Mead’s Youth Prevails Turner Goes On Scoring Binge To Finish Off Shadle Park

Mead sophomore Holly Turner spends a lot of time talking to herself on a basketball court but by the end of Tuesday night’s showdown for first place in the Greater Spokane League it was the Shadle Park Highlanders who were mumbling.

The 5-foot-9 guard scored 10 straight Mead points in a 2-minute span to turn a 42-41 deficit into a 51-45 lead with 31 seconds to play as the second-ranked Panthers beat seventh-ranked Highlanders 54-45 at Spokane Falls Community College.

“Their sophomores beat our seniors,” Shadle Park coach Linda Sheridan said. “I don’t like that.”

Mead ended the first half of the GSL season at 8-0, 12-0 overall while Shadle Park fell to 7-1, 9-3.

In other games, Ferris beat University 64-51, Central Valley rallied past Gonzaga Prep 50-46, Lewis and Clark defeated North Central 51-42 and Rogers dropped a nonleague game to Pullman 54-46.

The game - though evenly ragged (44 turnovers, 39 fouls) - had turned into a showcase for two of the league’s premier players, Mead’s Stacy Clinesmith (21 points) and Shadle’s Kelly Bartleson (25), when Turner took off.

Bartleson’s swish from the top of the key put the Highlanders up 42-41 with 2:52 to play, but Turner took a pass from Clinesmith and drained a 3-pointer from the left wing at the 2:35 mark. After Shawna Rainer made one of two free throws, Turner sank another 3 from the top to make it 47-43.

The heroics ended for Bartleson, a 5-10 guard headed to Eastern Washington University, when her 10-footer went in and spun out before Turner was fouled. Turner’s free throws made it 49-43. Bartleson scored uncontested in the lane to end Shadle’s scoring, and then Turner made two more foul shots for a 51-45 lead. Clinesmith, a junior, closed out the scoring by making three of four free throws.

“We kept our composure and when it got down to the last 3 or 4 minutes, we really executed,” Mead coach Jeanne Helfer said.

Especially the sophomore, who started the game by badly missing on three 3-point attempts after going 0-8 from 3-point range in the previous game.

“I was on myself really hard at the beginning,” Turner said. “I told myself to ‘Step up, you’ve got to do it.’ When I shot the free throws, I told myself, ‘They’re more important than the 3s. Concentrate, follow through on the shot, and use your legs.’ “

Clinesmith scored eight of her 13 first-half points in the second quarter as the Panthers took advantage of Bartleson’s absence for a 19-14 lead. Bartleson spent 7 minutes on the bench with three fouls.

The Highlanders then held Clinesmith scoreless in the third quarter, and Bartleson scored 11 points and assisted on Shadle Park’s other basket for a 30-29 lead. Bartleson also had six of her game-high nine rebounds in the second half but 24 turnovers and only one scoring threat sunk the Highlanders.

“We did not play well,” Sheridan said. “We did a good job defensively, not offensively. We had way too many turnovers. I worked hard not to get them too hyped up. Maybe I didn’t get them hyped up enough, but we’ll play Mead more times in games that are more important.”

Mead made 12 of 15 free throws in the fourth quarter, finishing 20 of 25 for the game. Shadle Park was 10 for 21, including a 2 of 8 first half and 2 for 6 fourth quarter.

“I’d like to credit Mead’s great defense, but it was us,” Sheridan said. “But credit Mead, they played very consistent, and when we got a run, they stayed in there.”

Mead played without 6-1 starting post Chelsea Clark, who will probably miss the rest of the regular season with a stress fracture in her left foot.

Mead 54, Shadle Park 45

Shadle Park 10 4 16 15 - 45 Mead 8 11 10 25 - 54

SHADLE PARK K.Miller 0 1-2 1, Pilkington 0 0-0 0, Heimbigner 0 1-2 1, Clary 0 2-2 2, T.Miller 0 0-0 0, Alexander 1 0-5 2, Bartleson 10 4-6 25, Rainer 3 1-2 7, Short 3 1-2 7. Totals 17 10-21 45.

MEAD Beatty 2 0-0 4, Cory 1 2-2 5, Turner 3 4-4 12, Clinesmith 4 12-14 21, Benad 3 0-1 6, Roberts 0 0-0 0, J.Clark 2 0-0 4, Bennett 0 2-4 2. Totals 15 20-25 54.

3-point goals - Bartleson, Cory, Turner 2, Clinesmith. Total fouls - SP 20, M 19. Fouled out - none. Technical foul - SP bench.

Ferris 64, University 51

Jennifer Swinton and Danielle Tutt combined for 27 points and 20 rebounds as the Saxons (6-2, 10-2) beat the Titans (5-3, 8-4) in the battle for third place.

