Ferris Hands Mead 45-41 Loss In Opener

There is no substitute for experience, which allowed Ferris to enjoy the experience of playing in the new Arena more than Mead when the Greater Spokane League boys basketball season opened Tuesday night.

The Saxons overcame a shaky third quarter to edge the Panthers 45-41 as senior Leonard Harmon scored 18 points and grabbed nine rebounds.

”(My role) has kind of changed this year,” Harmon said. “We all need to rebound more. I haven’t been rebounding too well lately. Toward the end, when we needed them, I got them.”

Harmon had five of his rebounds in the fourth quarter, when Ferris had a 13-6 edge after getting beat on the boards in the first half.

“The key probably was, we have some experienced players who played a little more like it for a stretch there in the third quarter,” Ferris coach Wayne Gilman said.

In other games, played before a crowd of 2,968, Shadle Park beat Rogers 52-44; Central Valley rallied to beat Lewis and Clark 53-50 in overtime; and Gonzaga Prep topped University 64-55.

Ferris 45, Mead 41

The Saxons (5-0) opened a 9-0 lead 3 minutes into the game, but cold shooting allowed the Panthers (1-3) to trail just 21-20 at halftime.

“They managed to do that with pretty good defense,” Gilman said. “They pushed us out on the perimeter and we weren’t even looking for an inside game. We didn’t do a very good job of containing (Mead point guard) Adam Morris. He did a good job of penetrating, especially early when they came back.”

Damian Long and Ralph Castaneda scored to put Mead up 31-28 after three quarters, but Harmon’s tip and a short jumper from the right baseline put Ferris back on top.

“We just ran our offense all the way through,” Harmon said. “In the beginning, we were rushing our shots.”

The lead changed hands four more times before the Saxons hit just enough free throws to get enough of a lead to win.

“I think we had a lot of opportunities we didn’t take advantage of,” Mead coach Jim Preston said. “We got a lot of the shots we wanted. I was happy with our patience on offense, and with our defense, too. We didn’t make our free throws (8 of 16), and in a game like that, against a team like that, you have to make your free throws.”

The Panthers were also 16 of 53 from the field. The numbers for Ferris really weren’t much better, 17 of 47 from the field and 10 of 17 from the line.

“Once again we made improvement,” Preston said. “This is a team that’s not where it’s going to be. We made some progress on defense, which is what we keyed on.”

Shadle Park 52, Rogers 44

The Highlanders (2-3) overcame a miserable night at the foul line to pull away from the Pirates (1-4) after blowing a big early lead.

Shadle, which led 19-8 in the first quarter, was only 5 of 18 from the line. Rogers closed within 33-27 at halftime, but made only 12 of 29 from the line.

Central Valley 53, LC 50 (OT)

The Bears (3-1) scored the last seven points and then watched a 3-pointer bang off the rim at the buzzer to beat the Tigers (3-1). LC, which led by 10 early in the second half, needed a 10-foot jumper from the lane by Paul Mencke with three seconds left to force the overtime. Then the Tigers scored the first four points before going flat.

Ben Platt put CV up 44-43 with a prayer from almost behind the basket on the right baseline and then Carson May converted a feed from Ryan Smith to make it 46-43. Mencke made a free throw with 18 seconds left and after a turnover, Mike Homer went up from the foul line but was stripped of the ball, which bounced to Mencke for the tying shot.

The Tigers were hurt by foul shooting, making just 12 of 20, including 2 of 4 in overtime.

CV was involved in four of the GSL’s 17 overtime games last season, winning just one. Two of those overtime losses were to LC.

CV 53, LC 50 (OT)

Central Valley 8 8 17 13 7 - 53

L-C 15 12 8 11 4 - 50

CENTRAL VALLEY (53) - Smith 0 2-2 2, Shuh 7 2-2 18, Allen 5 0-5 10, Platt 4 0-1 8, May 5 4-4 14, Nesbitt 0 0-0 0, Abrams 0 0-0 0, Hinckley 0 1-2 1. Totals 21 9-16 53.

