The Lewis and Clark Tigers cleared enough hurdles Tuesday night to consider the Greater Spokane League boys basketball game a track meet.

A 56-47 win over Mead did more than tie the Tigers (8-2 overall) and Panthers (7-3) at the top of the Greater Spokane League boys basketball standings at 5-1.

It also proved LC really was ready to live up to the burden of being a league favorite by bouncing back from adversity, both immediate and long term.

By starting quickly and building a 27-21 halftime lead against the eighth-ranked Panthers, the Tigers showed they could rebound from a disappointing loss after letting Shadle Park rally for a 60-57 win at LC last Friday.

LC also recovered from blowing all of a 13-point lead over Mead in the third quarter with a game-winning 11-point run in the fourth.

“That’s the difference between the team this year and last year. Last year if we let someone get back in we let them get away,” senior guard Mike Homer said after matching his career high with 22 points.

Not this time. The Tigers just returned to their smothering man-to-man defense and choked off Mead’s rally.

In other games, Ferris edged Gonzaga Prep 74-69 in overtime, University tripped Shadle Park 45-41 and North Central ended a 27-game league losing streak with a 44-43 win over Rogers.

“I definitely think LC did a good job,” Mead coach Jim Preston said. “They played great defense and executed their offense well.

“The thing that hurt us was we didn’t execute our offense well. Put the credit for that on their defense. They’re excellent athletes and if you don’t execute, you’re in trouble.”

The Tigers opened the third quarter with an 8-2 surge keyed by two Mike Lynch baskets, for a 35-22 lead. Exactly 4 minutes later, the game was tied as Mead got six layups, the last turned into a three-point play by Jason Smith.

“What we did right was defend really well … and executed the offense,” LC coach Glenn Williams said. “What went wrong when they were getting easy baskets is they were beating us down the floor, which is what we like to do.”

Another basket by Smith on his way to a game-high 23 points, tied the game at 41 just over 2 minutes into the fourth quarter. Then Soren Olson made a steal and a layup, Mencke scored from the lane and Homer swished a 3-pointer from the left wing, making it 48-41.

“I personally didn’t take a couple of good shots and they got the ball down low. Jason is a great player,” Olson said. “Once the game was tied, we got a couple of good looks, we picked up the offense and then they started hurrying it. From there, we were patient.”

A timeout didn’t help the Panthers as Homer made a pair of foul shots and Mencke beat the defense back for a layup and a 52-41 lead with a minute left.

“They responded in crunch time. It’s great to see,” Williams said. “I’m happy for them. They’re great kids.”

“Most important on our team is defense,” Homer said. “You can’t always control what happens on offense, you can have a big night… . You can always control a game with defense.”

Backing Homer were Mencke, who had 14 points and 12 rebounds, and Olson, with 10 points and 10 rebounds.

Lewis and Clark 56, Mead 47

Lewis and Clark 15 12 11 18 - 56 Mead 14 7 16 10 - 47

LEWIS AND CLARK Lynch 2 0-0 4, Stueckle 0 0-0 0, Olson 4 2-2 10, Homer 7 5-6 22, Kane 2 0-0 4, Mencke 6 2-3 14, Haynes 1 0-0 2. Totals 22 9-11 56.

MEAD Morris 2 0-0 4, Naccarato 0 0-0 0, Donovan 1 0-0 2, Armitage 1 1-1 3, Long 0 1-2 1, Smith 9 5-6 23, Pilkington 2 0-1 4, Castaneda 5 0-0 10. Totals 20 7-10 47.

3-point goals - Homer 3. Fouls - LC 12, Mead 13. Fouled out - none.

North Central 44, Rogers 43

The Indians (1-5, 3-7) watched a 3-pointer by the Pirates (1-6, 3-6) rim out at the buzzer to end their 27-game GSL losing streak.

NC was down by seven before rallying. A 3-pointer by Dealy Etter, who had 10 rebounds, put NC up by one with 2 minutes left and then Troy Kapelke, who had 16 points, scored a basket and two free throws for the win.

The difference was at the foul line, where Rogers hit just 9 of 17 to 18 of 24 for NC.

Rogers 11 11 13 8 - 43 North Central 7 8 14 15 - 44

ROGERS Muse 1 2-2 5, Simpson 3 1-1 7, Fischer 3 3-4 9, A.Olson 2 0-3 4, J.Olsen 0 2-3 2, Dainty 0 1-2 1, Spencer 3 0-1 8, Mergenthaler 1 0-1 3, Smith 2 0-0 4. Totals 15 9-17 43.

