Stinson Sets State Record; Davenport Wins Neb Title

To the Davenport faithful, the driving layup was a reason to celebrate.

To senior Jennifer Stinson, the basket was just another two points toward a bigger goal.

Stinson became the state’s high school career scoring leader Saturday night at Spokane Falls Community College by accumulating 33 points against St. George’s.

More important than surpassing Kate Starbird’s record, Stinson said, was beating St. George’s 55-51 for the District 7-B Tournament title.

Stinson tied Starbird’s 2,753 points with a 12-foot baseline jumper with 6 minutes, 38 seconds left in the title game. Thirty seconds later, Stinson drove through the lane for a banker and 2,755 points.

The baskets came during a spree in which Stinson scored 13 consecutive points for her team, rallying the Gorillas from a 42-41 deficit to a very satisfying win.

“The record wouldn’t mean that much if we didn’t win the title,” Stinson said.

Davenport (25-1) and St. George’s (24-2), tied for second in The Associated Press poll, have split the last four district title games. They also met in the state final the previous three years, with the Gorillas winning twice.

In the boys title game, defending State B champion and ninth-ranked Northwest Christian (22-4) served notice with a 59-49 win over seventh-ranked Almira/CouleeHartline (20-6). NWC won its only other district title in 1990.

Earlier, the Sprague-Harrington boys advanced to state by stopping St. George’s 61-53, and the WilburCreston girls also moved on by edging ACH 47-42.

Girls

Davenport 55, St. George’s 51

The Gorillas’ crowd was ready to whoop it up with banners and signs commemorating Stinson’s accomplishment of passing Starbird, who prepped at Lakes High and is now at Stanford.

“It wasn’t on my mind,” Stinson said about the record-tying and recordbreaking shots. “I can’t count that high.”

The cheering turned to jeering seconds later, as Stinson picked up her fourth foul with Davenport protecting a 48-43 lead.

Unaccountably, the defending state champion Dragons took some time before working their offense to challenge Stinson.

“We played about a B-minus game, really,” said St. George’s coach Ross Thomas. “And it was still anyone’s game at the end.”

When the Dragons attacked inside, with senior Chrissy Peterson picking up six of her 26 points, the Gorillas’ lead shrunk to 53-51 with 35 seconds left.

St. George’s had two chances to tie with 25 seconds left, but Stinson snared a rebound on the second miss. The Dragons fouled Andee Marriott, who hit two free throws with 15 seconds left.

Davenport coach Jim Stinson praised Marriott for handling the Dragons’ defensive pressure. Because of Marriott, Thomas said, St. George’s had a seasonlow 10 steals.

“I’m very proud of Jennifer,” Jim Stinson said, “but I’m also proud of the team for winning the district championship again. I’d love to see St. George’s again (in the state title game).”

Davenport 11 19 12 13 - 55 St. George’s 8 20 13 10 - 51

DAVENPORT Becker 8, J.Emery 2, A.Marriott 10, Schreck 0, Warwick 2, C.Emery 0, Jacobsen 0, Stinson 33, Mikelson 0.

ST. GEORGE’S Mann 2, Sadler 0, Innes 0, Trowbridge 12, Arthur 4, Harvill 0, Longinotti 7, Peterson 26

Wilb.-Creston 47, ACH 42

Junior Jessica Martin had 28 points, 18 rebounds and four steals, and the eighth-ranked Wildcats (23-4) was 18 of 23 from the line to beat the Warriors.

ACH (20-8) went to the line with 2:14 left and the score tied at 40. W-C sophomore Mindy Bandy rebounded a miss, was fouled and made two free throws. Martin’s three-point play with 40 seconds left sealed the win.

Martin made 9 of 16 field goals and 10 of 14 free throws. She had 10 as W-C pulled ahead with a 17-12 second period.

W-C shot 68 of 83 from the line for the tournament.

For ACH, junior Christine Peterson scored 14.

Wilbur-Creston 10 17 8 12 - 47 ACH 12 12 8 10 - 42

WILBUR-CRESTON Allen 2, Llewellyn 7, Grant 3, Martin 28, Haden 0, H.Arden 5, Bandy 2.

ALMIRA/COULEE-HARTLINE Hennigh 2, Rock 8, Thiry 10, Peterson 14, Hunsaker 2, White 0, Durrant 4, Malone 2.

Boys

NWC 59, ACH 49

The opening of the second half was a perfect example of what the Crusaders do to rivals.

A 25-22 NWC lead quickly became 33-22 as seniors Jason Iverson and Adam Rapelje, and sophomores Jeff Meyers and Nate Dunham contributed one basket apiece.

“A team can’t just shut down one guy,” said Rapelje, who led the Crusaders with 14 points. “Somebody else will step it up.”

Jason Pierce of ACH made three 3-pointers after that, but the Warriors never came closer than six points.

The frightening thing to consider is how good NWC would be if Graham Dunham and John Barneson hadn’t transferred after last year’s title.

“I’m thankful we peaked at a pretty good time,” said NWC coach Danny Beard.

“It’s been a fun year,” Beard said. “I told the guys before district, `If it ends there, I felt good about the year.”’

Cameron Carstensen kept ACH close in the first half with 13 of his 19 points. Pierce (11 points) was the Warriors’ only other reliable scorer.

“We’re usually a balanced team,” said ACH coach Jim Wacker. “The kids are disappointed, but we’re still the No. 2 team out of this district.”

Almira/Cou.-Hart. 12 10 15 12 - 49 NW Christian 12 13 18 16 - 59

ALMIRA/COULEE-HARTLINE Higginbotham 0, Pierce 11, Murray 5, Elder 0, Cunningham 3, Janzen 4, Slahtasky 2, Carstensen 19, Roberts 2, Goodwin 0, Evers 0, Andersen 3.

NORTHWEST CHRISTIAN Dryden 2, Dunham 13, Meyers 10, Iverson 7, Woods 8, Rapelje 14, Whelham 0, Crouch 2, Klaja 3.

Spr.-Harr. 61, St. George’s 53

Senior Ryan Floyd made four 3-pointers and scored 25 as the secondranked Falcons (26-1) advanced by holding off a late charge by the Dragons.

S-H took an eight-point lead into the fourth quarter. Four times the Dragons (17-11) crept within four points, but S-H responded each time.

Falcons sophomore David Countryman had a steal with 50 seconds left that settled the outcome.

S-H led 26-15 late in the second quarter, but the Dragons scored the final six points of the half.

Junior Jason Ala had 33 points - including three 3-pointers - and 10 rebounds, and senior Mike Thomas added 10 rebounds for St. George’s.

S-H senior Nick Colbert had four steals and three blocked shots.

Sprague-Harr. 10 16 22 13 - 61 St. George’s 10 11 19 13 - 53

SPRAGUE-HARRINGTON Newcomb 2, Floyd 25, Bly 4, Korby 3, Putney 0, Countryman 6, Schmitt 6, Hattrup 6, Colbert 9.

ST. GEORGE’S Davis 2, Kennedy 0, Laugen 4, Ala 33, Averett 1, Cook 7, Thomas 8.

MEMO: A sidebar appeared wiht this story under the headline “B Tournament-Bound.”