Ferris spread the court in the second half, allowing point guard Jayme Morrisette to score all 11 of her points and dish the ball inside as the Saxons broke from a 28-28 tie.

Emily Ireland had 15 of her 19 points in the first half as Ferris won for the sixth straight time and handed University its third straight loss.

University 10 18 14 9 - 51 Ferris 13 15 18 18 - 64

UNIVERSITY Stuenkel 3 4-4 11, Shelton 0 0-0 0, Vlahovich 0 0-0 0, Ford 4 2-4 11, Rusch 0 0-0 0, Wilson 2 1-2 5, Powers 1 0-0 2, Jamison 0 1-2 1, Perno 5 4-8 14, Gorman 3 1-1 7. Totals 18 13-21 51.

FERRIS Pruett 0 0-0 0, Lundy 0 0-0 0, Morrisette 4 3-6 11, Schmedding 1 0-0 3, Martin 0 0-0 0, Watkinson 0 4-4 4, Ireland 5 5-6 19, Tutt 6 1-4 13, Swinton 6 2-2 14, Williams 0 0-0 0. Totals 22 15-22 64.

3-point goals - Stuenkel, Ford, Schmedding, Ireland 4. Total fouls - U 23, F 15. Fouled out - Perno.

Central Valley 50, Gonzaga Prep 46 Sophomore Crystal Lee scored nine of her career-high 22 points in the fourth quarter to rally the injury-plagued Bears (4-4, 5-7) past the Bullpups (3-5, 6-6) in the battle for fifth place at CV.

The Bears lost point guard Lisa Lentz and sophomore forward Ginger Clark in the first quarter before either scored. Lentz, CV’s only senior, reinjured the knee she blew out in the state tournament last year, and Clark sprained an ankle.

Gonzaga Prep 11 12 14 9 - 46 Central Valley 9 14 8 19 - 50

GONZAGA PREP Austin 0 0-0 0, Cronin 0 0-0 0, Thorn 1 0-3 2, Treloar 1 0-0 2, Williams 4 4-8 12, Bloom 5 1-2 11, Giesa 2 1-2 5, Palmer 3 1-2 7, Weiskopf 2 0-0 4, Strand 1 0-3 0 3. Totals 19 7-20 46.

CENTRAL VALLEY Ang. Kallas 0 0-0 0, And. Kallas 2 2-5 6, Lentz 0 0-0 0, Carpenter 2 0-0 5, Ault 2 0-0 4, Clark 0 0-0 0, MacPhee 1 0-0 2, Sanders 1 1-3 3, Hinckley 2 2-2 6, Lee 5 12-15 22, White 1 0-1 2. Totals 16 17-26 50.

3-point goals - Carpenter, Strand. Total fouls - GP 24, CV 16. Fouled out - Cronin, Williams, Weiskopf. Technicals - none.

LC 51, NC 42

The Tigers (2-6, 4-8) used a full-court press for a 23-8 surge in the second quarter that made the difference against the Indians (0-8, 1-11) at NC.

LC controlled the game with a 37-20 edge in rebounding.

Lewis and Clark 6 23 13 9 - 51 North Central 10 8 11 13 - 42

LEWIS AND CLARK Huddle 4 3-4 7, Hiss 0 2-4 2, Davey 2 0-0 4, Blott 2 2-2 6, Snow 0 2-2 2, Haight 6 2-4 14, Hamre 5 2-3 12, Naipo 0 0-0 0, Stillian 2 0-1 4.

NORTH CENTRAL Prim 2 1-2 3, Young 4 0-1 9, Schumacher 2 1-2 5, Devine 0 2-2 2, Clarkson 3 1-4 8, Scott 0 1-2 1, Wilson 1 4-5 6, E.Hammond 0 2-4 2, Nelson 1 0-0 3.

3-point goals - Young, Clarkson. Total fouls - LC 21, NC 18. Fouled out - Wilson.

Pullman 54, Rogers 46

Katie Werner scored 15 points and the Greyhounds were 18 of 24 from the foul line in the second half as Pullman (7-6) defeated the visiting Pirates (2-8).

The Greyhounds were 20-27 from the line in the first half while Rogers was 10-13.

Pullman 8 13 9 24 - 54 Rogers 5 12 15 14 - 46

PULLMAN Linehan 1, Fisher 5, Schlettert 12, Scharnhorst 6, Montez 2, Werner 15, Weeks 13.

ROGERS Robinson 2, Christensen 0, Nill 4, Moore 0, Zahrowski 14, Via 8, Scott 2, Flores 0, Walters 3, Greenside 6, Mullerleile 7.