SPOKANE — Neah Bay’s boys basketball team took a big step closer to achieving its goal of playing for a state championship by overcoming the early foul trouble of seniors Abraham Venske and John Reamer to power past Pomeroy 55-47 in the Class 1B quarterfinals Thursday night at Spokane Arena.
Neah Bay will now face Shorewood Christian on Friday at 9 p.m. for a spot in the state championship game.
The Lions will be looking for revenge for their losses to Neah Bay in the Tri-District semifinals last month and in last year’s state third-place game.
Meanwhile, Thursday’s win avenged the Red Devils’ loss to Pomeroy in last year’s state semifinals.
“Coach [Stan Claplanhoo] said we had to get a feel as to how they were going to call it, and I was hoping they would let us play a little more, but they called it tight,” Reamer said Thursday.
“I had to loosen up personally, and so did the team on defense.”
Reamer had to sit after picking up two fouls in the first 3:03 of the game, while Venske, the team’s leading scorer, was whistled for an offensive foul call early in the second quarter, his third foul of the game.
“The kids know we just have to play our game and not worry about the officiating,” Claplanhoo said.
“We can let our fans be vocal about that kind of stuff, they are pretty good at that,” he joked.
With Pomeroy up 17-15, Claplanhoo made a calculated gamble, leaving Venske in the game for the majority of the period.
“I took a risk there, but I trusted him so I moved him out of the post and up on the wing and told him we needed him,” Claplanhoo said.
“You take a player like Abe out of the game and things can change really quick.”
It worked, as Venske avoided foul trouble — although he came close to being called for a reach-in violation on a steal at midcourt with a minute until halftime.
“Did you see that little bump? He could have got his fourth foul right there,” Claplanhoo said.
He didn’t, and after the steal he found Ryan Moss for an open 3-pointer as Neah Bay closed the half on an 9-2 run for a 24-19 halftime lead.
The Red Devils opened the third with five quick points and some strong defense from Moss in Neah Bay’s 1-3-1 zone.
Moss blocked a shot, forced a tie-up and affected two Pomeroy jump shots as Neah Bay pushed to a 29-19 lead two minutes into the quarter.
Early points came inside from Reamer and Venske.
“For weeks now our focus has been getting inside to me or Abraham,” Reamer said.
“So teams have to stop Abe with his moves or me with muscling them, and it comes down to ‘Who are you going to guard’”?
Reamer scored a team-high 14 points on 7 of 14 shooting.
Collectively, Neah Bay shot 51.1 percent from the field to the Pirates’ 31.5 percent.
Pomeroy cut the lead to 42-37 after three quarters. But 3s from Kenrick Doherty Jr. and Jongi Claplanhoo, along with a Claplanhoo layup, put Neah Bay up 50-37 two minutes into the final period.
Venske scored his 1,000th career point for the Red Devils on a fourth-quarter free throw.
More inside buckets from Reamer sealed the game for Neah Bay.
“Just running our offense and getting the ball into the post, and looking at the height and size of the kids, we knew we were bigger and stronger down low,” Claplanhoo said.
After a Reamer bucket, Pomeroy coach Brian Koller made the decision to pull his starters with Neah Bay up 54-40 and 3:19remaining.
The Red Devils put their reserves in with 23 seconds left.
“This is my first year coaching, and with so much on the line, I wasn’t taking any chances,” Claplanhoo said.
“I think I’ll be able to sleep tonight,” he said with a smile.
Neah Bay 55, Pomeroy 47
Neah Bay 13 11 18 13—55
Pomeroy 15 4 18 10—47
Individual Scoring
Neah Bay (55)
Reamer 14, Doherty Jr. 10, Moss 10, Venske 9, Claplanhoo 7, McGimpsey 3, Buttram 2, Munyagi, Buzzell, Nedderoff, Johnson.
Pomeroy (47)
Mayfield 17, Feider 10, Tewalt 5, Slaybaugh 5, McGreevy 3, Morfin 2, Gingerich 1.
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Sports reporter Michael Carman can be contacted at 360-452-2345, ext. 5250 or at mcarman@peninsuladailynews.com.
Previous version
SPOKANE — The Neah Bay boys basketball team clinched a Class 1B state semifinal appearance with a 55-47 victory over Pomeroy on Thursday at Spokane Arena.
They will face the winner of Thursday night’s late game between Curlew and Shoreline Christian on Friday at 9 p.m. for a berth in the state championship game.
John Reamer led the Red Devils with 14 points. Abraham Venske scored nine, including his 1,000th career point on a free throw in the fourth quarter.
Kenrick Doherty Jr. and Ryan Moss had 10 points apiece.
Pomeroy’s Cole Mayfield led all scorers with 17.
The Neah Bay girls play six-time defending state champion Colton in another semifinal at 5 p.m. Friday.
