Life Christian upends Toledo to secure first-round bye in 2B state tournament

Tension turned to elation for No. 7 Life Christian Academy during the fourth quarter of Saturday’s Class 2B state regionals game against No. 2 Toledo at Tumwater High School’s gym.

The Eagles led by as many as nine points in the first half, but saw the Indians (21-3) take the lead midway through the third quarter.

From that point the next 14 baskets scored by either team changed the lead or tied the score.

That ended when Derek Wallace Jr. knocked down four straight pressure free throws to spark a 9-0 run that let Life Christian (19-4) pull away for a 56-47 victory and a bye into the quarterfinals of the state tournament on Thursday in Spokane.

“There was pressure,” said Wallace, who led Life Christian with 13 points. “But, we said at halftime we were going to keep our composure, play team defense and get the win.”

As for his crucial free throws, which broke a 41-41 tie, those were a family effort.

“My mom was in the crowd, she always tells me to bring that fire, block everything out and concentrate on the free throw,” Wallace said. “She was shooting them with me earlier today.”

In addition to Wallace, Omari Maulana and Noah Robinson reached double figures for the Eagles with 10 points each.

Westin Wallace, a 6-foot-5 senior, led the Indians with 14 points.

Andreas Malunat added 11 for Toledo, including a first-half 3-pointer from at least 35 feet away from the basket.

After the Eagles grabbed what seemed like a comfortable first-half lead, Malunat hit back-to-back triples from a more traditional spot at the top of the key to cut the halftime lead to just 24-21.

Life Christian coach Charles Simmons wasn’t worried.

“There was a white board in our locker room, but we didn’t need it. It’s been the same game plan all year —team defense,” he said. “We’ve got a young group so sometimes we’ve played individual defense. Not tonight. Our focus was to continue to play until there’s no time on the clock.”

Though a fast break layup by Bryce Marcil gave Toledo its first lead of the second half, 30-29, it was Westin Wallace working inside for eight points in the third quarter that fueled the Indians’ end of the see-saw portion of the game.

But, he scored only one point during the final nine minutes of the game.

“Working together on team defense,” Simmons said when asked what changed. “Knowing that if you get beat off the dribble your team mate’s going to be there to help you.”

INDIVIDUAL SCORING

LC – Da’Shaun Nichols 6, Omari Maulana 10, Derek Wallace, Jr. 13, Jevin Shaughnessy 5, Jacob Novotny 2, Noah Robinson 10, Bradley Swillie 7, Te’jhan Potts-Woods 5.

T – Brian Wood 9, Bryce Marcil 4, Fano Arceo-Hansen 4, Westin Wallace 14, Hayden Farbo 2, Andres Malunat 11, Anthony Peak 2.