Clutch Block By Watts Lifts Ferris Over Rogers

UNPUBLISHED CORRECTION: The name of football player Jeremey Williams is misspelled in this story. The correct spelling was confirmed by his mother.

GSL boys

Chris Watts had a big game on offense, but it was his defense that made a winner of Ferris.

Watts blocked Sam Dempsey’s shot just before the buzzer to protect the Saxons’ 58-56 win over visiting Rogers in a Greater Spokane League boys basketball showdown Saturday.

“I saw him; it was kind of reaction,” said Watts, who had 15 of his 18 points in the first half.

The Pirates (5-1 overall, 3-1 GSL), got the ball with 27 seconds left and called a timeout with 14 remaining. Brett Oglesbee’s attempt at a 3-pointer with 8 seconds left missed the mark, but the ball bounced to teammate Jason Ridley.

The Saxons (6-0, 4-0) knocked the ball out of bounds under their basket and called a timeout with 4 seconds left, setting up the last shot. The ball was thrown in to Dempsey to the left of the lane, but when he turned toward the basket, Watts, a 6-foot-6 junior, batted the ball away.

“We didn’t know what was coming,” Ferris coach Wayne Gilman said. “Chris made a good move defensively to get a piece of it. We did know we didn’t want them to shoot a 3.”

With good reason. The Pirates had seven 3-pointers, five by Adam Hooper, who scored a career-high 19 points. It was his 3-pointer from the left wing that pulled Rogers within 57-56 with 57 seconds to play.

Rogers fouled Brad Hodl with 27 seconds left, but he made just 1 of 2, giving the Pirates a chance.

Rogers scored the first six points and led 9-2. Watts sparked a 14-3 run for an 18-15 lead early in the second quarter. The Saxons then closed the half with a 12-2 run that included six points from Watts on assists from Hodl, for a 34-23 lead.

“In the second quarter, defensively we missed some assignments,” Rogers coach Rick Mergenthaler said. “Then we had to play from a hole. I’m proud of the kids. They stepped up and proved they could play with anyone in the league. … These kids are going to be around for the whole season.”

The second half was a different story as the Pirates shut down Watts.

“They were putting more pressure on the passers and that made it a little harder for us to get him the ball,” Gilman said. “They are a good team. We played well offensively for about 4 minutes in the second quarter, the rest of the time we struggled.”

Ridley scored eight of his career-high 22 points in the third quarter as the Pirates battled back. They caught Ferris at 51 on a Ridley 3-pointer from the left corner and an Oglesbee basket on a pass from Dempsey with 4:40 to play.

With the scored tied at 53, Watts was fouled. He made the first free throw and missed the second. Jeremy Williams rebounded for the Saxons and turned it into a three-point play.

Ferris 58, Rogers 56

Rogers 12 11 19 14 - 56

Ferris 12 22 12 12 - 58

ROGERS - Hooper 6 2-3 19, Wallen 0 0-0 0, Ridley 10 2-3 23, Oglesbee 3 0-3 7, Dempsey 0 3-4 3, Pugh 1 0-0 2, Rother 1 0-0 2. Totals 21 7-13 56.

FERRIS - Biggerstaff 2 0-0 5, Servine 1 0-0 3, Atkins 5 1-2 11, Watts 8 1-4 18, Hodl 3 4-5 10, Mietus 1 0-0 2, Donner 0 0-0 0, Williams 4 1-1 9. Totals 24 7-12 58.

3-point goals - Hooper 5, Ridley, Oglesbee, Biggerstaff, Servine, Watts. Total fouls - Rogers 12, Ferris 14. Fouled out - Pugh, Meitus.

CV 59, LC 51

The Tigers (4-2, 3-1) were outscored 13-3 in the third quarter as the visiting Bears (4-1, 3-1) forged a four-way tie for second with the win.

Ryan Smith had three steals for layins in the third quarter, scoring six points. He also had four assists and five steals for the game. Patrick Libey came off the Bears’ bench to make 5 of 7 field-goal attempts and score 11 points.

Tyrees Donastorg and Pat Luce each scored eight points for the Tigers (3-1, 4-2) in the first half. Donastorg added six rebounds.

Central Valley 21 14 13 11 - 59

Lewis and Clark 14 19 3 15 - 51

CENTRAL VALLEY - Eigenhuis 1 0-0 2, Priebe 4 0-1 9, Smith 3 4-6 10, Hebden 1 0-0 3, Hinckley 3 1-1 7, Libey 5 1-4 11, Depew 0 1-2 1, McFarlane 4 1-3 9, Perkes 3 1-1 7. Totals 24 9-18 59.

