Warriors overcome rocky first half to advance in Cascade Conference tournament action

Lewis-Clark State senior Ellie Sander’s final shot in Lewiston is one she will remember.

“We’re up by a lot, and I just decided to pull it. And my teammate, Keira (O’Neill), she was like, ‘Oh, no mercy!’ as it goes in,” Sander said. “I look back at my teammates. They’re all cheering. It was awesome. It was a great ending.”

Sander’s final 3 was a cherry on top to the third-seeded Lewis-Clark State Warriors’ 75-49 win over the sixth-seeded Bushnell Beacons in the Cascade Conference Tournament quarterfinals on Wednesday at the P1FCU Activity Center in Lewiston.

The win secured LC State a date with second-seeded Oregon Tech at 7 p.m. Saturday in Klamath Falls, Ore.

Junior forward Sitara Byrd made each of her three 3-point attempts to pace LC State (24-5) with 15 points, and sophomore Tatum Brager added a needed boost from the bench with 14 points, 11 of which came in the second quarter.

Point guard Payton Hymas posted 12 points and dished out five assists to lead the Warriors to the 26-point victory while Byrd and Sander shared the team lead with five steals apiece.

Senior Libby Mathis provided Bushnell (11-18) with a 17-point, 11-rebound double-double.

The Warriors were starved for points early on, making just 33% of their shots in the first quarter, before Brager’s heroics put LC State up 26-25 at halftime and the Warriors made over half of their shots in a 49-point second half.

“Basketball is just a game of ups and downs. So, you know, one half we might shoot really well, one half we might not,” Byrd said. “In the locker room, we were just like, ‘Hey, keep shooting our shots.’

“We’re great shooters. So just have that mentality that we can shoot. Those are our shots.”

Brager’s boost from the bench

When no other Warrior had more than two made field goals in the first half, the Warriors turned to a critical bench player for the needed spark to take a one-point halftime lead.

Bushnell leapt out to an early lead that grew as large as six points with 9:04 left in the second quarter.

Both teams turned the ball over 12 times in the first half, but Bushnell appeared more apt at capitalizing on the Warrior blunders with a 14-5 advantage on points off turnovers.

The Warriors’ shooting appeared lacking in the first half with a 36% mark.

Then, the Warriors found some needed production from their bench as Brager played just 10 minutes in the first half but paced LC State with most of her points coming in the second quarter, forged primarily off of three 3-pointers.

“My teammates do a really good job of finding me,” Brager said. “Ellie (Sander) always sets me up with really good passes, and they find me where I’m at.”

The Warriors also enjoyed a jolt of energy from Clarkston alum Kendall Wallace, who flew across the court as fast as lighting and nailed two 3-pointers on back-to-back possessions late in the third quarter.

Wallace’s triumphs pushed the Warrior lead from eight points to 12. LC State led by double figures for the remainder of the game.

“I love seeing that spark, you know, from everyone who comes off the bench,” Byrd said.

Mataya Green led LC State in rebounds with 11, six of which were offensive boards.

After turning around the offense with 17 second-quarter points, LC State posted 24 points in the third quarter and 25 in the fourth.

Sander’s last one in Lewiston

Barring a fifth-seeded College of Idaho upset of Southern Oregon paired with what the Warriors hope is a win at Oregon Tech, Wednesday was Sander’s likely final game at the P1FCU Activity Center at Lewis-Clark State College.

Her final shot was a 3-pointer with about 90 seconds left in the game.

Hymas sent a cross-court pass to Sander who launched the ball into liftoff and smiled ear-to-ear as the shot gracefully sailed through the nylon.

As Sander walked off the court, she high-fived coach Caelyn Orlandi and celebrated with her teammates and with her family after the game.

Sander, a Spokane native, said she is grateful to have had the career that she has had in Lewiston and that her parents have not missed a game this year, home or away.

“It’s just bittersweet. And being a senior, having that ending — like obviously the first half was rough, but we came out hard,” Sander said. “The second half, we really played our hearts out, locked down on defense, started hitting shots.”

Moving on to semis

Soon after the Warriors’ 26-point victory, they learned that second-seeded Oregon Tech had beaten visiting Corban to secure a date with LC State in the CCC semifinals to take place at 7 p.m. Saturday. Unfortunately for the Warriors, that comes with a 5:30 a.m. today bus ride to the Klamath Falls, Ore.

Sander said she is confident that the Warriors can go far in the postseason because of the tough losses and adversity that they have faced.

“We’ve really been through it,” Sander said. “We’ve got that grit.”

BUSHNELL (11-18)

Mathis 6-8 5-8 17, Sisul 2-6 0-0 5, Tjoelker 2-6 0-0 5, Mastel 4-12 2-2 10, Krupke 3-12 2-2 8, Lopez 2-11 0-0 4, Campos 0-1 0-0 0, Reed 0-0 0-0 0, Quinn 0-0 0-0 0, Gwillim 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 19-57 9-12 49.

LEWIS-CLARK STATE (24-5)

Byrd 5-7 2-3 15, Herring 4-13 1-2 9, Hymas 6-11 0-2 12, Sander 4-9 0-0 9, Green 3-10 2-2 8, Wilson 1-2 0-0 2, Brager 5-9 0-0 14, Barger 0-1 0-0 0, Beardin 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 30-66 5-9 75.

Bushnell 13 12 13 11—49

LC State 9 17 24 25—75

3-point goals — BU 2-18 (Krupke 0-7, Tjoelker 1-5, Sisul 1-4, Lopez 0-2), LCSC 10-19 (Byrd 3-3, Hymas 0-1, Sander 1-4, Green 0-1, Brager 4-7, Wallace 2-2, Beardin 0-1). Assists — BU 9 (Sisul 4), LCSC 14 (Hymas 5). Rebounds — BU 35 (Mathis 16), LCSC 43 (Green 11). Total fouls — BU 10, LCSC 14. Attendance — 678.

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