Titans Find Winning Mix
GSL boys basketball
The by-product in a season of struggles for the University boys basketball team may be a one-two punch that could allow the Titans to extend their season into the District 8 playoffs.
Senior Eric Stark came off the bench for 13 first-half points and sophomore Erik Carlson, who replaced Stark in the starting lineup, scored 12 of his careerhigh 16 in the third quarter as the Titans tightened the Greater Spokane League standings with a 69-44 thumping of Rogers at the Coliseum Tuesday night.
University, Rogers and North Central are tied for the sixth and final playoff spot at 4-8, just one win ahead of Shadle Park and two behind Gonzaga Prep, which upset Lewis and Clark, and Central Valley, which was upset by Shadle Park.
“I’m real happy for Eric Stark,” University coach Jay Humphrey said. “He’s been a real leader. It’s hard to go from starter to coming off the bench because of a sophomore, but he’s taken it as good as anyone could.”
Stark’s first basket tied the game at 11 late in the first quarter. He scored 11 of U-Hi’s next 13 points (Carlson had the other bucket) that gave the Titans a 24-16 lead midway through the second quarter.
Carlson hit all five of his shots, giving him seven straight, and half of his four free throws in the third quarter as U-Hi buried the Pirates with a 15-3 run in a 24-13 quarter that built a 52-34 lead. He sat out the fourth quarter.
“I’m just trying to get more focused before the game and go out and play as hard as I can,” the 6-foot-5 Carlson said. “I do whatever I can to help us win.”
Humphrey whispered, “It starts with a D down on the other end.”
“Oh, yeah,” Carlson said, “defense.”
With Carlson and Craig Allen, who had 15 rebounds, University dominated the boards, especially in the second half with a 23-9 advantage.
The lead was 32 in the fourth quarter before Rogers scored the last seven points.
“I think it’s the kind of thing that has been building since the loss at North Central (a week earlier),” Humphrey said. “Everything surrounding that night was awful. We had a heart-to-heart with me doing most of the talking.
“It’s not one thing. It’s been building after getting knocked down so low. We definitely have to win a couple more games, but if we stay consistent, there’s so much parity in the league, we could be there at the end.”
Expect the Pirates to have a similar talk.
“I don’t know,” Rogers coach Rick Mergenthaler said. “That’s our problem: you don’t know which team is going to show up. Quite frankly, we lacked discipline, we didn’t rebound and we got beat defensively. All the things that we thought we turned around, we didn’t do. We prepared hard, we prepared well, but this was a team effort. We got outhustled.”
University 69, Rogers 44
University 13 15 24 17 - 69 Rogers 14 7 13 10 - 44
UNIVERSITY Burningham 1 0-0 3, Jeffries 1 0-0 2, Fryer 0 0-0 0, Johnson 4 0-0 9, Wetzel 1 4-4 6, Dewey 3 0-1 8, Stark 6 0-2 13, Cortez 0 0-0 0, Hineman 1 2-2 4, Carlson 7 2-4 16, Massey 0 0-0 0, Allen 3 2-2 8. Totals 27 10-15 69.
ROGERS Muse 1 0-0 3, Simpson 3 0-0 6, Fischer 1 0-0 2, Scott 1 0-0 2, Spencer 4 0-0 10, Metcalf 1 7-8 9, Olson 1 0-0 2, Olsen 0 1-2 1, Dainty 0 0-0 0, Mergenthaler 1 1-2 3, Smith 3 0-0 6. Totals 16 9-13 44.
3-point goals - Burningham, Johnson, Dewey 2, Stark, Muse, Spencer 2. Total fouls - R 14, U 14. Fouled out - none.
Mead 54, North Central 46
The Panthers hit 10 of 14 free throws in the fourth quarter to pull away from the Indians at NC.
The game was a battle inside as Mead’s Jason Smith had 22 points and six rebounds while NC’s Jerry Holdren had 21 points and 12 boards.
Mead 14 8 12 20 - 54 North Central 18 8 9 11 - 46
MEAD Morris 3 0-0 8, Naccarato 2 0-0 4, Donovan 0 2-2 2, Foils 0 0-0 0, Armitage 0 0-0 0, Long 4 3-5 12, Smith 8 6-6 22, Pilkington 2 2-4 6, Castaneda 0 0-0 0, Walton 0 0-0 0. Totals 19 13-17 54.
NORTH CENTRAL Lake 1 0-0 2, Blanchat 3 0-0 7, Etter 0 3-4 3, Kuhlman 4 0-0 9, Holdren 8 4-6 21, Kapelke 2 0-0 4, Johnson 0 0-0 0. Totals 18 7-10 46.
3-point goals - Morris 2, Long, Blanchat, Kuhlman, Holdren. Total fouls - Mead 13, North Central 15. Fouled out - Smith.
Gonzaga Prep 65 Lewis and Clark 62
Tyler Jordan scored 15 points, including four free throws in the final minute, as the Bullpups held off the visiting Tigers.
Jordan had seven assists and Joe McFarland had 15 points and 12 rebounds for Prep. Mike Homer led LC with a career-high 25 points and Paul Mencke added 22.
Lewis and Clark 10 18 16 18 - 62 Gonzaga Prep 16 22 15 12 - 65
LEWIS AND CLARK Osborne 0 0-0 0, Lynch 1 0-0 2, Stueckle 0 2-2 2, Olson 5 1-3 11, Homer 11 0-2 25, Kane 0 0-0 0, Mencke 9 4-4 22, Haynes 0 0-1 0. Totals 26 7-11 62.
GONZAGA PREP Strahl 4 0-2 8, Kocharhook 0 0-0 0, Thielman 0 0-0 0, Herrin 2 1-5 6, Jordan 4 6-6 15, Powell 3 1-2 9, Sweeny 2 5-8 10, McFarland 7 1-3 15, Knight 1 0-0 2. Totals 23 14-26 65.
3-point goals - Homer 3, Herrin, Jordan, Powell 2, Sweeny. Total fouls - LC 19, GP 15. Fouled out - none.
Shadle Park 57 Central Valley 56
Josh Mobbs hit five 3-pointers, including one with 4 seconds left, as the Highlanders upset the Bears at CV.
Rob Debeaumont led Shadle with 21 points, including nine in the fourth quarter. He also had nine in the first quarter as Shadle Park built an 11-point halftime lead.
CV tied the game by the end of the third quarter and held a five-point lead late in the game, but went 0 for 6 from the free-throw line in the fourth quarter and 3 for 12 for the game.
Shadle Park 15 16 7 19 - 57 Central Valley 12 8 18 18 - 56
SHADLE PARK Grote 1 0-0 2, Kingsbury 0 0-0 0, Dunham 1 2-2 5, Baune 0 0-0 0, Monahan 0 0-0 0, Anderson 2 2-2 6, Mobbs 6 2-2 19, Wood 2 0-1 4, Debeaumont 8 4-4 21. Totals 20 10-11 57.
CENTRAL VALLEY Nesbitt 5 0-0 14, Graczyk 0 0-0 0, Schuh 5 0-1 13, Jensen 2 2-7 6, Williams 2 0-0 4, DelMese 0 0-0 0, Platt 1 0-1 2, May 2 0-0 4, Courchaine 6 1-3 13. Totals 23 3-12 56.
3-point goals - Dunham, Mobbs 5, Debeaumont, Nesbitt 4, Schuh 3. Total fouls - Shadle Park 17, Central Valley 15. Fouled out - None.
xxxx “GSL boys standings.”