A 15-2 run over the last 3:56 of the third quarter proved to be the difference as No. 2 seed Nixyaawii (22-4) beat No. 7 seed Lost River (23-5) 77-62 in the quarterfinals of the OSAA 1A boys basketball championships at Baker High School Wednesday.
The teams went nearly bucket-for-bucket in the first half, which featured nine ties and 13 lead changes. Nixyaawii was up 15-13 after the first quarter and 39-38 at halftime. The Golden Eagles pushed their lead to 50-42 with 5:47 left in the third, but the Raiders put together a 7-0 run over the next 1:26 to get back within one. Soon after that, though, Nixyaawii dealt Lost River what would ultimately be the knockout blow, with Weptas Brockie scoring the Golden Eagles’ next eight points to start the run that gave them a 65-51 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
Connor Dunlea was named the Lost River player of the game after scoring 26 points on 10-of-17 shooting, including 4-of-5 from three. He also led the Raiders with 3 steals. Tate Freeman shot 3-of-5 from deep and finished with 15 points and 4 rebounds; Chase McAuliffe put up a double-double with 11 points, 11 rebounds and 2 assists; Emmett O’Brien had 4 points and 7 rebounds; Beau Sanders had 4 points and 3 rebounds; and Kayden Hartman had 2 points and 2 rebounds.
Lost River shot 51.9% from the field in the first half and 87.5% on 3-pointers but were held to 27.3% from the field and 11.1% on 3-pointers in the second. They also finished with just three assists on 23 made field goals.
Weptas Brockie was named the Nixyaawii player of the game after finishing with 23 points on 8-of-13 shooting, including 7-of-12 from three. He also had 2 rebounds. Rylen Bronson had 14 points (including 3-of-6 triples), 5 rebounds and 2 assists; Baron Moses fell just short of a double-double with 13 points (on 6-of-11 shooting), 9 assists, 4 rebounds and 4 steals; Sun Schimmel had 10 points; Symon Picard had 8 points, 5 rebounds and 2 assists; Marcellus Scott had 4 points and a team-high 8 rebounds; JohnJohn Withers had 2 points and 3 rebounds; Landen Picard had 2 points; and Sky Smith had 1 point.
The Golden Eagles shot 50.9% from the field and 44.4% on 3-pointers. They had 15 assists on 29 made field goals.
All four teams that beat Lost River this year are in the 1A semifinals: Nixyaawii, No. 11 seed North Douglas (72-69 Dec. 18), No. 1 seed Crane (66-48 Dec. 21) and No. 4 seed Trinity Lutheran (66-44 Jan. 25 and 69-56 Feb. 17).
The Raiders face No. 19 seed Elkton (19-7) in the consolation bracket at 10:45 a.m. Thursday, while the Golden Eagles face North Douglas (24-5) in the semifinals at 1:45 p.m. Friday.
