Mead Overhauls Ferris Panthers Come From 16 Back In Battle For Girls Lead

As showdown games go, this was more down than show, not that Mead is complaining.

The Panthers rallied from an early 16-point deficit to defeat Ferris 44-39 in a crucial Greater Spokane League girls basketball game at the Arena Tuesday night.

“Our heads just weren’t in it,” Mead’s Staci Schuerman said. “We looked scared.

We didn’t look like we were prepared.”

It allowed Mead to knock Ferris out of a three-way tie for first at the midway point of the season. The Panthers (8-3 overall, 8-1 GSL) are tied with third-ranked Central Valley (10-1, 8-1), which beat Rogers 77-43 at CV. Ferris (8-3, 7-2) is in third.

The Panthers didn’t panic when they were down 21-6 midway through the second quarter, continued to play good defense on Saxons stars Amy George and Karie Pruett, and won the game by dominating the boards and hitting free throws.

“I’m really proud of my girls for coming back. I’m not excited they put themselves in that position,” Mead coach Beth Wing said. “It was a good finish; we’re going to work on our beginning.”

The beginning was brutal, nine turnovers and 3-for-11 shooting in the first quarter to fall behind 11-4.

However, the tone was set.

Pruett and George were scoreless and the Saxons had 10 turnovers.

“They had 18 turnovers in the first half but we didn’t score on it,” Wing lamented. “We played good defense, but we couldn’t finish.”

By the end of the third quarter, the Panthers caught up at 28. Then Schuerman got into the game, scoring all nine of her points and grabbing five rebounds the last 8 minutes.

“Since I didn’t do anything at the beginning of the game, no one was watching me,” she said. “I saw the middle was wide open, so I filled the lane.”

Ferris got little production from George, who fouled out with six points, more than 11 below her average, and two from Pruett, who averages 11. Morgan Bennett shut down George, who shot 2 of 3.

Ferris 11 13 4 11 - 39

Mead 4 14 10 16 - 44

FERRIS - Pruett 0 2-3 2, Lytle 2 0-0 6, George 2 2-5 6, Morrisette 5 0-0 11, Brazzle 3 1-2 7, Martin 1 0-0 2, McCaffery 0 0-0 0, Benzel 2 1-2 5. Totals 15 6-12 39.

MEAD - Zelinski 3 4-4 10, Slater 1 2-2 4, Kehl 0 0-0 0, Ferguson 0 0-0 0, Bailey 5 0-1 10, Bennett 1 2-3 5, Leaf 1 0-0 2, Curry 2 0-0 4, Schuerman 3 3-3 9. Totals 16 11-13 44.

3-point goals - Lytle 2, Morrisette, Bennett. Total fouls - Ferris 17, Mead 12. Fouled out - George.

CV 77, Rogers 43

Courtney Phinney scored 12 of her career-high 13 points in the second half as the Bears beat the Pirates (6-5, 4-5).

Rikki Jackson had 23 points with four 3-pointers. She has 123 career 3-pointers, the most ever in the GSL.

Rogers 5 11 17 10 - 43

Central Valley 13 17 26 21 - 77

ROGERS - Abrahamson 3 4-7 10, Hatch 2 0-0 4, Zahrowski 0 0-0 0, Perry 2 0-1 4, Logue 2 0-0 4, Delger 3 0-0 8, Fairbanks 3 0-6 7, Bayne 0 2-2 2, Wright 2 0-0 4. Totals 17 6-16 43.

CENTRAL VALLEY - Phinney 6 1-2 13, Wilson 4 0-0 9, Donaldson 0 0-0 0, Grafos 4 0-0 9, Jackson 9 1-2 23, Shoquist 1 2-2 4, Liepman 2 1-2 5, J.Coyle 5 0-2 12, P.Bragdon 1 0-0 2. Totals 32 5-10 77.

3-point goals - Fairbanks, Wilson, Grafis, Jackson 4, Coyle 2. Total fouls - Rogers 12, CV 15. Fouled out - None.

