. They were 6-9 in the NE2B league.