[ t o u r n e y t o w n . c o m -- Seattle Christian 66, Goldendale 54]

Goldendale -- Bare 0-0 0-0 0, MacRae 0-1 0-0 0, Wilkins 4-10 0-0 10, Vogt 4-4 1-2 9, Warrener 0-0 0-0 0, Chipman 0-3 0-0 0, Villamar 1-2 0-0 2, Cook 8-15 1-1 18, Koreski 0-0 2-2 2, Antone 0-0 0-0 0, Latimer 6-13 0-0 13, Schwab 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 23-49 4-5 54.

Seattle Christian -- Cook 0-0 0-1 0, T. Peterson 0-0 0-0 0, Standley 0-0 0-0 0, Lindseth 10-16 1-2 21, R. Peterson 8-13 2-2 18, Finn 0-3 0-0 0, Collier 1-5 2-3 5, B. Peterson 0-0 0-0 0, Park 0-1 0-0 0, Jansen 0-0 0-0 0, Hoover 0-0 0-0 0, Duby 9-19 0-0 22. Totals 28-57 5-8 66.

Goldendale

Seattle Christian

3-point goals--G 4-11 (Latimer 1-2, Cook 1-3, Wilkins 2-6), SC 5-13 (Duby 4-10, Collier 1-2, Lindseth 0-1). Rebounds--G 17 (Cook 6, Latimer 4), SC 33 (R. Peterson 16, Lindseth 8). Assists--G 12 (Cook 6), SC 13 (Lindseth 4, Collier 4). Steals--G 7 (Vogt 4), SC 4 (Finn 2). Blocked shots--G 3, SC 5 (R. Peterson 4). Fouled out--None. Total fouls--G 11, SC 9. Technical fouls--None. Turnovers--G 13, SC 12.

By ROGER UNDERWOOD
YAKIMA HERALD-REPUBLIC

His team might have lost the game, but Mike Carlquist had not lost his sense of humor.

“Best semifinal of the day,” the Goldendale coach said after his team’s 66-54 loss to Seattle Christian on Friday night in the Yakima Valley SunDome.

And who could argue?

Both girls' semis were one-sided, plus top-ranked and unbeaten Brewster had vaporized Napavine 74-39, in an earlier boys semi that wasn’t that close. Thus the Bears and Warriors, teams expected to duel for the Class 1A state championship, will do so at 9 Saturday night.

The Timberwolves, of course, were not expected to still be playing. Not Saturday, when they hand out trophies.

Yet if Goldendale (16-11) wins its 5 p.m. game with Napavine (22-4), it will finish third. If it loses, it will finish sixth.

Not bad for the Yakima Valley’s No. 4 seed, which had survived a nail-biting elimination game with Granger to even reach the tournament.

But then Keegan Cook and Callan Wilkins started hitting shots from center field in nearby Yakima County Stadium, and suddenly the Timberwolves were in the tournament’s final four.

“Coach told us before the game that all the pressure was on them,” Cook said after his third straight standout performance — 18 points, six rebounds and six assists. “He told us to just relax and go out and have fun.”

Which Goldendale did. The T-wolves also mustered seemingly every ounce of effort, but were subdued by a bigger, faster, deeper and more experienced team.

“It should be a good championship game with probably the two best teams,” Carlquist said. “They (Seattle Christian) are just very good and they’ve played a lot more basketball in their 18 years or so of life than my kids have.”

Coach Roger DeBoer’s Warriors, 25-1 with their only defeat an early-season 63-55 setback to Brewster, came at Goldendale in waves.

Joel Duby, a 6-foot-4 senior guard, hit four 3-pointers en route to a game-high 22 points. Nick Lindseth, a strong and agile 6-foot-3 senior, had 21 points and eight rebounds as SC had its way on the boards, 33-17. And Rob Peterson, a 6-8 senior, totaled 18 points, 16 rebounds and four blocks.

Goldendale’s Cody Latimer, a 6-1 junior, tried his best to ease the defensive pressure on Cook and Wilkins, scoring 13 points. Wilkins added 10 points and 5-10 senior Tyler Vogt played what Carlquist called “his best game of the season,” with nine points on 4-for-4 shooting plus four steals.

“We got tired,” Cook said. “They were a lot bigger than us and they just overpowered us inside.”

Still, Goldendale gave the Warriors a game.

With Cook and Wilkins combining for 16 points, the Timberwolves were within 29-25 at halftime and then matched baskets with SC during the early minutes of the third quarter.

But Lindseth scored twice, Duby drained a 3-pointer and Peterson added an inside hoop for a 47-33 Warrior lead with 2:26 left in the period.

Cook made a buzzer-beating, fade-away 3-pointer to make it 47-36 starting the fourth quarter and Vogt followed with a 15-footer to pull Goldendale to within 47-38 with 7:40 to play.

Seattle Christian, however, scored 11 of the next 15 points and the closest the Timberwolves were able to get thereafter was 60-51 with 2:36 left on a steal and layup by Vogt.

“They threw a lot of things at us and had us rattled at halftime,” DeBoer said. “Their crowd was really into it and it was like their home game. Give them credit.”

Carlquist, meanwhile, shrugged and smiled. “A couple of missed layups, a couple of rebounds here or there and who knows?” he said. “I’ve had this group of kids since they were in fourth grade and they’ve overcome a lot of things. They play together probably better than any team I’ve coached.

“I’m very proud of them. They’re special.”

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