Grizzlies end Wildcats' Avista tournament chances

Dec. 30—The Rocky Mountain boys basketball team shot the lights out of the P1FCU Activity Center en route to an 82-73 win over Lapwai in the semifinals of the Avista Holiday Tournament on Friday.

The Grizzlies shot 60% from the floor and had their best showing in the third quarter when they went 11-of-15 (73%) from the field and outscored the Wildcats 29-24.

"It sucks being on the same side of the bracket as Lapwai," Rocky Mountain coach Ivory Williams said. "They're really talented and at no point in this game did we feel like we had it in the bag."

Rocky Mountain will play Lewiston in the championship game at 4 p.m. today at the same site. Lapwai (6-2) plays Moscow for bronze at 1 p.m.

Here's how Friday's game shook out:

A quick start

The Grizzlies (4-5) opened the contest on a 9-0 run and led by as much as 11 in the first quarter.

This lead was enough for Rocky Mountain to never trail, and other than the opening tip, it was never tied either.

"You have to find ways to score," Williams said. "Our goal this year was to find ways to score off the ball and hit open shots. My guys hit open shots and I'm proud of them. That's something we struggled with early in the season; now we're nine games into the season, and if those don't fall, it may be a different game."

Maintaining the pace of play

Rocky Mountain continued to push the pace for the remainder of the game, with the climax coming in the third quarter.

The Grizzlies came out of the locker room and made eight consecutive shots to take a 55-41 advantage with 3:57 remaining in the frame.

Rocky Mountain's Machaon Savedra nailed three 3s during the stretch. He finished with a team-high 29 points and was 4-of-6 from distance.

"His leadership has grown and grown and I'm proud of him," Williams said. "He's a hell of a player, but I want to see if he can do more. Can he engage when times are tough and our backs are against the wall? But he played well tonight, and his leadership along with everything else helped us succeed tonight."

The Wildcats went on a mini-6-0 spurt in the final two minutes of regulation to cut their deficit to 80-73. But it wasn't enough.

"I stopped coaching them," Williams said. "The more you coach them, the more they think, and that's when the wheels start spinning and they stop playing basketball, and those five guys that are in there need to put the ball in the hole at some point, and they just hit open shots. They found openings and found confidence. And hopefully, I don't have to coach them down the stretch, and they can figure that stuff out."

A heckuva effort

Williams, a 2017 Lapwai High School graduate, labeled senior point guard Kase Wynott a "generational talent," and it's hard to argue with the first-year coach.

He took over Friday's contest, finishing with a game-high 48 points.

The Utah State commit was wrestling with the Grizzlies solo for much of the game's 32 minutes. During Rocky Mountain's remarkable third quarter, he scored 19 of the Wildcats' 24 points.

He was also effective at drawing fouls, finishing 15-of-17 at the free-throw line, which accounts for 81% of Lapwai's attempts.

"He just really wants to win the game," Lapwai coach Zachary Eastman said. "He knows if a team is going to play man-to-man, he's going to have an opportunity to try and take over the game, and he tried. He did the best that he could, and that's all we can ask. He's a special player, and when you have a special player like that, sometimes you just have to let him compete, and that's what we did."

Other stats of note

Ahlius Yearout was the Wildcats' second-leading scorer, pitching in 14 points. Mason Turpin (19) and Zack Seeger (14) were also in double figures for Rocky Mountain.

GIRLS GAME

Richland 62, Lapwai 36

The Lapwai girls watched Richland (Wash.) expand its lead by a greater amount each quarter en route to an Avista Holiday Tournament loser-out defeat.

Skylin Picard provided a team-high nine points for the Wildcats (7-3), while Macie Milum led the Bombers (5-2) to victory with 24 points.

Complete statistics were not available.

GIRLS

Lapwai 8 11 10 7—36

Richland 9 16 19 18—62

BOYS

LAPWAI (6-2)

J. Barros 0 0-0 0, J. Payne 0 0-0 0, F. Hayes 1 0-0 2, Q. Kipp 0 0-0 0, V. Kipp 2 0-0 5, C. Bohnee 2 0-0 4, A. Yearout 5 4-4 14, K. Wynott 14 15-17 48. Totals 24 19-21 73.

ROCKY MOUNTAIN (4-5)

C. Adams 0 0-0 0, B. Hansen 2 1-1 6, C. Overy 0 0-0 0, M. Savaedra 12 1-1 29, I. Seeger 3 7-9 14, K. Turner 2 0-2 5, C. Coppieters 3 3-5 9, T. Sweeney 0 0-0 0, M. Turpin 7 1-1 19. Totals 29 13-19 82.

Lapwai 14 17 24 18—73

Rocky Mountain 22 12 29 19—82

3-point goals — Wynott 5, V. Kipp, Savaedra 4, Stevens 4, Seeger, Turne

Pixley may be contacted at (208) 848-2290, tpixley@lmtribune.com or on Twitter @TreebTalks