[ t o u r n e y t o w n . c o m -- 2005 Class 1A state tournament ]

Winlock -- Ekstedt 1-7 0-0 2, Schmidt 0-0 0-0 0, Matheson 0-3 0-0 0, McCarson 0-0 0-0 0, Keeling 0-0 0-0 0, Reynolds 0-1 0-0 0, Deming 0-1 0-0 0, Hauschild 4-9 3-8 14, Garcia 1-1 0-0 2, Hertz 2-8 3-5 9, Prigmore 5-8 4-6 14, Swanson 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 13-38 10-19 41.

White Swan -- Fiander 2-5 0-1 4, Aguilar 1-5 0-2 3, Van Pelt 0-0 0-0 0, James 2-4 0-0 5, Watlamet 0-0 0-0 0, Kormaromy 4-6 1-3 9, Wilson 0-0 0-0 0, Aranda 5-9 1-1 11, Castilleja 0-0 0-0 0, Arambul 3-5 2-2 8, Jones 7-11 2-4 18, Washines 0-1 1-4 1. Totals 24-46 7-17 59.

Winlock

White Swan

3-point goals--W 5-15 (Hauschild 3-6, Hertz 2-6, Matheson 0-1, Ekstedt 0-2), WS 4-14 (Jones 2-4, James 1-1, Aguilar 1-5, Komaromy 0-2, Aranda 0-2). Rebounds--W 22 (Prigmore 5, Hauschild 5), WS 27 (Fiander 6, Aranda 6). Assists--W 8 (Hauschild 3), WS 11 (James 4). Steals--W 8 (Ekstedt 3), WS 14 (Komaromy 3, Aranda 3). Blocked shots--W 0, WS 5 (Jones 3). Fouled out --None. Total fouls--W 17, WS 15. Technical fouls--None. Turnovers--W 24, WS 15.

Most teams do not react well to losing one of their best players early in the second half to injury.

The remaining players might crack under the added pressure to perform in the star’s absence. They might struggle to run offensive sets with the missing star disrupting chemistry.

But with an ankle injury putting star guard Kenneth Fiander on the sidelines for most of the second quarter and all of the third, the White Swan High School boys basketball team never panicked. Instead they rallied to secure a 59-41 win against Winlock in the first round of the 1A state tournament Wednesday in the SunDome.

“Our scoring doesn’t always dictate that we have five (good) players,” said White Swan coach Ray Funk, whose team improves to 17-7 this season. “But I’ve always thought that we have 12 players on this team. Everyone has a role, no matter what they do.”

The Cougars’ bench ended up picking up the slack with 13 points, which made up for Fiander’s average of 13 points per game this season. Guard Adrian Komaromy led the way with nine points until Fiander, who finished with four points and six rebounds, returned with 6 minutes and 28 seconds left to help close out the game.

“I never had a injury before this year, but then I tore my ACL and this is the first time I’ve ever sprained my ankle,” said Fiander, who went to get his ankle looked at by trainers after the game and is questionable for today’s matchup against Freeman at 9 p.m. “I guess I’ve had some bad medicine or something.”

Playing in the SunDome has been poison for White Swan, who is 6-13 at the state playoffs. The Cougars had not won a game at the state tournament in the last five seasons.

Snapping the postseason losing streak against Winlock brought some personal joy to Funk. The Cougars had lost to the Cardinals 54-51 in the 2003 tournament when White Swan was the SCAC’s No. 1 seed.

“I still remember that loss and I’m still a little hot about it, but we weren’t preaching revenge to these players in practice,” Funk said. “We just wanted them to play their best from possession to possession and down the stretch.”

The Cougars pounded the ball inside to forward Chris Jones to take the lead for good with 5:53 left in the first quarter. Jones scored 14 of his game-high 18 points in the first half and finished shooting 7-for-11 from the field.

Six of Jones’ points came on 3-pointers that looked to blow the game open early for White Swan. Twice Jones hit 3-pointers to put his team ahead by 10 to watch Winlock center Kevin Hauschild answer with a 3-pointer of his own.

Hauschild, who scored 28 points, grabbed 14 rebounds and dished out seven assists to get his team to the state tournament with a win against Onalaska, went 3 of 6 from behind the arc and scored 12 of his 14 points in the first half. Ben Prigmore also chipped in 14 points and was the only other Cardinal in double figures.

Fiander went to the bench with his ankle injury after Hauschild hit a 3-pointer to pull Winlock within seven, 20-13 ,with 6:55 left in the game. But even with Fiander on the bench and Hauschild hitting two more 3-pointers, White Swan maintained a 31-24 lead at halftime.

The Cardinals’ strongest surge came in the third with Fiander in the locker room getting his ankle worked on and Jones on the bench trying to stop a bloody nose. Winlock took advantage of the top two players’ absence, going on a 11-6 run to pull within three at one point and go into the fourth down 40-35.

White Swan stretched that lead back to eight after a basket from guard Andrew Aranda, who finished with 11 points and grabbed six rebounds, to put White Swan ahead 45-37 with 6:28 left in the game.

Fiander returned to the game when Winlock called timeout to regroup after the play and helped White Swan’s full-court pressure close out the contest. The Cardinals, who turned the ball over 24 times in the game, suffered eight turnovers in the fourth quarter and managed only four points in the final six minutes.

“I was never nervous (at the end) because we put in the press,” Jones said. “If our press isn’t working, we usually aren’t working. I trust the press. ... We’ve been running it since we were young.”

The Cougars will play Freeman (22-2) in the second round, which defeated Seattle Academy (12-10) 70-32 on Wednesday. Winlock will try to fight its way out of the losers’ bracket when it meets Seattle Academy at 2 p.m.