Double Ot Tips To Mead

GSL BOYS

Terry Irwin didn’t seem to care that the shot could have - probably should have - dropped or that his Central Valley Bears can’t seem to get the hang of this overtime thing.

“I don’t care who won the game, we competed our butts off,” the still-wired coach gushed after his team dropped a 66-64 double overtime decision at Mead. “That’s what basketball is all about. It’s a true classic case of it’s not whether you win or lose, it’s how you play the game.”

A cliche, true, but it wasn’t the same story he was telling Tuesday when the Bears lost a triple overtime game to Lewis and Clark, which at the time was already their third OT game of the season.

The ninth-ranked Panthers improved their Greater Spokane record to 9-1, 11-3. “I think we gave the fans their money’s worth, that was an exciting game,” he said. “Give CV credit.”

The Bears (6-5, 8-7) always seemed they should be out of the game but at the buzzer to end the second overtime, there was Ben Platt’s soft 8-foot shot dropping into the basket, spinning around and out.

The last-gasp failure to make up a six-point deficit in the final 1:09 allowed Damian Long and Jason Smith to be heroes. Long scored seven of his 15 points in the two overtimes and Smith had six of his 14 as he was in danger of not reaching double figures for the first team this season.

That erased a gutsy rally fueled by Jeremy Nesbitt and Corby Schuh, who combined to hit just six of 24 3-pointers, but almost all coming in the clutch. Nesbitt, who had 19 points, tied the score at 50 with 21 seconds in regulation to force overtime as the Bears battled from 10 down and another with 27 seconds left in the first overtime to force a second.

And, it left the standouts all but forgotten.

Mead’s Terry Donovan tried to bury the Bears, swishing two 3-pointers in each of the first three quarters. When he scored a 2 on a feed from Jeff Pilkington, Donovan was 7 of 8 for 20 points as the Panthers led 38-28 with 3:12 left in the third quarter.

After that, the Bears shadowed Donovan with Nesbitt and CV’s Geoff Courchaine hit 10 of 15 shots and grabbed 16 rebounds to keep the Mead in sight.

“Nesbitt did a good job on me,” Donovan said. “Then they hit some clutch times down the stretch, a couple of tough ones when we had hands in their face.”

Mead 66, CV 64 (2OT)

Central Valley 8 16 10 16 10 4 - 64 Mead 16 12 14 8 10 6 - 66

CENTRAL VALLEY Nesbitt 5 6-6 19, Graczyk 0 0-0 0, Schuh 5 0-1 13, Jensen 2 0-0 4, Williams 1 0-0 2, DelMese 1 0-0 2, Platt 2 0-2 4, May 0 0-0 0, Courchaine 10 0-2 20. Totals 26 6-11 64.

MEAD Morris 1 2-4 5, Naccarato 0 0-0 0, Donovan 7 0-0 20, Armitage 1 0-0 2, Long 7 1-1 15, Smith 6 2-3 14, Pilkington 3 0-0 6, Castaneda 2 0-1 4. Totals 27 5-9 66.

3-point goals - Nesbitt 3, Schuh 3, Donovan 6. Total fouls - CV 12, M 9. Technical foul - Pilkington.

Ferris 71 NC 46

Chris Hardan scored a career high 22 points, including four 3-pointers, off the bench to lead the Saxons (8-3, 11-4) over the visiting Indians (4-7, 6-9).

North Central 7 9 11 19 - 46 Ferris 10 22 12 27 - 71

NORTH CENTRAL Lake 0 0-0 0, Rosengrant 0 0-0 0, Blanchat 1 0-0 3, Etter 1 4-4 6, Kuhlman 6 1-2 14, Holdren 6 5-7 17, Kapelke 3 0-0 6, Eschenbacher 0 0-0 0, Johnson 0 0-0 0. Totals - 17 10-13 46.

FERRIS Bursch 1 0-0 3, Coulter 2 0-0 4, Freeman 0 2-2 2, Hardan 8 2-3 22, Gix 1 2-2 4, Henneberry 1 3-4 5, Oenning 6 2-2 15, Harmon 1 2-2 4, Stocum 1 6-8 8, Weatherred 1 2-2 4. Totals - 22 21-25 71.

3-point goals - Blanchat, Kuhlman, Bursch, Hardan 4, Oenning. Total fouls - NC 21, Ferris 16. Fouled out - Holdren. Technical foul - NC bench.

Rogers 73, Shadle 57

The Pirates (4-7, 6-7) recovered from a second-period scare to knock off the Highlanders (2-9, 4-11).

Modesto Spencer scored 25 points for Rogers, which led 25-14 after one quarter before Shadle went on a 13-1 run to take only lead of the night at 27-26. Rogers 25 16 17 15 - 73 Shadle Park 14 17 14 12 - 57

ROGERS Muse 2 0-0 4, Simpson 0 0-0 0, Fischer 6 3-4 16, Scott 0 0-0 0, Metcalf 3 2-2 8, Olson 0 0-0 0, Olsen 0 0-0 0, Dainty 0 0-0 0, Mergenthaler 4 0-1 11, Smith 4 1-3 9, Spencer 11 0-0 25. Totals 30 6-10 73.

SHADLE PARK Grote 1 2-2 4, Kingsbury 0 0-0 0, Dunham 1 0-0 2, Baune 0 0-0 0, Monahan 0 0-0 0, Anderson 3 5-6 11, Mobbs 2 4-4 10, Wood 4 0-0 8, Debeaumont 8 6-6 22. Totals 19 17-18 57.

3-Point goals - Fischer, Spencer 3, Mergenthaler 3, Mobbs 2. Total fouls - Rogers 16, Shadle Park 14. Fouled out - None.

G-Prep 48 U-Hi 46

Brian Herrin led a balanced Bullpup (5-5, 7-7) scoring attack with 11 points to edge the Titans (3-8, 5-10) at the Coliseum.

Gonzaga Prep 15 16 5 12 - 48 University 20 9 11 6 - 46

GONZAGA PREP Strahl 4 0-0 10, Kocharhook 0 0-0 0, Thielman 0 0-0 0, Herrin 5 0-0 11, Jordan 1 0-0 2, Powell 1 0-0 3, Sweeny 3 1-2 7, McFarland 2 2-4 6, Knight 3 3-3 9. Totals - 19 6-9 48.

UNIVERSITY Burningham 0 0-0 0, Jeffries 0 0-0 0, Johnson 2 0-0 5, Wetzel 1 0-0 2, Dewey 3 0-0 5, Stark 1 0-0 2, Cortez 0 0-0 0, Hineman 4 3-4 14, Carlson 5 0-0 10, Massey 0 0-0 0, Allen 4 0-0 8. Totals - 20 3-4 46.

3-point goals - Strahl 2, Herrin, Powell, Johnson, Dewey, Hineman 3. Total fouls - GP 11, U-Hi 12. Fouled out - none.