SPOKANE — Morton-White Pass will not be playing for their first state title since 2015 after a 75-65 loss to Liberty (Spangle) in the 2B state semifinals Friday in Spokane, but MWP coach Chad Cramer calls the loss far from a disappointment.
Instead, the Timberwolves will face Kalama for third/fifth-place Saturday and have already secured their top state finish in seven years — and first trophy since finishing sixth in 2016.
“I would say playing on Saturday is exactly where we want to be,” Cramer said. “Getting to state is such a privilege and it’s such an honor, and these kids need to feel very privileged and honored in that — and very proud of that.”
The Timberwolves were in Friday’s semifinal bout with the Lancers until the final minutes, and had to mount an impressive comeback to climb back in it after nearly getting run out of the building late in the third quarter.
The Timberwolves, who normally start fast, got out to a 7-2 run to start the game before surrendering an 11-4 run to the Lancers, giving Liberty its first lead of the game — one they would never relinquish.
The Lancer’s ripped off a 22-6 run to start the second half, going up 48-30 as the Timberwolves’ struggled to counter Liberty’s deadly inside-and-out game.
But MWP rallied back with Leytan Collette scoring eight-straight points —part of a 14-0 run — to help the T-Wolves pull back within four, trailing 48-44 with 5:50 to play.
That’s the closest the Timberwolves would get as Liberty hit three-straight 3-pointers — including two from London Foland — as MWP struggled to contain the Lancers’ multiple perimeter shooters who combined for 10 3-pointers.
Liberty’s Tayshawn Colvin went 4 for 8 from deep and finished with a game-high 34 points, while London Foland tallied 14 points with four 3s and Lincoln Foland added 17 points with two treys.
“Colvin controls the game offensively and defensively,” Cramer said. “He’s a very, very good player and we knew that coming in. He’s an all-star caliber player. We go zone to try and corral him and they hit 3s. Liberty’s a good team and my hat’s off to them.”
From there, it was a free-throw game as the Lancers built a 67-53 lead with 1:30 left to play and fended off the T-Wolves the rest of the way to secure the 75-65 win.
“I know my kids are sad right now and I told them, ‘You feel sad, cry and it’s OK. I’m gonna feel sad too,’” Cramer said. “But tomorrow we wake up and there’s more season in front of us. There’s another game to go get. There’s a chance to finish on a high note. And we need to take that challenge and be mentally tough to do so.”
Leytan Colette finished with a team-high 24 points to go with nine boards for the Timberwolves, including going 2 of 4 from long range. Gary Dotson added 11 points and 11 boards and Josh Salguero chipped in seven points and 10 boards.
Morton-White Pass now faces Kalama for third/fifth at 1 p.m. on Saturday. The Timberwolves have lost twice to the Chinooks this season — once in the regular season and again in the 2B District 4 title game.
“That’s the revenge game,” Cramer said. “They got us twice this year. We want to go get (them). We definitely want to go back and finish strong. We respect that team and I know they respect us.”