LEWIS AND CLARK - Bowman 0 0-0 0, Hook 0 0-0 0, Defour 5 1-2 13, Coleman 0 0-0 0, Avery 4 0-0 10, Donastorg 4 1-1 12, Kuhlmann 3 0-0 6, Marshall 0 0-0 0, Spurgetis 0 0-0 0, Luce 4 2-2 10. Totals 20 4-6 51.

3-point goals - Priebe, Hebden, Defour 2, Avery 2, Donastorg 3. Total fouls - CV 9, LC 20. Fouled out - Defour.

Mead 48, University 30

Tom Castillo shot 5 of 10 and Jason Galles 7 of 8 from the field to lead the Panthers (3-1, 4-2) past the shorter Titans (0-4, 0-6).

Andy Stone had four assists. Brian Wolverton added nine rebounds.

Chris Short connected with three 3-pointers for the Titans.

University 9 4 11 6 - 30

Mead 12 11 14 11 - 48

UNIVERSITY - Sale 0 0-0 0, Merrifield 0 0-0 0, Short 3 0-0 9, Benefield 0 0-0 0, Ruscio 0 0-0 0, Moore 0 0-0 0, Roberts 2 0-0 4, Van Dyne 5 2-2 13, Florence 0 0-0 0, Renz 1 2-2 4, Jeffries 0 0-0 0, Price 0 0-0 0, Schmidt 0 0-0 0. Totals 11 4-4 30.

MEAD - Adams 1 0-1 2, Stenerson 0 2-2 2, Stucky 0 1-2 1, Zelinski 0 0-0 0, Castillo 5 4-7 14, Schollmeyer 0 0-0 0, Scholl 1 0-0 2, Stone 1 3-5 5, Galles 7 0-2 14, Boydston 0 0-0 0, Wolverton 4 0-1 8. Totals 19 10-18 48.

3-point goals - Short 3, VanDyne. Total fouls - University 19, Mead 11. Fouled out - None.

North Central 62, Mt. Spokane 47

Sean Allbery hit two 3-point field goals in the first quarter and Chris Allen added eight points before halftime to give the Indians (2-4, 2-2) a good start against the Wildcats (1-4, 0-4).

Allen also sank 5 of 11 field goals.

The Indians were 10 of 12 on free throws in the first half.

Mt. Spokane 9 14 11 13 - 47

North Central 16 17 16 13 - 62

MT. SPOKANE - Adams 1 0-1 2, Gaston 2 0-0 5, Tabisz 3 0-0 6, Clark 3 4-9 13, Bishop 3 0-2 7, Young 1 0-2 2, Hammond 1 0-0 2, Swanson 0 0-0 0, Lewis 4 1-1 9. Totals 18 5-15 47.

NORTH CENTRAL - Ch.Allen 5 5-5 17, Lesesne 0 0-0 0, Montgomery 0 0-0 0, Co.Allen 0 0-0 0, Robinson 2 0-0 4, Blotsky 3 3-3 9, Farr 2 4-6 9, Allbery 4 0-0 11, Martyn 4 4-4 12, Johnson 0 0-0 0. Totals 20 16-18 62.

3-point goals - Clark 3, Gaston, Bishop, Ch.Allen 2, Farr, Allbery 3. Total fouls - Mt. Spokane 13, NC 16. Fouled out - none.

Gonzaga Prep 75, Shadle Park 60

The Bullpups (2-4, 2-2) made 21 of 32 free throws to defeat the Highlanders (1-5, 0-4) at Shadle Park.

Gonzaga Prep 15 20 22 18 - 75

Shadle Park 9 11 13 27 - 60

GONZAGA PREP - Johnson 5 5-6 15, Ryan 0 1-2 1, McIntyre 5 1-1 9, Thielman 2 1-2 5, Maher 4 0-2 8, Frankovic 0 0-0 0, Dixson 2 2-6 6, Bacon 1 0-0 2, Hartnett 5 5-6 15, Ivers 0 0-0 0, Yarbrough 4 6-7 14. Total 28 21-32 75.

SHADLE PARK - Wynne 0 0-0 0, Ryan 1 0-2 2, Beal 6 0-1 14, Evans 2 2-2 7, Jerr.Johnson 0 0-0 0, Howlett 4 0-1 9, Bruck 1 0-0 2, Doyle 5 5-10 17, Jere.Johnson 2 1-2 5, Singleton 2 0-0 4. Total 23 8-18 60.

3-point goals - Gonzaga 0, Beal 2, Evans, Howlett, Doyle 2. Total fouls - Gonzaga 18, Shadle 23. Fouled out - Ryan, Singleton.

, DataTimes