Life Christian tops Morton-White Pass for fourth-place finish in 2B bracket
Even though it wasn’t for the Class 2B boys basketball championship, the Life Christian Academy Eagles still got a taste of what high-level, intense state-tournament games are like Saturday morning.
They got to play two-time defending 2B champion Morton-White Pass for fourth place at the Spokane Arena.
Surrendering a big first-half lead, the No. 3 Eagles rallied for a 49-47 victory over the second-ranked Timberwolves.
It was the fifth state trophy in 11 tournament appearances for the Eagles (25-3), who matched their best school finish from last season.
And this one came down to the final second – literally.
Protecting a 49-46 lead with eight seconds to go, the Eagles were told to foul Morton-White Pass standout Kaleb Poquette as soon as he got past midcourt to put him at the free-throw line in a one-and-one situation.
That is when things got a little weird, Eagles coach Mark Lovelady said.
“He double-dribbled, so our kids stopped,” Lovelady said. “He noticed we are trying to foul him … so he chucks it up near midcourt, and they called a foul.”
Given an opportunity to tie the game with 0.7 seconds remaining, Poquette made the first free throw attempt.
But his second one clanked off the back iron.
The Timberwolves then called timeout to set up the intentionally-miss-and-tip-in play.
“The key is you have to block out,” Lovelady said.
The Eagles put their two best athletes, Reid Roelofs and Luke Lovelady, closest to the basket.
When Poquette’s miss came off the rim, Luke Lovelady had the basketball, but it was tipped away and out of bounds as time expired.
The Timberwolves had themselves to blame in the final quarter, missing eight of their 11 field goal attempts, and four of their seven free throws.
Roelofs had a stellar showing in his final game – 24 points (8-of-16 shooting) and nine rebounds. He jumper with 38 seconds to go gave the Eagles a 49-46 lead.
After a Gate LaClef game-tying 3-point miss for Morton-White Pass, Roelofs was at the free throw line with eight seconds remaining to ice the game – but he missed the front end of a one-and-one situation.
Luke Lovelady struggled from the floor (11 points on 4-of-19 shooting), but he had one of the best rebounding efforts ever seen at the 2B tournament – 20 rebounds. It was still short of the state-tournament record of 30, set by Oakville’s Dave Jelle in 1970.
At one point this season, Morton-White Pass had a 60-game winning streak going. It was ended by Brewster during a winter holiday tournament.
“Our kids have always wanted to play them … so this is great momentum for us going into the offseason,” Mark Lovelady said.
The Eagles will have three of their top four scorers back next season, but will need to replace Roelofs’ competitive presence, and also the leadership of four-year starting point guard Wyatt Dunlap.
This story was originally published March 5, 2016 at 1:12 PM with the headline "Life Christian tops Morton-White Pass for fourth-place finish in 2B bracket."