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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Shadle, Mead Among Gsl’s Basketball Leaders

Mike Vlahovich Staff Writer

The holidays over, area high school basketball teams have returned to league competition in earnest.

Going into the week, a trio of Greater Spokane League basketball teams were unbeaten, including Shadle Park and Mead, which don’t meet until Jan. 17.

Gonzaga Prep is in the middle of a trio of successive games against the league’s three unbeaten teams.

Rogers and North Central are looking for their first wins.

The Highlander duo of Kelly Bartleson and Shawna Rainer have nearly identical scoring averages after four games.

Bartleson has scored 66 points for a 16.5 average and Rainer 65, an average of 16.25 per game.

Mead’s boys so far are living up to preseason notice with three straight wins.

A measure of the team’s strength was its initial triumph over North Central in which five players scored in double figures.

To date, Jason Smith is averaging 16.0 per game and Damian Long 15.7 per contest.

Included was Smith’s 24-point effort against Central Valley in which he scored 17 fourth-quarter points. Included were 14 straight for the Panthers during an 18-point run that put the game away, 66-54.

Next step for busy wrestlers

North Side wrestlers were kept busy with tournaments and nonleague dual matches during the holidays.

Now they turn their attention to league competition.

Rogers High School, the busiest of the bunch, and Mead face stern tests when they wrestle unbeaten Central Valley. Rogers hosts the Bears when Greater Spokane League action resumes tonight.

The Panthers travel to CV on Friday.

The Pirates and Shadle Park swept a pair of non-league contests with visiting Eisenhower and KentMeridian.

Rogers then was involved in the Highline Community College dualmatch tournament in Seattle, reaching the finals with three wins before losing to South Kitsap 41-19.

Daryl Groom went unbeaten in the four matches.

Then, during Mead’s Tournament of Champions, the Pirates had five finalists and three champions: Groom, James Dawe and Randy Ramos.

Mead defeated the Pirates 202.5 to 191 with three champions among 10 finalists.

Troy Hughes won his second tournament in just over a week. He had edged Deer Park state champion Alex Schulz 8-6 during the Wendy’s Tri-State Tournament in Coeur d’Alene.

James Clark and Erin Vandagriff were the other Tournament of Champion winners.

At the rugged Tri-State, Gonzaga Prep’s Steve Steigleder finished fourth, Riverside’s Henry Peterson was fifth, and Deer Park’s Clinton Umbach and Mead’s John Parry were sixth.

Hot races in Northeast A

Hot races will begin to be resolved when Northeast A league action resumes on Friday.

Currently four teams in the boys league are in the title picture, including 4-1 Riverside.

The Rams host one of the contenders, 3-1 Freeman, on Friday and winless Deer Park on Saturday.

Riverside lost twice during the Eagle Holiday Classic at West Valley and is 5-3 overall.

Lakeside will attempt to get back into the race with home games against Kettle Falls and league leader Medical Lake.

The Eagles are 4-3 after winning a holiday tournament in Reardan. Chevy Mathews scored 39 points during two games.

The girls league is also a four-team battle, including Riverside and Lakeside. The Rams are 8-1 overall, with their lone loss to leagueunbeaten Colfax.

During the winter break, Lakeside reached the finals of the Reardan Tournament before losing to Davenport for a 5-3 overall record.

Stephanie Guenther scored 26 points, including 17 against Reardan, and Lora Jolley added 23.