Prep roundup: No. 5 Life Christian boys lose at Willapa Valley, see 56-game league winning streak end

The good news for the fifth-ranked Life Christian Eagles — they have another chance Friday to clinch the Class 2B Pacific boys basketball title outright, and No. 1 seed to the district championships.

The bad news is the Eagles saw their 56-game league winning streak snapped Monday night.

Determined Willapa Valley was the one that ended it with a 68-56 victory.

Ryon Ashley led the Vikings (13-3, 10-3) with 20 points, while Matt Pearson added 17. Omari Maulana led all scorers for the Eagles (16-1, 9-1) with 21 points.

It was a back-and-forth tussle between the 2B Pacific’s top two programs — one that got out of control in a matter of seconds.

Ashley’s inside bucket gave the Vikings a 60-54 lead with 2:54 to go.

On the inbounds pass, Life Christian forward Dawson Shamp was whistled for his fifth foul, and was disqualified.

That is when it got a little crazy.

As one of the referees came to the Eagles’ bench to ask for a replacement substitution, Life Christian coach Mark Lovelady asked if he has his allotted time to make a decision, especially with injured starters Noah Robinson and Keegan Bitow-Woods unavailable.

A second official came over and demanded that Lovelady send on another player.

After Lovelady asked for clarification on his time, he was tagged with a technical foul for apparently delaying the game.

Logan Walker made three free throws. Twenty seconds later, Walker was fouled on a shot, and made two more to give Willapa Valley a 65-54 lead.

It didn’t help that the Eagles went cold from the floor at the wrong time. They made just two of 15 field goal attempts, including a 1-of-7 showing from the 3-point line.

“Hey, you can’t blame the refs,” Maulana said.

Maulana, a 6-foot ninth grader, really has eye-opening talent — and maturity. Lovelady said the teenager is as good a freshman as he’s had in his 25 years as the program’s only coach.

“He’s a ninth grader who we put in position to play point guard and run the show,” Lovelady said. “He has shown a lot of maturity for us this year. We don’t have to worry about him anymore. He knows the importance of big games.”

Maulana plays AAU basketball on a select team in Seattle, but said he enjoys being at Life Christian where he has been a student since middle school.

“The coaches treat me well,” Maulana said. “There are good people around me with good morals who have goals like I have.”

Girls Basketball

Top Performer: Kiara Brooks, Timberline

Scored 19 points in 50-36 win over Emerald Ridge

CLASS 3A

No. 7 Bethel 79, Bonney Lake 23: So ... the Braves scored 38 points in the first quarter.

Yes — the first quarter.

Tiarra Brown led the way for the Braves, finishing with 16 points, as Bethel took a scorching 38-5 lead after the first period and never looked back.

“We created a large first quarter lead and then just played everybody in the second, third, and fourth,” Bethel coach John Ainslie said.

“We just wanted to work on the little things — blocking out, creating more steals.”

Bethel shot 13 of 29 from the 3-point line meaning 39 of their points came from beyond the arc.

“We shot the ball really well,” Ainslie said.

With the win Bethel now moves to 16-1 with their main competition now being Lincoln, who they play next Tuesday.

“One and two is between Lincoln and us,” Ainslie said. “Lincoln beat us the last time so that Lincoln game is big.”

Timberline 50, Emerald Ridge 36: The Blazers’ offense woke up after a slow first quarter and cruised past the Jaguars in their nonconference matchup.

After the first quarter, the Blazers were down 8-7. But they found their groove and outscored the Jaguars 43-28 the rest of the game.

Kiara Brooks was the game-high scorer for the Blazers as she knocked down 19 points. She also got help from Keshara Romain and Rayanna Dyas, scoring 11 and 10 points respectively.

Leading the Jaguars was Sammie McGinty with 16.

This story was originally published January 22, 2018 at 9:40 PM with the headline "Prep roundup: No. 5 Life Christian boys lose at Willapa Valley, see 56-game league winning streak end."