NC rides Hurd in victory

Clarkston had no answer for Damal Neil’s inside game in the first half and was victimized by Louis Hurd from outside in the second as North Central improved to 3-1 with a 65-59 non-league victory over the visiting Bantams on Friday night.

Neil hit all six of his first-half layins and had scored 18 points before taking a seat late in the third quarter with his fourth personal foul.

But the Bantams had trouble scoring inside and could not take advantage because Hurd took over.

The transfer guard from Lewis and Clark just about did it all in the free-wheeling game and typified the contest. When he wasn’t scoring – 13 of his game-high 21 points coming in the second half – he was picking the Bantams’pockets or turning over the ball about as often.

Each team played with a fast-break frenzy that produced 48 turnovers and kept people on the edge of their seats even as NC built a nine-point lead with 1:07 to go.

“That was a nice win for us,” said Indians coach Jay Webber. “After playing poorly on Tuesday I didn’t want any lingering effects from that.”

Neil scored nine points in a back-and-forth first quarter, all on layins from lobs into the post .

“He’s pretty tough,” said Webber. “A lot of teams are going to have problems with him.”

Hurd added a couple 3-point baskets to offset three 3-pointers by Clarkston’s Jason Curtis in the opening period.

In the second half, Clarkston had the worst of the turnovers. Ten in the third quarter alone led to NC’s 46-39 lead.

And Hurd continually came up with steals, scoring 10 fourth-quarter points, to help offset a spate of NC turnovers down the stretch as they were loathe to protect their advantage.

Curtis had five 3-point baskets and 16 points for Clarkston (2-2) and James Bennett did yeoman’s work on the boards to finish with 10 rebounds.

Cheney 71, East Valley 64

Derek Miller scored 26 of his game-high 29 points in the second half, including nine fourth-quarter free throws to seal the win.

Cheney’s Matt Brunell had 16 points and nine rebounds. EV (1-3) had four players in double figures. Jared Smith led with 17 and Nick Atwood had 15.

University 82, Post Falls 53

Inderbir Gill scored 12 points on his way to a career-high 31 as the Titans ran away early from the Trojans.

The score was 23-8 after a quarter and things didn’t get better for the visitors. Calvin Jurich added 19 points and had 15 rebounds for a team that made 29 of 47 shots from the field.

Scott Stockwell scored 18 points and Kyle Turpin 16 for Post Falls.

Mead 61, Lewis and Clark 50

Zach Nickols hit four 3-point baskets in the first half leading to 16 of his game-high 22 points as the Panthers (2-1) defeated the Tigers (2-2).

TJ Lee-Hill scored 16 points and had 12 rebounds for LC.

Mt. Spokane 52, Shadle Park 48 (OT)

It took an extra period to accomplish it, but the Wildcats (1-2) got their first win in a back-and-forth game against the host Highlanders (0-4).

Dan McKinnon was 4 for 4 as Mt. Spokane went 6 for 7 from the free-throw line in overtime. Matt Dorr scored 17 points and C.J. Barschig had 13.

West Valley 65, Sandpoint 44

The Eagles’ fourth straight win was strictly an inside (players’) job.

Posts Tyler Hobbs and EJ Richardson combined for 32 points, although Hobbs’ comes with an asterisk. He was 4 for 4 from the 3-point land to finish with 18.