McMINNVILLE, Ore. – Darne Duckett and Jaron Kirkley proved to be too much to handle as the Whitman Blues ended the Linfield Wildcats' storybook season Thursday night at Ted Wilson Gymnasium in the semifinals of the Northwest Conference Tournament. The duo combined for 45 points as the Blues took the win, 85-70.
"I'm extremely proud of this team and all we have accomplished this year," said Linfield coach
Shanan Rosenberg afterward. "Unfortunately, we didn't quite play well enough to win."
The Blues started the night with some hot shooting, making eight of their first 14 shots. The Wildcats struggled offensively, going 3 for 9 and without a point for two minutes. Linfield started to fget some momentum, going on a 10-2 run to pull within three, 17-14.
Another Whitman run stretched out the lead, before the Blues went scoreless for two minutes. Linfield turned that into a 5-0 run, despite missing 4 of 5 three-point shots during that stretch, and the Whitman lead was 24-19. But a
Will Burghardt three capped an 11-2 Wildcat run, tying the score at 25. Whitman scored just once more time before the halftime break, making the score 27-25 Blues at intermission.
Offense was a struggle for both teams in the opening frame, as the Blues shot 31 percent from the field and the Wildcats shot only 26.5 percent. Linfield was 5 for 16 on three pointers and Whitman went 1 for 10.
Grant Gibb and
Aaron Baune were the only Wildcats to get anything going in the opening half, both connecting on a pair of three-pointers.
Austin Hilton and
Matt Berger each had six rebounds in the half. Kirkley scored nine points on 4 of 8 shooting to lead the Blues during the opening 20 minutes.
"We did a fine job with turnovers, we played our hearts out, and had plenty of opportunities, but just couldn't convert enough to give us a chance," said Rosenberg. "Credit Whitman for some of that, but we shouldn't feel any regrets or negative emotion from this game."
In the second half, Whitman was almost unstoppable. Back-to-back threes from Andrew Vickers and Darne Duckett were part of an 8-0 run to open the half. The Blues made five of their first six shots, including a trio of threes. Vickers made three baskets to open the half, pushing the Whitman advantage to 43-35. The senior first team all-conference selection finished the game with 11 points.
Eleven of the first 13 baskets of the half, including six of seven from three-point range, were made by the Blues in early portion of the second half. The Blues' lead stretched to 16 by that point before the Wildcats responded with four made field goals with just under seven minutes left to go. A 10-2 run ensued for Linfield and the lead was down to 11.
But Kirkley made six of his next seven shots and Duckett hit back-to-back threes to keep the lead in double figures and stop the Linfield threat. Duckett scored 21 points in the second half, making six of his eight shots in the half and four threes. Kirkley only missed one shot in the second half on route to 11 points in the final frame.
The Wildcats went on one last 5-2 run, with a massive dunk by
Tanner Autencio to get the House of Hustle loud one last time. But at that point it was too late with Linfield still down 12. Whitman closed things out to advance to the NWC Championship against Whitworth on Saturday.
Whtiman finished the game shooting 45 percent from the field, spurred by 61 percent shooting in the second half. The Wildcats finished the game shooting 35 percent, their lowest percentage of the season, while making only 28 percent of their three-pointers. The three-point percentage was the lowest since January 17. The Wildcats' 70-point output was the club's lowest since January 17.
Dempsey Roggenbuck finished with 18 points to lead Linfield and
Max Lommen had 12. Gibb finished with 11 points, making three three-pointers. Gibb finishes as one of the best three-point shooters in program history, with the fifth-most threes made in Linfield history and ninth best three-point percentage. The senior also shot 93 percent from the free throw line this season, the highest percentage in a single season in program history.
Tanner Autencio finished with six points, six assists and six rebounds in his final game for the Wildcats. Autencio concludes his senior campaign with the single-game assists record and the single-game steals record.
Austin Hilton finishes his career in the purple and cardinal with four points and nine rebounds. Hilton finishes in the top 15 alltime in field goal percentage, top 10 in block shots and top 15 in blocks per game average.
The Wildcats end their season with record of 20-6, marking the most successful season in nearly two decades. Linfield earned a NWC co-championship, their first since 2001 and No. 25 in the history of the program. Their 20 wins were the best in program history since that same 2001 season.
"There are so many things to be grateful for with this team, but for our seniors it was an amazing way for them to finish their careers here – setting records and creating historical heights for our program. I will always remember this team and all they have meant to me and Linfield College. I couldn't be more proud."