University 45, North Central 35

Megan Owen’s six fourth-quarter points led the Titans (4-7, 4-5) past the visiting Indians (1-9, 1-8).

NC’s Jennifer Kennedy and Alice Stearns combined for 16 rebounds. Stearns also had 16 points.

University 16 10 6 13 - 45

North Central 6 4 16 9 - 35

UNIVERSITY - Conant 0 0-2 0, Lektorich 3 0-0 8, Nelson 1 1-1 3, Oglesbee 2 0-0 4, Owen 5 2-3 12, Parker 2 0-0 4, Schroeder 3 0-0 6, Shelton 1 0-0 3, Valkenaar 2 0-2 5, Whitney 0 0-0 0. Totals 19 3-6 45.

NORTH CENTRAL - Webber 0 2-4 2, Graesser 2 1-3 5, Ellenwood 4 0-0 8, Eschenbacher 0 0-0 0, White 0 0-0 0, Kennedy 0 2-2 2, Holdren 0 0-0 0, Bostic 0 0-0 0, Zinnecker 1 0-0 2, Stearns 4 8-12 16. Totals 11 13-21.

3-point goals - Valkenaar, Shelton, Lektorich 2. Total fouls - U-Hi 16, NC 13. Fouled out - none.

LC 49, Gonzaga Prep 43

The Tigers (5-6, 5-4) shot 36 percent from the field to defeat the visiting Bullpups (3-8, 3-6).

Shasta Glotfelty had 11 rebounds for LC. Freshman Juliann Laney had 16 points for G-Prep.

Gonzaga Prep 13 7 11 12 - 43

Lewis and Clark 9 10 19 11 - 49

GONZAGA PREP - Bloom 1 2-2 4, Laney 5 5-8 15, Green 4 1-1 9, Gibbon 0 0-0 0, Boren 1 0-0 2, Barnes 1 1-2 3, Jordan 3 2-4 8, Lindstrom 0 0-0 0, So.Housam 0 0-0 0, St.Housam 1 0-0 2, Millersmith 0 0-0 0. Totals 16 11-17 43.

LEWIS AND CLARK - Kauppila 0 2-2 2, Hamre 1 3-7 6, Storey 1 1-2 3, Wendle 2 2-2 6, Travis 4 3-4 11, Marquess 2 3-7 7, Glotfelty 3 4-8 10, Lopes 0 0-0 0, Ford 2 0-0 4. Totals 15 18-32 49.

3-point goals - Hamre. Total fouls - G-Prep 22, LC 18. Fouled out - Laney, Lindstrom.

Shadle Park 57, Mount Spokane 20

Sara Harchuck’s six assists led the Highlanders (7-4, 5-4) past the cold visiting Wildcats (0-11, 0-9).

Mount Spokane shot 5 of 26, missing all nine in the first half.

Rachelle Stockman, Andrea McGrath and Katie Schurra combined for 18 rebounds for the Highlanders.

Mount Spokane 4 2 7 7 - 20

Shadle Park 12 13 13 19 - 57

MOUNT SPOKANE - Gemmill 0 0-0 0, Gee 0 0-2 0, Atwood 0 2-6 2, Anderson 1 2-4 4, Klobucher 0 4-4 4, Monroe 2 1-2 5, Louck 1 1-4 3, Brumleve 1 0-0 2. Total - 5 10-22 20.

SHADLE PARK - Ridings 3 0-0 7, Caldwell 3 0-0 7, Schurra 3 0-0 6, Harchuck 4 0-0 8, Stockman 5 0-0 10, Olzendam 2 1-2 5, Buckley 0 0-0 0, Alake 2 0-0 4, Etter 1 0-0 2, McGrath 3 1-2 7, Kiritz 0 1-2 1. Totals - 26 3-6 57.

3-point goals - Ridings, Caldwell. Total fouls - Mount Spokane 9, Shadle Park 18. Fouled out - none.

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