King's boys in semifinals / 1A, 2B Basketball

YAKIMA — King's tripped previously unbeaten Granger 68-61 and defending champ Vashon stopped Bellevue Christian 54-48 Thursday to reach the semifinals of the Class 1A boys state basketball tournament.

Size and experience made a difference for the sixth-ranked Knights (21-6) from Shoreline, last year's state runners-up. They started five seniors and their front line measures 6-5, 6-3 and 6-6. Second-ranked Granger (23-1) started no seniors and had nobody over 6-2.

The 6-foot-3 Karl Clocksin scored 20 points and 6-6 Daniel Cheledinas and Ryan Hoff each scored 16 for the Knights.

Clocksin also grabbed 11 rebounds and blocked three shots.

King's took a six-point lead at halftime and never let Granger get closer than five in the second half.

Mitchell Zapien, who leads Granger with a 20-point average, added 12 before fouling out in the fourth quarter.

The Knights hit 49 percent (25 of 51) of their shots while Granger made 37 percent.

In the semifinals at 6 p.m. Friday, the Knights (21-6) will play No. 8 Meridian (18-7), which beat Freeman 56-48. Zach Slesk scored 18 points, Mike Hayes added 15 and Josiah Sebens scored 14. The Trojans shot 53 percent and were 10 of 18 in the second half. Freeman shot only 32 percent.

Vashon returned to the semis behind 6-foot-9 Stanford recruit John Gage, who had 19 points and 12 rebounds.

The No. 3 Pirates (22-3) trailed most of the second half, but took the lead with a 7-0 run in the fourth quarter. Quinn Holert, who finished with 14 points, sank a three-pointer that pushed Vashon ahead 43-40 and then added another basket to close out the run. David Downs scored 22 for Bellevue Christian (18-7).

In the late semifinal Friday, Vashon will meet Cascade Christian (22-3) of Puyallup, which handled Onalaska 37-27.

1A girls

• At the Yakima SunDome, Connell battled back from a 14-point deficit for its second upset in two days, beating fifth-ranked Okanogan 44-40. Granger, Lynden Christian and Freeman also reached the semifinals.

• Lexi Petersen had 25 points on 10-of-16 shooting and Katie Collier added 16 points, 12 rebounds, eight blocks and four steals as top-ranked Seattle Christian (23-2), the defending champ, eliminated Cedar Park Christian of Bothell, 61-29.

• Kelly Costello's 15 points helped Vashon (19-8) oust Toledo, 41-34.

• Maren Haines (12 points, 14 rebounds) and Bree Oldham (12 points, 10 rebounds) had double-doubles as Bellevue Christian (19-6) beat Rainier 40-33 in a consolation game.

2B boys

• At Spokane Arena, Pe Ell got a buzzer-beating three-pointer from Hank Robinson to beat White Swan 65-64. Pe Ell was joined in the semifinals by Davenport, La Conner and Liberty Christian.

• Top-ranked Bear Creek (18-4) of Redmond, which lost its opener, bounced back to beat Soap Lake 57-44 behind Jamie Meyer's 21 points.

2B girls

• At Spokane Arena, third-ranked Napavine beat No. 4 Reardan 46-35 to reach the semifinals. Napavine plays top-ranked LaSalle and No. 2 Colfax meets Toutle Lake in the semifinals.

• Erica Hansen sank 3 of 4 free throws in the final 20 seconds as Evergreen Lutheran (16-6) of Des Moines got a 45-37 loser-out win over Liberty Christian.