Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
Blaze Oles, a senior Tekoa-Rosalia guard, moves the ball upcourt past Yakama Nation junior Jayden Visaya.
ROSALIA - The Tekoa-Rosalia Timberwolves (6-4) boys basketball team dropped in the state rankings following their 75-67 loss to the Yakama Nation Eagles (5-5) in a Class 1B matchup on Jan. 15.
It was the second loss for Tekoa-Rosalia in two nights.
As the Timberwolves dropped to No. 19 in state 1B rankings, the Eagles climbed to No. 16 after the win.
The Eagles were on fire in the first quarter of the game, putting up 17 points while holding the Timberwolves to just 10.
Tekoa-Rosalia closed the gap slightly in the second quarter, but still trailed 26-19 at the half. The 7-point margin would hold through the third quarter.
In the fourth quarter, Tekoa-Rosalia stepped up its offensive attack and closed to within 2 points on two occasions. But a bad pass, a foul, and a couple Yakama Nation buckets gave the Eagles the advantage in the waning minute.
Yakama Nation took a 73-67 lead down to the 1-second mark, but added 2 free throws after a late foul, leaving the final 8-point margin.
Individual stats were not reported.
The loss was the second in a row for Tekoa-Rosalia.
On Jan. 14, the Timberwolves fell to league-leading Pomeroy, 62-60.
In the game, the Pirates (7-3) jumped out to an 18-15 first-quarter lead and took a 34-32 to the locker room at halftime.
In the third, Tekoa-Rosalia closed the margin by 1, outscoring the pirates 13-12. Pomeroy held a 46-45 lead going into the final stanza.
The Pirates added 1 more point to the margin in the fourth quarter to win, 62-60.
Pomeroy senior Trent Gwinn led all scorers with 30 points.
The Timberwolves were paced by senior Isaac Bone with 19 points and junior Braxton French with 12.
Juniors Morgun Martin posted 11 points and Riley Gehring 10 for the Timberwolves. Senior Carson McDonald added 8 more.
A big difference in the close game came at the free throw line, where Gwinn hit 8-of-10 for Pomeroy and junior Trevin Kimble added 2 more, for 10 points total from the charity stripe.
Tekoa-Rosalia only put up 2 points from the free throw line, 1 each by McDonald and Bone.
In other individual statistics, French and Gehring each had 8 rebounds, senior Blaze Oles had 3, as did Bone.
TIMBERWOLVES GIRLS
The Tekoa-Rosalia girls found themselves on the wrong side of the scoreboard last week, losing to Yakama Nation, 51-39, on Jan. 15.
The Timberwolves fell behind early and never recovered.
The Eagles outscored the Timberwolves 15-7 in the first quarter and took a 29-16 lead into the half.
In the third quarter, the Eagles added 8 more to the margin and lead 44-23 going into the final quarter.
Tekoa-Rosalia hit a hot streak in the fourth quarter, closing the gap by 9 points, but not enough to overcome a 21-point deficit.
Roger Harnack is the co-owner/publisher of Free Press Publishing. Having grown up Benton City, Roger is an award-winning journalist, photographer, editor and publisher. He's one of only two editorial/commentary writers to ever receive the international Golden Quill. Roger is dedicated to the preservation of local media, and the voice it retains for Eastern Washington.
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