University shows off balanced scoring in win over Shadle Park

The University Titans don’t care who scores as long as they score – and score often.

That was the case Friday when the Titans pulled away in the fourth quarter for an impressive 76-60 win over the Shadle Park Highlanders at Linda Sheridan Court in Greater Spokane League boys basketball.

University put four players in double-figure scoring and came within a point of a fifth in double digits and two more from having six.

“I loved the way they shared the ball with one another,” said U-Hi coach Garrick Phillips, whose team improved to 3-0 overall, 2-0 in league. “That’s huge. We had a lot of assists. We have guys who can go get their own shot. We did that a little bit, but for the most part we got most of our buckets coming off passes from their teammates.”

Senior guard Zach Bruce agreed.

“We’re a really, really deep team,” said Bruce, who had a team-high 18 points. “We’ve got a lot of guys who can come in and play and do really well for us. We have a lot of guys who can come in off the bench and really step up. Our starting five is really tough. It’s great to be so deep and have players that can score and be able to play defense.”

Titans Zane McDonald (16 points), Zech Martin (15) and Conner Johnson (10) supported Bruce. Bruce also had a team-high eight rebounds and Martin had five.

Shadle (3-1, 1-1) was within 29-27 with less than a minute to go in first half before Martin drilled a 3-pointer to give the Titans a 32-27 lead at halftime.

McDonald made a 3-pointer off a nice pass from Johnson as U-Hi took a 51-41 lead into the final quarter.

The Titans quickly separated themselves in the fourth.

“They got a couple of easy transition buckets and we just couldn’t get over the hump,” Shadle coach Tim Gaebe said of the final-period separation. “We were there knocking on the door, but every time … bam they’d hit a couple of buckets. They just outplayed us. That’s the bottom line. Sixty is enough to win and obviously we gave up too many points. They played well.”

Bruce scored in transition to five U-Hi a 69-52 lead with 3:24 to go.

Phillips thought it was more than his team’s tempo that was the difference in the fourth.

“They (the Highlanders) added to it too,” Phillips said. “They were behind by nine or 10 and thought they were going to come after us and I think that really hurt them. We handled the pressure really, really well and got some easy ones because of that. Even in the halfcourt I thought we moved the ball really well and went post to post a couple of times. We made them pay when they doubled and tried to pressure us. I thought that was big.”

Brett Boese and Kionte Brown led Shadle with 16 points apiece. Boese also had 10 rebounds.

Lewis and Clark 70, Mead 41: A big second quarter allowed the Tigers (4-0, 2-0) to open a lead the visiting Panthers (0-4, 0-2) couldn’t overcome.

LC outscored Mead 24-7 in the second period. Dean Richey led a balanced attack with 13 points. Austin Damon had 12 and seven assists and Tanner Johnson had seven rebounds.

Forrest Baker led Mead with 14 points.

Central Valley 60, Gonzaga Prep 41: The visiting Bears (1-2, 1-1) outscored the Bullpups (1-3, 1-1) 51-32 over the final three periods to pull away.

CV shot well from 3-point range, making 9 of 18. G-Prep was just 3 of 22 from behind the arc.

Garrett Sawyer led CV with 16 points. TJ Bracey also had 16 for G-Prep.

North Central 58, Rogers 56: The Indians (1-3, 1-1) got a steal with 2 seconds remaining to hold off the visiting Pirates (0-2, 0-2).

Chase McDuffie got loose on the baseline and scored a layup with 6 seconds to go for the winning margin. McDuffie also got the game-securing steal.

Jamil Foster led NC with 12 points. Aaron Highbarger had 21 for Rogers.

Ferris 73, Mt. Spokane 58: Showing the best balance they’ve had this season, the Saxons (2-1, 1-1) put four players in double figures in the decision over the visiting Wildcats (2-2, 1-1).

Chris Wilson led Ferris with 18 points, Beau Lockmer and Chase Haack had 17 apiece and Kurt Karstetter had 10. Haack also had 10 rebounds. Jordan Weems led Mt. Spokane with 19 points.