ACH boys advance with 50-44 win over Seattle Lutheran

SPOKANE — A lot of what Almira/Coulee-Hartline senior Logan Bohnet does doesn’t show up in the box score, but the 6-foot-7 post had the game-changer in Thursday afternoon’s 50-44 victory over Seattle Lutheran in the quarterfinals of the Class B state tournament at the Spokane Arena.

Lutheran’s Xavier Turner worked around the screen at the top and drove hard down the lane with the Warriors (24-0) clinging to a five-point lead with 36 seconds left. Turner went up with a left-handed roller, but Bohnet swatted it away and Maguire Isaak was fouled at the other end. The freshman Issak converted 1-of-2 from the line to give ACH a 47-41 lead with 33.9 seconds left. That exchange turned out to be just what the doctor ordered for the No. 1-ranked Warriors.

“That block was a real momentum changer for sure,” Warrior coach Graham Grindy said. “He had a couple big blocks tonight. He’s a guy that does a lot for us that doesn’t add up to a lot of points. But he plays hard every night and he rebounds well.”

Bohnet finished with six defensive rebounds and the big block. The unbeaten Warriors converted just enough from the line to close out the win and advance to the semifinals.

“They were a scrappy kind of team and we expected this. They feed off of steals and buckets, so we wanted to keep our unforced errors to a minimum,” Dallas Issak said. “We just wanted to control what we can control and play hard. I thought our press in the first half kept them off guard. We scored a couple of times off it.”

The Warriors opened up a little breathing room at the half with a 30-23 lead, but shot just 33.3 percent from the floor in the final 16 minutes. Even though they were outrebounded 36-29, the Warriors held the Saints (22-3) to just five points in the fourth quarter. The defensive effort coupled with big scoring efforts from Payton Nielsen and Isaak were enough.

“It’s all in every game. We’ve got to play our best defense every night,” Grindy said. “It’s the same for everyone else, defense is always the key factor. But it’s a totally different mentality coaching at the tournament and making sure you have something left. I’m sure glad we have the 5:30 game tomorrow to give our guys a chance to rest. I think the 10:30 game would be rough.”

ACH was just 3 of 15 from 3-point range, but Nielsen was able to complement the perimeter game, going 8 of 10 from the floor for 19 points and 12 rebounds. Isaak kept pushing the ball hard into the lane for his shots, finishing up with 17 points and three assists.

“The refs were letting us play hard inside, which is what I like. I like to play hard and go for the rebounds and it’s hard to do that when they’re calling picky fouls,” Nielsen said.

Turner picked up his fourth foul late in the third quarter and spent the first part of the fourth on the bench. The Warriors used it to their advantage and kept their five-point lead in place through most of the final period.

“When (Turner) picked up his fourth, I was definitely counting,” Nielsen said. “That kid’s a good player and I respect him a lot.”

Isaia Dow-Albrecht led the Saints with 15 points. Turner added 11 points and 12 rebounds.

ACH will face the Yakama Nation Tribal School at 5:30 p.m. on Friday in what is expected to be a run-and-gun shootout.

“The one thing I know about Yakama is that they got heart and I respect them a lot,” Nielsen said. “They call it rez ball and they’ll be running, but we like to play that way. It should be a fun game.”