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Rogers’ Hampton makes Bears pay

Melik Hampton played some tough defense and added a couple of crucial foul shots in Rogers’ win. (Colin Mulvany)
Melik Hampton played some tough defense and added a couple of crucial foul shots in Rogers’ win. (Colin Mulvany)Buy a print of this photo
By Greg Lee gregl@spokesman.com(509) 844-8168

Melik Hampton didn’t know it was coming, but it didn’t surprise him either.

His Rogers basketball team had the ball coming out of a Central Valley timeout with the score knotted 58-58 with 19.5 seconds to go in overtime Tuesday. The Bears let almost seven seconds elapse before Max Sykes purposely fouled Hampton, who entered the game shooting 51 percent from the free-throw line.

Without flinching, Hampton made both ends of the double bonus.

CV’s Eli Emerson was fouled attempting a shot under the basket. He missed the first shot and CV called timeout to set up an option other than making a foul shot. Emerson’s second attempt was short off the right side of the rim, and Michael Hannan, crashing from the top of the 3-point arc, grabbed the rebound and put up a shot in stride but missed as the horn sounded, as the Pirates pulled out a 60-58 win at home.

“I think that’s kind of funny because people underestimate me shooting free throws because of my first half of the season,” said Hampton, who made 5 of 7 from the foul line – Rogers’ lone misses. The Pirates made 16 of 18 free throws. “In practice, I’ve been working on my free throws to make them better so I could do what I did.”

Rogers coach Joel Soter wasn’t caught off guard by CV’s strategy.

“That was an intentional foul and it was a good move,” Soter said. “It was a smart move because he hasn’t had a whole lot of success lately on the foul line.”

The win gave the Pirates a league sweep over the Bears. And the victory left CV (12-3 overall, 10-3 in league), which moved back into first place Friday, in a three-way tie with the Pirates (11-4, 10-3) and University.

CV’s Justis Simmons made a difficult 7-foot leaning jumper on the baseline with 9 seconds left in the fourth quarter to force overtime.

Each team had plenty of chances to secure the win in regulation, but each committed five turnovers in the fourth quarter. Some of the mistakes were against good defense; some of the mistakes were careless.

Hampton, an active 6-foot-4 post, was difficult to defend. He finished with a team-high 17 points and 15 rebounds.

KJ Hassett matched Hampton’s 17 points. Sykes, who scored 15 points in the first half, finished with 19 and Cameron Tucker had 18 to go with nine rebounds.

University 65, Mt. Spokane 53: The visiting Titans (12-3, 10-3) led 47-43 after three quarters, and outscored the Wildcats (2-13, 1-12) 18-10 in the fourth. Spencer Matt led the Titans with 16 points, Robert Little had 13, 10 in the fourth, Garrett Schmerer also scored 13 and Austin Dill poured in 10. Braden Spangle led Mt. Spokane with 20.

Gonzaga Prep 52, Mead 44: The Bullpups (9-6, 8-5) limited the Panthers (8-7, 6-7) to 30 percent shooting from the field at Mead. The Panthers made just 3 of 21 attempts from beyond the 3-point arc. G-Prep held Mead without a field goal in the first quarter. Logan Adams led the Bullpups with 19 points and Kea Vargas added 16. Will McPhee led Mead with 12 points.

Shadle Park 52, North Central 41: The Highlanders (9-6, 7-6) lead 21-6 through the first half and held off the Indians (2-13, 1-12) by outscoring them 14-8 in the fourth. Jared Burns and George Pilimai scored 12 points each to lead Shadle while Riley Smith had 24 for the Indians.