Raiders win first round at state 2B tournament

It's a time of year full of wake-up calls, and the Raiders got one Saturday as they squeaked by a team they'd had by 10 points in the first half of their "Opening Round" game in the state basketball tournament Saturday in Wenatchee.

Lake Roosevelt (23-1) beat the Tri-Cities Prep Jaguars (18-4) by three points, 67-64.

"That was a little bit closer than I'd like," Raider Coach Ed Wolfe said after the game. "They can shoot well, all the way across the board, all of them."

The Raiders held a six-point margin at the end of one quarter and grew it to 11 in the second period, but stil ended the first half ahead by just three points, 29-26.

The Jaguars would prove their three-point range abilities in the second half.

That kept Raider fans awake, as most of the second half was a two or three-point contest, with Tri-Cities tying the score at 45 at the end of the third quarter.

"That's what you get when two teams show up and play, you know, play their game," Wolfe said.

The Raiders briefly boosted their lead to five, 58-53, at one point in quarter four. But it was down to two when Ivan Alejandre came back in the game and was promptly fouled with seconds to go. He put one shot in from the line to get to the 67-64 final score.

Senior Chase Marchand led the Raiders in scoring with 21, followed by freshman Kayman Jordan who added 19.

The win lets the Raiders skip Wednesday's Round of 12 in the WIAA 2024 2B Boys State Basketball Tournament at the Spokane Arena. The round will see Tonasket (15-10) take on Toutle Lake (19-7) at 3:45 p.m. Feb. 28, the winner of which will challenge Lake Roosevelt in the quarterfinals Thursday at 3:45.

A win Thursday, Feb. 29, would put LR in the semifinals at 7:15 p.m. March 1, in line for the championship game at 3 p.m. Saturday, March 2.