Shorecrest shows size, upsets No. 1 River Ridge in quarterfinals, 69-59

Coach John Barbee thought size might be a problem in River Ridge High School’s Class 2A quarterfinal game against Shorecrest.

And it was.

A big, 6-foot-7 problem named Philip Pepple.

“We have some of the biggest guys in the state,” Pepple said. “We’re really big, and that causes problems for the other team.”

For River Ridge, Pepple caused 23 points worth of problems, as Shorecrest upset the top-ranked Hawks, 69-59, at the Yakima Valley SunDome.

“They got out of the gates and really bothered us that first quarter,” Barbee said. “We really struggled. Even in the second half, I thought we got some really good looks. Our guards going to the hole, cutting and driving, but when you run into a (6-7) guy that’s pretty disciplined, we struggled. We struggled shooting the ball.”

The Hawks, who averaged 76.2 points coming into Thursday night’s quarterfinal, shot 17 of 57 (29.8 percent) from the floor. Kobe Key was the only River Ridge player to reach double digits. He finished with 11 points — all in the first half.

Tre Dorfner, LaBrandon Price and Jaden White each added nine.

Every River Ridge starter ran into foul trouble at some point. Key, the Hawks’ point guard, sat out for much of the second half.

“Staying cool and collected — we didn’t,” Key said. “It just did not go our way.”

Three of River Ridge’s starters ended up fouling out, as the Hawks tried to buy time late. But Shorecrest hit 10 free throws in the final two minutes to ice it.

“It was big in a sense that I don’t know if we ever really got in a rhythm,” Barbee said. “I thought when we made a couple runs, we’d get bang, bang on a couple of calls. It stopped all of our runs, it felt like.

“I think just the momentum. It’s hard for us to get into a rhythm with guys fouling a lot — and we had a ton of fouls.”

Any run that the Hawks did make was quickly broken up. River Ridge only led twice, and neither lead lasted longer than one minute.

Malcolm Rosier-Butler — who scored 21 points — nailed a 3-pointer with four minutes, 43 seconds to go in the third to give Shorecrest the game’s final lead.

And Pepple continued to pour it on, scoring 20 of his points in the second half.

“We just had to play hard, and come in with more urgency in the second half,” he said. “When we play as a team, we’re hard to stop, and the score showed that.”

River Ridge (22-3) will play a loser-out game at 2 p.m. Friday. If the Hawks win, the best they can finish is fourth.

“One game, when we get through all of the emotions, isn’t going to define our season,” Barbee said. “These guys have earned everything they’ve gotten this year. We’re still a really good basketball team, they’re still good kids.

“And the greatest thing about basketball is you get to play again tomorrow.”

This story was originally published March 3, 2016 at 10:13 PM with the headline "Shorecrest shows size, upsets No. 1 River Ridge in quarterfinals, 69-59."