West Valley Wins Duel With Pullman, 65-50

West Valley and Pullman, basketball teams with the best overall records among Frontier League boys, engaged in some early sparring beyond the 3-point arc.

But when Brian Lindley lit it up, it was lights out for the visiting Greyhounds of Pullman who fell 65-50 on the second night of league play.

The Eagles led by just two points midway through the third quarter and 46-43 inside a minute left.

Lindley buried one of his seven 3-point baskets to beat the buzzer and make the score 50-43. He added two more in the fourth quarter when the Eagles turned a taut contest into a 15-point romp.

“I thought Brian’s 3 at the end of the quarter was huge,” said WV coach Joe Feist. “When he takes good shots he doesn’t miss often.”

Lindley had struggled through a 2-for-17 shooting night Friday in Clarkston and didn’t score until the second quarter against Pullman. But he hit 6 of 10 second-half shots for 17 of his game-high 25 points leaving WV 2-0 in league and 9-2 overall.

“My philosophy is you just gotta keep shooting. Eventually they’re going to go down,” said Lindley.

All told, WV had a dozen treys to five for the Greyhounds (1-1, 8-3).

Of the game’s first nine baskets, seven were 3’s. Pullman had a point lead after a quarter and stretched it to 22-18 early in the second.

Then Joe Bonner came up huge inside for the Eagles, hitting a pair of free throws, making a steal at the end line and hitting a layin at the other end. WV led 34-28 at intermission.

Jeremiah Donati’s two treys midway through the third period reduced the Eagle lead to a basket before Lindley got hot.

His final two 3-point shots put the Eagles up 62-48 and Bonner finished off the Greyhounds with an inside basket and free throw.

Pullman held WV point guard David Schillinger to 11 first-half points but Feist said his play against traps and double teams was instrumental in victory.

“I thought David did a great job of taking care of the ball,” Feist said. “That might have been the key.”

That, the fact Pullman point guard Ray Kallaher fouled out with 5:52 remaining and West Valley’s 52-34 rebounding advantage. Greg Jones had 15 boards and Bonner had 11 to go with his 11 points.

West Valley 65, Pullman 50 Pullman 19 9 15 7 - 50 West Valley 18 16 16 15 - 65

PULLMAN Evermann 0 0-0 0, Donati 4 2-2 14, Berry 0 0-0 0, Wang 2 2-3 7, Kallaher 1 0-0 2, Wilde 5 3-5 13, Yrazabal 1 2-2 4, Diestler 4 1-2 10, Jones 0 0-0 0, Randall 0 0-0 0. Totals 17 10-14.

WEST VALLEY Elias 0 0-0 0, Schillinger 4 0-3 11, Lindley 9 0-0 25, Schroder 0 0-0 0, Jones 2 3-4 9, Bonner 3 5-5 11, Gregorak 2 1-3 5, Dilloo 1 2-2 4, Pecht 0 0-0 0, Sweet 0 0-0 0, Wacenske 0 0-0 0. Totals 21 11-17 65.

3-point goals - Donati 4, Wang, Diestler, Schillinger 3, Lindley 7, Jones 2. Total fouls - Pullman 18, WV 14. Fouled out - Kallaher.