LEWIS AND CLARK (50) - Steuckle 1 0-0 2, Homer 6 4-8 17, Lynch 1 0-0 2, Vick 1 3-6 5, Mencke 7 4-8 19, Etter 2 1-2 5. Totals 18 12-24 50.

Three-point goals - CV: Shuh 2; LC: Homer, Mencke. Total fouls - CV 17, LC 19. Fouled out: Homer, Vick.

Gonzaga Prep 64, University 55

The Bullpups (3-1) raced to a 15-point lead in the first quarter, but could never shake the Titans (2-2).

Four Bullpups scored in double figures, led by Paul Sweeney with 16. Prep had a big edge at the foul line, making 18 of 30 free throws, and made six 3-pointers.

Jason Wilson had a career-high 18 for U-Hi, which made just 5 of 10 free throws.

Leading scorer Erik Carlson, a 6-5 junior post, played sparingly because of a sprained ankle and only had two points.

University 6 15 11 23 - 55

Gonzaga Prep 21 13 16 14 - 64

UNIVERSITY (55) - Dunham 1 0-0 2, Jeffries 1 0-0 2, Fryer 0 0-0 0, Massey 1 0-0 2, Wetzel 0 0-2 0, Earling 1 0-0 3, Price 1 0-0 2, Hineman 7 0-0 15, Carlson 1 0-0 2, Flanary 0 0-2 0, Wilson 7 2-2 18, Allen 3 3-4 9. Totals 23 5-10 55.

GONZAGA PREP (64) - Kocharhook 0 3-5 3, Dixson 1 0-0 3, Thielman 1 0-0 2, Powell 4 2-2 13, Sweeney 7 0-2 16, Herrin 3 5-7 11, McFarland 4 6-8 14, Egger 0 2-6 2, Hartnett 0 0-0 0. Totals: 20 18-30 64.

Three-point goals - Earling, Hineman, Wilson 2, Dixson, Powell 3, Sweeney 2. Total fouls - U-Hi 23, GP 13. Fouled out - Fryer.

Ferris 45, Mead 41

Mead 9 11 11 10 - 41

Ferris 13 8 7 17 - 45

MEAD Morrs 3 3-4 9, Klaus 0 0-0 0, Inderrieden 0 0-0 0, Armitage 1 1-2 3, West 0 0-0 0, Long 6 0-0 13, Walton 1 0-2 2, Castaneda 5 4-8 14, Wyrick 0 0-0 0. Totals 16 8-16 41. FERRIS Bursch 2 0-0 4, Schuchart 0 0-0 0, Servine 1 0-1 2, Hardan 3 2-4 8, Henneberry 2 2-2 6, Harmon 6 5-6 18, Stocum 2 0-2 4, Weatherred 1 1- 2 3. Totals 17 10-17 45.

3-point goals - Long, Harmon. Total fouls - Mead 16, Ferris 16. Fouled out - Armitage, Stocum.

Shadle Park 52, Rogers 44

Shadle Park 19 14 12 7 - 52

Rogers 8 19 7 10 - 44

SHADLE PARK Cook 3 1-3 9, Kingsbury 1 0-1 2, Pate 5 3-4 14, Baune 1 0-0 3, Glanzer 0 0-0 0, Anderson 1 0-2 2, Mohr 1 0-0 2, Augustine 5 1-4 11, Hann 2 0-0 4, Hipps 2 0-2 5. Totals 21 5-18 52. ROGERS Browning 1 0-0 2, Loffredi 1 0-0 2, Mosby 3 2-4 8, Hassett 3 1-3 7, Dainty 2 3-8 7, Pugh 0 0-0 0,Smith 4 1-2 9, Salgado 2 5-12 9. Totals: 16 12-29 44.

3-point goals - Cook 2, Pate, Baune, Hipps. Fouls - SP 24, Rogers 17. Fouled out - Salgado.

, DataTimes