Tiebreaker Next For U-Hi, Shadle

GSL boys

An overtime season certainly seemed probable heading into the last night of Greater Spokane League boys basketball on Thursday, but the way it came about certainly was improbable.

First, University went up to Mead and thumped the Panthers 56-41. Then, Shadle Park built a big early lead and dumped league-champion Ferris 60-56 at Spokane Falls Community College.

That added up to a University-Shadle Park tiebreaker for the sixth and final playoff berth in next week’s district tournament. Those teams will square off at North Central Saturday night at 7:30. Shadle Park swept the Titans in the regular season, winning 50-48 at Shadle and 67-48 at U-Hi.

The winner plays Mead, which has the tiebreaker edge in the three-way tie for third. Mead’s loss dropped the Panthers into a tie with Gonzaga Prep, a 70-57 winner over Rogers, and Lewis and Clark, which beat North Central 72-60.

However, Mead is 3-1 in head-to-head games with the other teams in the tie. LC is 2-2 to earn the fourth seed and Prep is 3-1. On Tuesday at the Arena, Mead plays the 5:30 game against Saturday’s survivor. Prep and LC meet at 9 p.m.

University’s win wasn’t a complete surprise because Mead has fallen apart. The Panthers finished the first half of the league season tied for first at 7-1 and opened the second half with a win before losing six of their last seven, including the final three.

The Titans, conversely, have been in a must-win situation for two weeks and have won three straight.

“You dream about that, think about that and convince yourself that it can come true,” University coach Jay Humphrey said of reaching the tiebreaker. “It’s a little more difficult to convince (the kids) of that. This was like a third straight playoff game. A couple weeks ago that looked pretty dim.”

With the win in hand, Humphrey raced to SFCC, arriving at halftime to see Shadle Park with a 29-17 lead. Ferris charged back, but the Highlanders weathered the storm.

“I told myself I wasn’t going to tell (the players the U-Hi score),” said Shadle Park coach Darcy Weisner, who left Mead at halftime. “I thought that (would be too much pressure).”

The announcer, however, reported the score during pregame warmups.

“I guess I was wrong,” Weisner said. “They cranked it up when they found out they were in a do-or-die situation.”

University 56, Mead 41

The Titans (11-9, 8-8) used defense and clutch shooting in the second half to pull away from the Panthers (11-9, 8-6).

University stretched a 25-22 halftime lead to 39-33 after three quarters and broke the game open with the first seven points of the fourth quarter.

Ryan Massey and Kelly Hineman had three 3’s apiece to spark U-Hi, finishing with 15 and 19 points, respectively.

University 15 10 14 17 - 56

Mead 15 7 11 8 - 41

UNIVERSITY Dunham 0 1-2 1, Jeffries 2 0-0 4, Fryer 0 0-0 0, Massey 6 0-0 15, Wetzel 0 0-0 0, Earling 0 0-0 0, Price 0 0-0 0, Hineman 6 4-6 19, Carlson 2 3-6 7, Flanery 0 0-0 0, Wilson 3 0-0 6, Allen 2 0-1 4. Totals 21 8-15 56.

MEAD Morris 1 1-2 3, Klaus 0 0-0 0, Inderrieden 0 0-0 0, Riccelli 0 0-0 0, Armitage 1 2-4 4, West 0 0-0 0, Long 7 0-0 16, Eggers 0 1-3 1, Walton 0 2-2 2, Castaneda 6 2-4 15, Wyrick 0 0-0 0, Myers 0 0-0 0. Totals 15 8-15 41.

3-point goals - Massey 3, Hineman 3, Long 2, Castaneda. Total fouls - U-Hi 14, M 16. Fouled out - none.

Shadle Park 60, Ferris 57

The second-ranked Saxons (18-2, 14-2) made all eight of their shots in the third quarter to crawl within three points, but Chris Anderson’s 3-pointer at the buzzer steadied the Highlanders (9-11, 8-8).

