SPOKANE — The Quilcene boys basketball team finally ran out of gas at the state 2B tournament Friday in Spokane Arena.
The Rangers, who won their first state game ever on Thursday in the consolation quarterfinals, were eliminated in the semifinals against powerhouse Liberty Christian of Richland.
Liberty Christian (20-5) beat Quilcene (17-6) 52-34 after leading only by 31-25 going into the fourth quarter.
The Patriots outscored the Rangers 21-9 in the final period to pull away.
Liberty Christian went on to capture fifth place by beating North Beach 59-53 in the consolation final Saturday morning.
In Friday’s semifinals, Quilcene wasn’t getting much help from the referees. The Patriots were awarded 32 foul shots, and the made 23.
The Rangers, meanwhile, made 3-of-6.
Nate Burlingame, who missed most of the tourney’s first game with food poisoning, and wasn’t nearly 100 percent in the quarterfinals, found his legs against the Patriots, leading Quilcene with 15 points.
Jesse Truesdel was the only other Ranger to score in double figures, swishing in 10 points.
The Patriots outrebounded the Rangers 38-21 with Burlingame grabbing a team-high five boards.
Chris Bacchus, who was on fire in the first two games, was held to six points, getting blanked in field goals (0-5) while making 2-of-5 from 3-point range.
The Rangers opened the tournament with a heartbreaking 47-44 loss to Pe Ell before rebounding to nip Oroville 47-45 in the do-or-die consolation quarterfinals Thursday.
