Late run lifts Gonzaga Prep past Mead
When Gonzaga Prep coach Mike Haugen watched videotape of the Bullpups’ Greater Spokane League tiebreaker loss to University last week, he had one thing to tell his team:
They had to play better defense.
They did Tuesday night, opening the District 8 4A boys basketball playoffs with a 45-42 loser-out decision over visiting Mead.
“Yes, I’m more pleased,” Haugen said, echoing a question. “We played with more of a sense of urgency (on defense) than we did last week.”
Shadle Park’s boys, who have played with a sense of urgency the past two weeks, won what was basically their second consecutive loser-out game, holding off Central Valley 45-41 to move into regional seeding games.
G-Prep’s girls also won, as the third-seeded Pups got past Mead 57-47. Fourth-seeded Mt. Spokane made the most of its first playoff appearance, routing Central Valley 58-39 in a game that was tied at halftime.
Boys
Gonzaga Prep 45, Mead 42
That sense of urgency Haugen mentioned didn’t appear until the final 6 minutes, 33 seconds. Trailing by four, the Pups (15-7) held Mead to two points over the next 5 minutes to take a 41-36 lead.
“That stretch midway through the fourth quarter, where they missed a couple shots and we came down and scored, that was a big change in the momentum,” said 6-foot-3 Prep senior forward Ryan Murphy, who combined with 6-5 Ian Parry for all 11 of the points during the run. “We took over from there.”
“I don’t know what we shot in the fourth quarter (2 for 11), but it wasn’t good,” Mead coach Glenn Williams said.
Mead, which ends its season 10-12, answered the run with five quick points, aided by three Prep turnovers, and tied it at 41 with 42 seconds left on Lucas Ashe’s drive. Michael Johnson put Prep back ahead with two free throws before Bron Tomeo made 1 of 2 to get Mead back within one. With 20 seconds left, Mead decided not to foul and it paid off with a 10-second backcourt violation, giving the sixth-seeded Panthers the ball back with 10.8 seconds left.
Tomeo drove the lane but his 5-footer was short and he fouled Jake Sayman on the rebound. After Sayman hit both free throws with 5.5 seconds left, Mead’s Mike Hoover rushed the ball into the frontcourt and found Zach Nichols in the left corner. Nichols bobbled, gained control and launched his fourth 3-pointer of the night. Like the other three, this one missed and Prep had survived.
“To go very far, we still have to get better at a lot of things,” Haugen said.
Reaching their objectives defensively may not be one of them. The third-seeded Pups targeted Nichols, who had 27 in the teams’ regular-season matchup and, using several defenders, held the senior guard to six points.
Mead had a target as well in Johnson – Prep’s leading scorer. Senior Jeremy Brett, who led the Panthers with 11 points, took the assignment and harassed the junior guard into 3-of-11 shooting for eight points, six under his average.
But the Prep inside guys took up the slack, with Parry leading with 15 and Murphy adding 13.
“Those two guys stepped up, but all our inside guys did,” Haugen said.
Shadle Park 45, Central Valley 41
In a game of runs, no team led by more than seven. When the fourth-seeded Highlanders (10-11) built that lead in the fourth quarter, the Bears (13-8) ran off nine straight points to take a 36-34 lead with 5:17 left.
The game went back and forth until Shadle made the final run, a 5-0 spurt in the final two minutes to pull away.
Josh Landsverk had a game-high 18 points for Shadle, while Brad Johnson and Braden Jensen split 20 points for CV.
Thursday’s games at CV will pit second-seed U-Hi (16-5) against Prep at 5:45 p.m., with top-seed Ferris (17-3) meeting Shadle at 7:45.
Girls
Gonzaga Prep 57, Mead 47
Mead, which finishes 11-10, slowed the Bullpups down early, leading 16-8 with less than two minutes left in the first quarter. But G-Prep finally got moving, went on a 16-4 run and never trailed again.
The sixth-seeded Panthers, behind the 18 points of junior guard Chelsea Mykines, kept rallying, but every time they did, Prep’s Sarah Jennings answered, hitting four 3-point shots.
Mt. Spokane 58, Central Valley 39
The Wildcats (17-4) tightened the defense after halftime, holding the fifth-seeded Bears to one field goal in the third quarter.
Sophomore Katelan Redmon had 20 points, five assists and eight rebounds, and teamed with reserve Sam Patrick who added 14 points to take care of the offense. Heidi Heintz led CV, which finished 14-7, with 20 points.
The Pups will meet second-seed Lewis and Clark (19-1) Thursday at 5:45 p.m. at U-Hi. The top-seeded Titans (20-0) will take on Mt. Spokane at 7:45 as the District 8 playoffs moves into seeding games for next week’s regional.