LR loses to Kittitas, defeats Liberty Bell

The Raider boys kept their dreams of the state basketball tournament alive Saturday with a dramatic one-point, at-the-buzzer win over Liberty Bell after fighting back from a 13-point deficit at the District 5/6 Tournament in East Wenatchee.

The win came after a surprising first-round loss to Kittitas on Wednesday, when the Raiders could not slow down Brock Ravet who scored 41 points that placed him in a three-way tie for fourth place in the District 6 single-game scoring tournament record with Clint Hull of Pateros (1999) and Roger Boesel of Brewster (1976).

Lake Roosevelt was up at the end of the first quarter 22-20. Then the Raider offense slowed down as the Coyotes continued to score for their 75-54 defeat of LR.

That made Saturday's game a must-win for the Raiders, who completed their season sweep of the Mountain Lions, defeating them, barely, for the third time this season.

Neither team wanted their season to end, and earlier games have shown the two squads to be close competitors.

Saturday, Liberty Bell had gained a 10-point lead by halftime, and Lake Roosevelt trailed by as much as 13 points during the game.

But a fire was lit when Raven Boyd swished in back-to-back three pointers and Chance Garvin charged in for a dunk. The lead changed hands several times until a Jacob Palmer jumper brought the Raiders to within three points of catching Liberty Bell again, 75-72.

When Boyd drew a foul, both his free throws dropped, cool as ice cubes on a summer day, to make it a one-point game. A time out allowed Coach Mario Adams to set up the final play with 7.4 seconds left.

The play had Garvin fire a pass to the corner under the basket, where Taren Redstar waited to lay it up and squeeze out the Raider win 76-75.

"Oh, my goodness," a drained Adams said after the game. "I do not want to play them again."

Redstar said later the team had only practiced that play once.

"I was still shaking in the locker room," he said.

Tomorrow the Raiders play Oroville in a loser-out game at Eastmont High School with tipoff at 6:15 p.m. (a change from the original schedule). If the Raiders win, they will play either Kittitas or Mabton on Saturday at Eastmont High School at 2 p.m. for the third-fourth place seed into the regional tournament Feb. 26-27.

The Raiders beat Liberty Bell at the buzzer, by one point, in district playoffs with this play. Taren Redstar is tapped to make the final point.