Vikings punch ticket to district title game, State with another dominant hoops win

PALOUSE — In the final seconds of the first half of a Southeast 1B League tournament semifinal game, Garfield-Palouse girls basketball coach Garrett Parrish knew he wanted the ball in junior Morgan Lentz’s hands.

With time to spare before the buzzer, Lentz fired a 3 from the left wing and the Gar-Pal student section went berserk as the ball met the nylon.

“He (Parrish) told me to shoot it, so I shot it,” Lentz said. “And it went in.”

Lentz, Elena Flansburg and Taia Gehring sank three 3s each, five Vikings reached double figures and Gar-Pal beat Sunnyside Christian 76-35 in the semifinal game Friday in Palouse.

With the win over Sunnyside Christian (17-4, 12-2), Gar-Pal (20-1, 16-0) punched its ticket to the state tournament and will play for the district title on Feb. 15.

“Five girls who can score”

Gar-Pal’s offense could hardly be contained and it was in part thanks to an aggressive approach on the other end of the floor.

The Vikings grabbed 11 steals and were intentional about stopping Sunnyside Christian’s best player, Devan Harrington.

“We knew we had to shut down No. 5 (Harrington),” Lentz said. “Our defense helps our offense. So that pulled us together.”

In the second quarter, the Vikings grabbed a Sunnyside Christian inbound under the Knights’ basket. After a Gar-Pal miss, Huffman grabbed the offensive rebound and cashed in with the second-chance points off a layup.

Good defense led to good offense.

Harrington still managed 14 points with a 5-for-6 free throw mark, but the Vikings contained her to a 4-of-19 showing from the floor to knock the Knights off their high horse.

Lentz led the Vikings with 19 points and Flansburg added 16 points.

Parrish said that Lentz and Flansburg are great players because they are versatile shooters who can shoot the 3 and drive to the rim.

“It opens it up for our other girls that are really good at getting to the rim,” Parrish said. “You got to kind of pick what you’re going to focus on, and then we try and take what you’re giving us.

“That’s the benefit of having five girls that can score on the court.”

Gehring made three 3s on her way to 12 points, taking over in the third quarter with a pair of treys on back-to-back possessions.

Gar-Pal freshman Molly Huffman drained 7-of-8 free throws and four shots from the floor to total 15 points and Ellie Collier, an eighth grader playing on a state-bound team, posted 11 points, four rebounds and a pair of game-highs with three assists and four steals.

The Knights jumped out to an early 3-0 lead as the game stayed feisty with plenty of whistles interrupting play.

However, the Vikings quickly got into their offensive groove, as Lentz and Collier established the 3-point game early to put Gar-Pal up 19-9 after the first quarter.

The Vikings never gave up the lead once they took it, scoring 17 in the second and 27 in the third quarters before cruising to the finish line.

Gar-Pal is State bound

By advancing to the Southeast 1B semifinal, the Vikings officially clinched a State berth, but before they get to State, they have a league final and several more games to go to determine seeding.

Gar-Pal will face Yakama Nation Tribal at 4 p.m. Feb. 15 at Dayton High School for the league title.

Yakama Nation Tribal edged Oakesdale 45-42 in the other Friday semifinal.

The Vikings, still with just one loss on their ledger, have set sail for lofty goals, with more than just a league title in their gaze.

After the season they had last year with a handful of big postseason victories, Lentz said the Vikings knew they would be headed back to State.

“It made us realize that we’re a good team and we can keep going as far as we can put our minds to,” Lentz said of last season’s late run.

“I was looking forward to this group”

Although Gar-Pal has just one senior, the Vikings have been far and away the most talented team in their league with an undefeated league record and just one loss overall.

“We can play eight, nine girls, and there’s not a drop-off,” Parrish said.

The Vikings’ rotation skews younger with three juniors, a sophomore, three freshmen and even an eighth grader playing prominent roles on the team.

“I don’t take any credit for them being that good,” Parrish said. “Since they were young, they’ve been really good.

“I was always looking forward to this group coming up, and they’ve definitely exceeded expectations, which the expectations are very high, but they’ve stepped up to it.”

Lentz said this season feels different than previous years because the Vikings know how good they are and can back it up.

Like many small-school teams, the Vikings grew up playing basketball together.

“We clicked so well as a team this year,” Lentz said. “We’re all friends, we love each other. there’s never any issues. We have that connection that brings us far.”

SUNNYSIDE CHRISTIAN (17-4)

Jayna Elenbaas 2 0-2 6, Natalie De Boer 1 0-0 3, Devan Harrington 4 5-6 14, Maylee Smeenk 1 1-1 4, Addie Smeenk 0 0-0 0, Sydney Peters 1 1-2 3, Hailey Van Wieringen 1 0-0 2, Kendall Riel 0 0-0 0. Totals 10 10-16 35.

GARFIELD-PALOUSE (20-1)

Reisse Johnson 0 0-0 0, Kaydence Kivi 0 0-0 0, Elena Flansburg 5 3-4 16, Kyra Brantner 1 0-0 2, Ellie Collier 3 2-4 11, Morgan Lentz 6 4-9 19, HettyLee Laughary 0 0-0 0, Taia Gehring 3 3-4 12, Molly Huffman 4 7-8 15, Camryn Blankenchip 0 0-0 0, Maggie Bakeman 0 0-0 0, Madi Cueller 0 0-0 0. Totals 22 20-31 76.

Gar-Pal 19 17 27 13—76

Sunnyside Christian 9 6 14 6—35

3-point goals — Lentz 3, Flansburg 3, Gehring 3, Collier 2, Elenbaas 2, De Boer, Harrington, M. Smeenk.

Taylor can be reached at 208-848-2268, staylor@lmtribune.com or on X (formerly Twitter) @Sam_C_Taylor.