Luke Lovelady scores 1,000th point in Life Christian’s bounce-back win over Friday Harbor

It was as if the Eagles were still on track to win the state 2B title.

They jumped to an 18-point lead after the first quarter and poured it on from there to beat Friday Harbor, 62-35, on in a 2B consolation game on Friday at Spokane Arena a day after losing in the state quarterfinals against Lind-Ritzville/Sprague.

Now Life Christian advances to play for fourth or sixth place against Morton-White Pass at 9:30 a.m. Saturday.

“To lose and have all your dreams of playing in the state title game shattered, that was tough,” Life Christian coach Mark Lovelady said in a phone interview. “But they came out and just played hard. They played phenomenal. Even my bench guys came in and played hard.”

Life Christian’s Luke Lovelady scored 19 points, his final one putting him at 1,001 points for his career. A timeout was called and he was presented a game ball.

He also had 11 rebounds. Reid Roelofs added 19 points for the Eagles.

CLASS 1B GIRLS

Republic 58, Evergreen Lutheran 45: For a half, the Eagles were getting the shots they wanted — and knocking them down in building a nine-point lead.

Then Republic forward Carlie Rittel got hot, scoring 19 points and helping the Tigers (24-1) to a second-half comeback at the Spokane Arena.

Republic meets seven-time defending champion Colton in the 1B championship game. Evergreen Lutheran (21-3) will meet Sunnyside Christian in the third-place game.

With the Eagles clinging to a 33-30 lead, the Tigers scored seven consecutive points — five tallied by Rittel.

“When she gets touches on the block, she is tough to stop,” Evergreen Lutheran coach Nick Trebesch said.

Republic opened the fourth quarter on an 8-0 run to grab a 50-37 lead.

This story was originally published March 4, 2016 at 11:19 PM with the headline "Luke Lovelady scores 1,000th point in Life Christian’s bounce-back win over Friday Harbor."