One-Man Show Clips Cards

WALLA WALLA - Perhaps the only way anyone could have leveled the playing field between the WP Cardinals and the Lake Roosevelt Raiders was to raise the hoop board by at least a foot every time 6-foot, 8-inch Raider Ty Egbert stepped inside the key.

"We just didn't have the people to match him up," Cardinal Billy Brown said. "It was frustrating."

Thanks to the towering Egbert, a senior who has been recruited as a college basketball player by the University of Idaho, the Raiders smashed WP's playoff aspirations, 70- 53. No number of Zach Bartlow jump shots or treys could close the gap. And believe those who were present Friday night at Walla Walla High School: Bartlow and company tried.

They made 10 out of 33 three-point shot attempts, which was just about the only weapon left in the Big Birds' arsenal against the lofty "Eye of Mordor" Egbert on defense under the Raiders' basket.

"We fronted him, we doubled him, we fouled him," said head WP coach T.J. Scott.

The Cardinals were almost immediately in trouble against Egbert, who double dunked a fellow player's layup just to ensure it went in about halfway through the first quarter, which ended, 19-12, in the Raiders' favor. WP had to work twice as hard to fight for grab balls and came through with an impressive barrage of treys coming from Bartlow (4/7), Sterling Eastman (2/7), Justin Zuger (2/10), Dalton Estes (1/3) and Chance Leroue (1/1).

There was little the Cardinals could do to stop Egbert on his way to the WP board and on the other end of the court, the long-limbed player would simply stick out his arm to block a pass or slap it away before it was launched.

By halftime, the Raiders had nearly double the Cardinals' points 37-19 and despite good WP defense on the opening drives of the second half, they could not convert on the other coast, in part because of Lake Roosevelt's superior rebounds.

The Cardinals' three-pointers were inspiring, but never changed the game's momentum. The Raiders had an immediate answer to every WP score and then some. The third quarter ended, 57-31. The Cardinals rallied with treys and layups, outscoring the Raider 22-13 in the last period. But they could not overcome the gap even then, losing their playoff game, 70-53.

Sterling Eastman received the game's WIAA Sportsmanship Award.

Lake Roosevelt vs WP 70-53

WP (53) 12 7 12 22 - 53