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Sports

Warriors to Face Fife for District Crown

Clover Park defeats SPSL 2A foe Franklin Pierce 64-60 in WCD semifinals despite playing with lack of energy in first half.

Same opponent – different  stakes.

After defeating South Puget Sound League 2A foe Franklin Pierce 64-60 in the semifinals of the 2A West Central District tournament Saturday night, No.1 Clover Park faces Fife for the fourth time this season for the district crown – and the No. 1 seed into the state tournament.

But before securing a trip to the ShoWare Arena in Kent this afternoon, the Warriors had to take care of a little business at Foss High School. Luckily for them, it was a familiar task.

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It was the third time Clover Park knocked off the Cardinals this season, but the second game that the margin was fewer than five points. Despite coming off a bye in the first round of the tournament before soundly thrashing White River, 61-39, on Friday, the Warriors played a stagnant first half.

“We have to do a better job on the boards,” said Clover Park coach Mel Ninnis. “It’s something that I always seem to talk about – the rebounding and the defense.”

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But, he added with a small smile, “Our defense is pretty dang good.”

Senior forward Tana Pritchard scored 18 points and had five assists, six rebounds and a steal, but played with a lingering cold. Freshman guard David Crisp added 13 points, five rebounds,  two assists and a steal, but left the game with a bloody nose in the second half. He returned, but the elbow to his face from a Franklin Pierce player clearly had an effect.

“I went up to get a rebound and got elbowed in the head and it hit my nose,” Crisp said. “I was dizzy.”

Regardless, the freshman said that he had bigger problems in the first half, when he could “have been better; could have done more things.”

The game got off to a slow start, with no points scored in the first two-and-a-half minutes until guard Anthony Bowden made one of two free throws, his first of 13 points for the night. The Warriors added two more as Pritchard was fouled.

Freshman guard Ahmaad Rorie got things rolling with a layup followed by a soaring 3-pointer, and senior forward Marcus added four of his seven points to give the Warriors a 15-9 lead at the end of the first quarter.

But the Cardinals responded, with senior forward Tre Benton scoring 13 of his game-high 20 points and eight rebounds to take a 31-29 lead into halftime after outscoring the Warriors 22-14.

“Man, we weren’t prepared that first half,” Pritchard said. “They came out tough. It’s not that we were expecting them to roll over, but last time we played them, we came out with so much energy that it seemed easy for us. (This time), they came out with a different level of basketball.”

Clover Park woke up in the second half, with sophomore forward Isom Brown and Crisp hitting back-to-back jumpers to open the period, and went on a 15-2 scoring run before forward Jamar Murray broke the streak with a layup en route to 13 points total. Crisp hit another 3-pointer shortly after.

“That was huge,” Pritchard said. “The freshman hit two big 3’s and Isom hit a 3, and that changed the game. We never let go after that.”

The Warriors refused to relinquish their 48-39 lead going into the final quarter with Crisp scoring seven points, including the only 3-pointer from either team, and Pritchard adding another five.

With Fife next up, Clover Park cannot afford to get complacent, but the Warriors said they don’t plan to.

“We’re going to try to get some rest,” Ninnis said. “Try to come back with some more energy – get Tana’s energy up.”

Asked whether he is tired of playing the Trojans, Ninnis shook his head.

“Not tired,” he said. “I respect them a lot, and we’re ready to battle.”

Crisp, on the other hand, said it was a bit vexing to continually face the same team.

Even so, he said, “I’m ready to take them down again.”

Clover Park      -- 15 14 19 16  -- 64
Franklin Pierce --  9 22   8 21  -- 60

Scoring summary:

Clover Park -- Crisp 13, M. Brown 4, Rorie 11, Pritchard 18, Crawford 4, I. Brown 7, Sheppard 7.

Franklin Pierce -- Murray 8, Bowden 13, Mims 13, Dupree 6, Benton 20.

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