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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Eagles Edge Closer To Title

The crowd’s objective was to rattle David Schillinger after the West Valley guard tossed up a pair of air balls - one from the free-throw line.

The strains of: “Air ball! Air ball!” fell on deaf ears, however, as Schillinger continued to launch away.

“That actually brought me more desire,” Schillinger said Thursday after scoring 22 points to lead WV over host Pullman, 74-67, in a crucial Frontier League boys basketball game. “I kind of like that.”

The Eagles (15-2 overall) improved their league record to 7-0 and took a two-game lead over Pullman (5-2, 11-5) with three games left in the regular season.

“They’ve clinched the title,” said Pullman coach Tim Busch. “It’s their’s.”

“No, I really don’t think so,” countered WV coach Joe Feist, who has games left against upset-minded Colville, Cheney and East Valley.

Should WV hold on to win the league title, it will be the fifth consecutive year - and seven of eight - that the Eagles have won or shared the top honor.

Yet Schillinger, Feist and Busch agreed that the main goal is improving for the impending District 7-AA Tournament, at which one berth to state will be the prize.

WV looks in good shape for a return trip, with Schillinger, Sabron Stone, Brian Lindley and Greg Jones willing and eager to shoot any 3-pointers that come their way. As Busch pointed out, however, teams can’t try to stop the Eagles’ perimeter game because Joe Bonner is waiting inside when defenses cheat.

Feist used a timeout to emphasize that truism, and WV responded by finding Bonner in the paint. The junior finished with 13 points, including nine in the fourth quarter.

Pullman also has a balanced offense, but the Greyhounds missed a big part of their outside game Thursday. Tim Wang, Pullman’s leading scorer at 15.5 ppg, ran into early foul trouble and never made a field goal until there was 1:21 left in the game.

Busch said Wang sprained an ankle in practice this week and was not quite in synch.

The Eagles had a 12-0 run in the first quarter, mainly fueled by Stone, to take a double-figure lead heading into the second quarter.

WV made 9 of 13 field goals in the first quarter, but cooled off to 3 of 12 in the second. What mostly troubled Feist, however, was 1-of-10 freethrow shooting from a team that usually shoots 76 percent.

Pullman’s 8-0 second-quarter run trimmed the WV lead to two at halftime. The Greyhounds took their first lead, 36-34, with 5:29 left in the third quarter on a Jeremiah Donati 3-pointer - one of five the junior had altogether.

But barely 10 seconds later Stone made his fourth and final 3-pointer to begin a 9-0 run. Pullman never led again.

Whenever the Greyhounds came close, Schillinger responded with a 3-pointer.

“If we’re open and think we can make them, Feist doesn’t care if we keep shooting,” Schillinger said.

Greyhounds senior forward Mark Diestler kept his team close with 13 of his 19 points in the second half. But when Pullman put WV on the line in the late going, the Eagles made 12 of 15 attempts.

“I’ll be honest,” Feist said. “I think we’re resilient, and I think Pullman is talented and getting better.”

“We were encouraged,” Busch said “We played well enough in stretches to win.”

West Valley 74, Pullman 67

West Valley 22 9 18 25 - 74

Pullman 12 17 19 19 - 67

WEST VALLEY Elias 1 0-0 3, Schillinger 6 6-10 22, Lindley 3 0-4 7, Stone 6 1-3 17, Jones 4 4-5 12, Bonner 4 5-11 13, Gregorak 0 0-1 0, Dilloo 0 0-0 0. Totals: 24 16-34 74.

PULLMAN Mirkovich 0 0-0 0, Evermann 0 0-0 0, Donati 7 0-0 19, Berry 1 3-6 5, Wang 2 1-2 6, Kallaher 2 0-0 4, Wilde 4 2-4 10, Yrazabal 1 0-0 2, Randall 0 0-0 0, Diestler 7 5-5 19, Jones 1 0-0 2. Totals: 25 11-17 67.

3-pointers: Elias, Schillinger 4, Lindley, Stone 4, Donati 5, Wang. Total fouls: WV 14, Pullman 25. Fouled out: Stone, Wilde.

Girls

Pullman 60, West Valley 44

Melissa Schlettert had four assists, six steals and 19 points to lead the Greyhounds (4-3, 10-7) past the visiting Eagles (3-4, 6-10).

Pullman shot 41 percent from the field and 68 percent from the line (13-19) as the Greyhounds pulled away from a 21-21 tie in the second half.

West Valley 5 16 15 8 - 44 Pullman 13 8 20 19 - 60

WEST VALLEY Lydon 5 2-3 14, Simpson 1 0-0 2, Inman 0 1-2 1, Schell 1 1-2 3, Salfer 4 0-0 10, Nelson 0 0-0 0, Lawler 3 2-2 8, Stansbury 3 0-3 6. Totals - 17 6-12 44.

PULLMAN Nelson 0 0-0 0, Linehan 1 0-1 3, Fisher 4 0-0 8, Schlettert 6 7-9 19, Saluskin 0 0-0 0, Scharnhorst 0 0-1 0, Montez 1 0-0 2, Werner 4 0-0 12, Mumford 0 0-0 0, Wilde 1 2-2 4, Weeks 4 4-6 12. Totals - 21 13-19 60.

3-point goals - Lydon 2, Salfer 2, Linehan Werner 4. Total fouls - WV 19, Pullman 15. Fouled out - Salfer. Technicals - WV bench 2.

xxxx “Frontier boys.”