NORTH CENTRAL Lake 0 0-0 0, Rosengrant 0 2-2 2, Blanchat 0 3-4 3, Etter 2 2-3 7, Kuhlman 1 5-6 8, Holdren 2 2-2 6, Kapelke 6 4-4 16, Harmer 0 0-1 0, Johnson 1 0-2 2. Totals 12 18-24 44.

3-point goals - Etter, Kuhlman, Muse, Spencer 2, Mergenthaler. Total fouls - R 18, NC 20. Fouled out - Kuhlman. Technicals - Rogers bench.

Ferris 74, Gonzaga Prep 69 (OT)

Rob Coulter’s two free throws with 90 seconds left in overtime started a parade to the foul line that allowed the Saxons (4-2, 7-3) to pull out a win over the visiting Bullpups (3-3, 5-5).

Ferris hit 12 of 16 shots in the first quarter to open a big lead, but the Bullpups came back and tied the game by the end of three quarters and were up 61-54 in the fourth.

Scott Stocum tied the game for Ferris with 35 seconds left in regulation, but Prep missed two shots and Stocum blocked a final attempt to force the extra period.

Stocum finished with 28 points and Leonard Harmon and Marius Gix had 15 apiece, both career highs.

Tyler Jordan had 24 points for Gonzaga Prep with six 3-pointers.

Gonzaga Prep 15 17 13 8 6 - 69 Ferris 24 14 7 18 11 - 74

GONZAGA PREP Strahl 4 0-1 8, Kocharhook 0 0-0 0, Thielman 1 0-0 3, Herrin 1 7-8 9, Jordan 8 2-3 24, Powell 2 4-5 9, Sweeny 1 0-0 2, McFarland 5 2-4 12, Knight 1 0-0 2. Totals 23 15-21 69.

FERRIS Coulter 1 4-4 6, Hardan 1 2-2 4, Gix 6 3-6 15, Henneberry 1 0-0 2, Oenning 1 0-0 2, Harmon 5 5-6 15, Stocum 8 12-14 28, Weatherred 1 0-0 2. Totals 24 26-32 74.

3-point goals - Thielman, Jordan 6, Powell. Total fouls - GP 23, F 19. Fouled out - McFarland, Sweeny, Stocum, Gix.

University 45, Shadle Park 41

Erik Carlson hit a putback shot off a missed free throw with the Titans (3-3, 5-5) ahead 43-41 to preserve the win at Shadle Park. The Highlanders (2-5, 4-7) only trailed by two when they inbounded the ball and were tied up. U-Hi got possession and Kelly Hineman was fouled. He missed his free throw but Carlson’s basket iced the game.

University 10 8 11 16 - 45 Shadle Park 11 9 10 11 - 41

UNIVERSITY Burningham 3 2-4 10, Jeffries 0 0-0 0, Johnson 0 2-2 2, Wetzel 2 0-0 5, Dewey 1 0-0 2, Stark 2 1-2 6, Cortez 0 0-0 0, Hineman 1 3-5 5, Carlson 4 0-0 8, Massey 0 0-0 0, Allen 3 1-3 7. Totals 16 9-16 45.

SHADLE PARK Grote 1 0-0 3, Kingsbury 0 0-0 0, Dunham 1 0-0 3, Nelson 2 2-4 6, Anderson 1 0-0 2, Mobbs 2 0-0 5, Wood 3 0-0 6, Debeaumont 7 2-5 16. Totals 17 4-9 41.

3 point goals - Burninham 2, Wetzel, Stark, Grote, Dunham, Mobbs. Total fouls - University 13, Shadle Park 17. Technicals - Kingsbury.

IDAHO BASKETBALL

Post Falls 79, Lakeland 58

Post Falls put on a shooting clinic in the first half as guards Ryan Edmonds and Tim Roberts came out gunning from 3-point range.

Edmonds drilled five 3-pointers and Roberts added a pair to stake the Trojans to a 51-26 halftime lead.

As a team, Post Falls shot 54 percent from the field in the opening half, including 9 of 11 from 3-point distance.

Edmonds and Roberts, along with forward Mike McLean, hounded the Hawks defensively with their quickness.

But the bottom fell out on Post Falls in the third quarter. The Trojans connected on just 1 of 11 field goal tries, and Roberts was benched after his fourth personal foul at the 4:37 mark.

When Roberts left, Post Falls led 54-32. With seven players scoring and the Trojans committing 11 third-quarter miscues, Lakeland cut into the advantage.

A three-point play conversion by 6-foot-5 senior Bill Anderson 19 seconds before the end of the third period left the Hawks down 59-45, but the Trojans righted themselves to pull it out.