Sister act propels University

The University High girls basketball team has a tough task this season: pleasing coach Mark Stinson.

They couldn’t do it Tuesday night, despite defeating host Gonzaga Prep 54-37 in a non-league game.

“If you were at the game, watching what was going on out there, you would have thought Prep was winning,” Stinson said. “Up to this point (this season), every player we’ve put out there had been playing with passion. We didn’t bring that passion tonight. Prep did.”

But passion, no matter the depth, wasn’t going to be enough for the Bullpups, who suffered their first loss in the three games. Neither was their pressing defense or their push-it-up-the-floor offense.

Because the Titans (4-0 and ranked second in the state 4A poll by the Seattle Times) have Jami and Angie Bjorklund.

The sisters split 38 points. They combined for 30 rebounds, with sophomore Angie pulling in 17 of those, including 11 in the first half, three more than Prep had as a team. Senior Jami added 11 boards in the second half, and seemed to score a key basket every time Prep made a run.

After a 15-0 first-half blitz put the Titans up 21-6, the Pups rallied behind Shannon Murray (15 points) and Corinna O’Brien (12 points), closing within nine three times in the third quarter. But Jami, Angie and sophomore Dora Zack scored each time to bump the lead back to 11, and then a 6-0 fourth-quarter run put it away.

“The girls in that locker room were disappointed they don’t get to do that game over, especially the seniors,” Stinson said. “We’ve been reminding the non-seniors that you can’t take a play off. Good teams don’t do that. We can get a lot better.”

Then Stinson found a silver lining.

“We did enough of the little things to get the job done against a tough team,” he said. “That’s the sign of a good team.”

So is good defense. The statistics U-Hi brought proved that as well, holding Prep to 26 percent shooting from the field (U-Hi hit 43 percent) and forcing 18 turnovers. The Titans also held a 52-25 edge on the boards, including 15 on the offensive glass. Of the 30 misses (free throws included) the Titans had, they were able to run down half of them.

In other non-league games between GSL teams:

Lewis and Clark 56, Mt. Spokane 36

The No. 3-ranked Tigers (4-0) scored 45 points in the opening half, including 27 in the first quarter, to run away from the visiting Wildcats (1-1).

Briann January led the charge, finishing with 17 points, five assists and five offensive rebounds. Her running mate at guard, freshman Brittany Kennedy, grabbed seven offensive rebounds, collected four steals and handed out four assists.

Mt. Spokane’s Katelan Redmon, Sam Patrick and Emily Wittkopf combined for 22 points.

East Valley 67, Clarkston 56

Senior guard Katie Storey scored 18 points and had six assists and steals as the host Knights (2-1) pulled away in the second half. Sophomore Kylee Williamson added 16 points as EV rallied from an early deficit. The Bantams, ranked sixth in the Seattle Times’ state 3A preseason poll, dropped to 2-1 despite the 17 points of Kathryn DeVleming and 12 from Alicia Jelinek. Misty Atkinson, a returning honorable mention All-GSL performer as a freshman, did not play for Clarkston.

North Central 54, West Valley 41

Shantel Haugen had 19 points and Ashlee Michelson added 11 as the Indians raised their record to 2-0 in the matchup of 3A teams. Jackie Rouse led the host Eagles (0-2) with eight points.

Central Valley 53, Rogers 29

The visiting Bears raised their record to 2-1 with defense, limiting the Pirates (0-3) to 12 percent shooting, and nine points, in the opening half. Heidi Heintz and Kayla LaRue split 24 points for CV. Shkeysha Jones paced Rogers with 12 points.

Ferris 46, Shadle Park 32

The Saxons earned their first win of the season with stifling defense in the middle two quarters, holding the visiting Highlanders (1-2) to eight points and 18 percent shooting in the 16-minute span.

Sophomore Jenna Galloway paced the Saxons (1-2) to a 38-33 rebound advantage with 11 rebounds. She also added 13 points while senior Stacey Cox had a game-high 15.

Sophomore Lexi Bishop paced Shadle Park with 14 points.