Willapa Valley and Ocosta will meet in the consolation bracket after losing their respective 1B State Tournament quarterfinal games on Thursday.

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BOYS PREP BASKETBALL

Neah Bay 50, Willapa Valley 44

Willapa Valley’s late comeback fell short, and with it the Vikings’ hopes of a state championship with a 50-44 loss to Neah Bay in the 1B State Tournament quarterfinals on Friday in Spokane.

Third-seeded Valley (22-3 overall) was slow out of the gate against the pressure of the No. 5 Red Devils (20-5), which had active hands to disrupt passing lanes and keep Valley’s offense out of sync.

Tied 5-5 midway through the first quarter, Neah Bay scored the final eight points of the half, taking a 13-5 lead on a cut and layup from post Seactis Woodruff at the 52-second mark.

A Woodruff three put the Red Devils up 22-12 with 3:18 in the second quarter before Valley showed some life on offense with a three from senior guard Nathan Fluke and an offensive rebound and putback by junior guard Lucas Lusk to trail 24-17 at halftime.

Valley opened the third quarter with a drive and layup from power forward Brody Aust to cut the deficit to five at 24-19, but Neah Bay responded with two straight buckets, the latter coming on a score from forward Tyler Swan after a mad scramble that involved multiple offensive rebounds and 50/50 balls that seemed to keep finding their way into Red Devil hands.

Aust hit a second layup, this time on a nifty assist from Fluke, to make it a 28-21 game with 5:31 left to play.

But Valley would go cold the rest of the quarter, scoring just once more on a bank shot from guard Blane King as Neah Bay closed the frame on a 9-3 run to take a comfortable 37-23 lead into the final eight minutes of play.

Facing the possibility of a potential state championship slipping away, Valley made its move.

Playing with more energy and a greater sense of urgency, the Vikings quickly cut into the deficit on a Fluke three followed by a King layup to trail 37-28 with 6:04 to play.

A Fluke three would make it a 41-34 game halfway through the period and gave all the momentum to Valley.

But Neah Bay responded with a jump shot by Makyah Chambers and a Valley turnover at midcourt was then converted at the other end with a Mathias Greene layup to put the Red Devils up 45-34.

Valley wasn’t done, however, as Fluke’s third 3-pointer of the quarter followed by a steal and layup from guard Brody Ritzman got the Vikings back in the game at 45-39 with 2:54 left in the game.

Ritzman then hit two free throws to cut the deficit to 45-41 with 2:16 on the clock.

But Neah Bay broke a Valley press, with a Woodruff layup and-1 being the end result as the Red Devils went up 48-41 at 2:07.

Fluke was fouled attempting a three and converted all free throws to make it a 48-44 game with 51 seconds left.

Now forced to foul, Valley sent Jodell Wimberly to the free-throw line, who hit 1 of 2 to make it a 49-44 game with 40.7 to play.

With Valley needing a score to have a shot at pulling off an unlikely comeback, a wayward outlet pass was just out of the reach of Lusk for a turnover.

Chambers followed with 1-of-2 free throws with 29 seconds left, but a missed Valley layup on the opposite end was rebounded by Neah Bay.

Valley never got another chance as a missed Neah Bay free throw on the other end was tapped back out to the Red Devils, who ran out the clock to complete the upset.

Fluke led all scorers with 20 points, including 5 of 12 from beyond the arc (42%) and six rebounds.

No other Viking scored in double digits.

Valley shot 31% on 16-of-51 shooting while Neah Bay went 18 of 44 from the field (41%).

Neah Bay outrebounded Valley 35-31 and had a 9-0 advantage in bench points over the Vikings.

The referees didn’t do the Vikings any favors, often swallowing whistles as the Red Devils slapped and poked at Valley ball-handlers, which led to a majority of Valley’s 18 turnovers in the game.

Neah Bay had 15 turnovers and the personal-foul calls were also nearly even, with Valley called for one more infraction than the Red Devils at 17-16.

But Neah Bay went to the free-throw line 22 times in the game – seven of those in the final two minutes of the fourth quarter – making 12 of them (54.5%).

By contrast, Valley went 6 of 9 from the free-throw line (66.7%).

With the loss, Valley will face Ocosta in a consolation bracket elimination game at 2 p.m. on Friday, with the winner advancing to the state fourth/sixth-place game.

Neah Bay 13 11 13 13 – 50

Willapa Valley 5 12 6 21 – 44

Scoring: Neah Bay – Chambers 13, Woodruff 12, Swan 10, Wimberly 4, Cumming 4, Sawyer 3, Jimmicum 2, Greene 2. WV – Fluke 20, King 7, Lusk 4, Ritzman 4.

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Lummi Nation 67, Ocosta 27

Ocosta ran out of gas against a well-rested Lummi Nation squad with a 67-27 loss in a 1B State quarterfinal game on Thursday at the Spokane Arena.

Coming off a win the previous night over Wellpinit, the Wildcats (17-9) faced the No. 2 Blackhawks (24-3), which were coming off six days of rest.

Lummi showed no signs of rust as they opened the game with a 7-0 run to force an Ocosta timeout.

The Blackhawks extended the lead to double digits at 15-5 on a Tony Abrams layup with 2:14 to play in the first quarter.

The Wildcats would get back to within 10 points when senior guard Kayden Turner buried a three to make it a 21-12 game at the 2:33 mark.

But Lummi’s Landon LaFontaine responded with a three, which was followed by a pair of free throws by Ocosta guard Luis Solis to cut the Lummi lead to 24-14 with two minutes left in the second quarter.

Solis would hit a three sandwiched around a pair of three’s from Blackhawks guard Jerome Toby as Ocosta was still in it by halftime, trailing 30-17.

Turner opened the third quarter with a pair of free throws to further cut into Lummi’s lead at 30-19, but the Blackhawks caught fire, scoring the next 13 points to put the game away at 43-19 with 2:41 to play in the frame.

Lummi led 47-25 at the end of the quarter and 50-25 on an Abrams three to start the fourth.

Ocosta head coach Jason Quinby then pulled most of his starters from the game to get them some rest and allow his reserves to earn some state-tournament experience.

Lummi Nation outscored Ocosta 37-10 in the second half – 20-2 in the fourth quarter – to send the Wildcats to the consolation bracket.

Toby led all scorers with 25 points for a Blackhawks team that shot 50% from the field on 28-of-56 shooting.

Solis had 11 points and eight rebounds to lead Ocosta, which hit 7-of-38 shots (18%), including 3 of 22 from beyond the arc (14%).

The two teams had 32 rebounds each, while Ocosta had 23 turnovers to just seven for Lummi Nation.

With the loss, Ocosta faces league-foe Willapa Valley in a 1B State elimination game at 2 p.m. on Friday in Spokane.

The winner will advance to the state’s fourth/sixth-place game against the winner of the Moses Lake Christian/Covenant Christian versus Tulalip Heritage game at 9:30 a.m. on Saturday.

Ocosta 6 11 8 2 – 27

Lummi Nation 17 13 17 20 – 67

Scoring: Ocosta – Solis 11, Turner 9, Beard 3, Welch 2, Prigmore 2. Lummi Nation – Toby 25, Abrams 8, James 7, Edward 6, LaFontaine 6, Bob 5, Revey 4, Lee 3, Hawk 2, Tangeant 1.