Oliver Cook then opened the fourth quarter with a 3 and two free throws to push Shadle’s lead back to 11.

Ferris came within three again in the final minute, but Kerry Hipps hit two clutch foul shots.

Ferris 4 13 19 21 - 57

Shadle Park 13 16 13 18 - 60

FERRIS Bursch 1 0-0 3, Schuchart 0 0-0 0, Servine 2 0-2 5, Hardan 6 2-2 17, Lucke 0 0-0 0, Henneberry 1 0-1 2, Harmon 7 2-5 16, Stocum 4 4-6 12, Weatherred 1 0-0 2. Totals 22 9-16 57.

SHADLE PARK Dunham 6 3-4 18, Cook 5 5-10 19, Kingsbury 0 0-0 0, Pate 2 0-0 4, Anderson 5 1-1 12, Mohr 1 0-2 2, Hipps 1 2-5 5. Totals 20 11-22 60.

3-point goals - Ferris (Hardan 3 Bursch) SP (Cook 4, Dunham 3, Anderson, Hipps). Total fouls - Ferris 22, SP 14. Fouled out - Bursch, Hardan.

Lewis and Clark 72, NC 60

Paul Mencke was the hottest of the hot Tigers (13-7, 9-7), scoring 30 points against the Indians (8-12, 5-11) at NC.

Mencke hit 11 of 14 shots from the field and all eight of his free throws as LC went 26 of 42 from the field.

Lewis and Clark 15 19 14 24 - 72

North Central 13 18 12 17 - 60

LEWIS AND CLARK Bowman 0 0-3 0, Canton 1 0-0 2, Steuckle 1 1-2 3, Homer 3 6-9 13, Lynch 4 0-0 8, Thompson 0 0-0 0, Morse 0 0-0 0, Etter 1 1-1 3, Vick 5 3-4 13, Adams 0 0-0 0, Mencke 11 8-8 30, Stack 0 0-0 0. Totals 26 19-27 72.

NORTH CENTRAL Plaster 0 0-0 0, Turner 0 0-0 0, Blanchat 0 1-4 1, Blotsky 0 0-0 0, Kuhlman 3 2-2 9, Holdren 5 3-3 13, Hieb 5 8-10 18, Young 0 0-0 0, Kapelke 9 0-0 19, Eschenbacher 0 0-0 0. Totals 22 14-19 60.

3-point goals - Homer, Kuhlman, Kapelke. Total fouls - LC 14, NC 19. Fouled out - Blanchat, Etter.

Gonzaga Prep 70, Rogers 57

The Bullpups (13-7, 9-7) outscored the Pirates (1-19, 0-16) by 22 points at the foul line to pick up the road win.

Joe McFarland led Prep with 23 points, making 9 of 10 free throws..

Gonzaga Prep 12 18 18 22 - 70

Rogers 6 10 19 22 - 57

GONZAGA PREP Kocharhook 1 2-2 4, Dixson 0 2-2 2, Kordash 0 0-0 0, Thielman 0 2-5 3, B.Sweeny 1 1-2 3, Ryan 0 2-2 2, Powell 4 0-0 9, P.Sweeny 2 2-2 6, Herrin 5 4-5 14, McFarland 7 9-10 23, Egger 0 0-0 0, Hartnett 2 0-0 4. Totals 21 25-30 70.

ROGERS Browning 1 0-0 2, Loffredi 2 0-0 5, Cuculich 0 0-0 0, Oglesbee 4 0-0 12, Mosby 4 0-0 8, Hassett 1 0-0 2, Dainty 6 0-0 13, Pugh 1 1-2 3, Smith 2 2-4 6, Hemphill 3 0-1 6. Totals 24 3-7 57.

3-point goals - Oglesbee 4, Dainty, Lofreddi, Powell. Total fouls - G 12, R 24. Fouled out - Hassett, Mosby.

, DataTimes