Mead Sweeps District Titles

GSL basketball

It was a night for Panthers to growl.

They also scratched, clawed and basically mauled Ferris to give Mead a sweep of the Greater Spokane League District 8 Tournament titles at the Arena Friday night.

First, the Mead girls pounded Ferris in the third quarter before coasting to a 52-36 victory. Then, the Mead boys shredded the Saxons’ vaunted matchup zone with 57-percent shooting for a 69-55 win.

It was the first time one school swept both titles in the same year since Shadle Park in 1982. It was also the second straight district title for the Mead boys, who had never won one before last year, and the fourth for the girls in the last six years.

Mead takes the top seeds into the regional tournament against the Big Nine next week. Ferris goes as No. 2.

The good news is those four teams get home games at Spokane neutral sites - the boys at Eastern Washington University and the girls at Gonzaga University - but the bad news is the teams from the same schools play at the same time. Ferris has 6 p.m. games at both sites, Mead goes at 7:30. Opponents will be determined tonight.

In the other seeding games, the Central Valley girls beat Shadle Park 66-43 and the Lewis and Clark boys beat CV 63-42.

Boys

Mead 69, Ferris 55

The Saxons (19-3) couldn’t stop the Panthers (14-9), who scored 41 and 44 points in losing the regular-season games.

“The kids have sort of taken it upon themselves to do the things the coaches have asked them to do and focus on the team instead of on themselves,” Mead coach Jim Preston said. “What also helped is we’re getting points from other players.”

But it was Ralph Castaneda the Saxons never stopped. The 6-foot-4 senior soared over or drove past defenders, hitting 11 of 15 shots and scoring a career-high 26 points.

“Coach Preston said one word, ‘Attack,”’ Castaneda said. “It is my last year. I want to go out in style.”

The only lead for Ferris was 2-0 before Castaneda and Damian Long each made two baskets. The Saxons got close but never caught up after that and the Panthers hit 25 of 44 shots as well as 13 of 16 free throws to protect the lead.

“I think they attacked our zone real well,” Ferris coach Wayne Gilman said. “That will be valuable tape - for us and anyone else who possesses it. They did some things that gave us trouble. Maybe we can figure out a way to stop it, but we tonight we didn’t.”

Mead 15 24 15 15 - 69

Ferris 11 17 13 14 - 69

MEAD Morris 2 9-11 13, Klaus 0 0-0 0, Inderrieden 3 0-0 8, Riccelli 0 0-0 0, Armitage 3 0-0 7, West 0 0-0 0, Long 6 0-0 13, Eggers 0 0-0 0, Walton 1 0-0 2, Castaneda 11 4-5 26, Wyrick 0 0-0 0, Myers 0 0-0 0. Totals 26 13-16 69. FERRIS Bursch 2 1-2 5, Schuchart 0 0-0 0, Servine 2 8-8 13, Hardan 4 0-0 9, Lucke 1 0-0 3, Henneberry 2 2-2 6, Harmon 1 0-0 2, Stocum 4 7-10 15, Weatherred 1 0-0 2. Totals 17 18-22 55. 3-point goals - Inderrieden 2, Armitage, Long, Servine, Hardan, Lucke. Total fouls - Ferris 20, Mead. 20. Fouled out - Hardan.

Lewis and Clark 63, CV 42

The cold Bears (13-9) couldn’t match the Tigers’ (15-8) one-two punch of Mike Homer and Paul Mencke.

Homer scored 18 points and Mencke had 15 and both sat out the fourth quarter. The Tigers shot 45 percent (24-53). The Bears hit just 14 of 55 shots (25 percent).

LC plays the loser of Pasco-Eisenhower and CV plays the winner. Pasco will play at Richland and Ike in Yakima, both at 7:30.

Lewis and Clark 18 22 10 13 - 63

Central Valley 10 12 5 15 - 42

LEWIS AND CLARK Bowman 1 0-3 2, Canton 1 1-2 3, Steuckle 0 0-0 0, Homer 7 2-2 18, Lynch 4 0-0 8, Thompson 0 1-2 1, Morse 0 0-0 0, Etter 0 1-2 1, Vick 3 3-4 9, Adams 1 1-2 3, Stack 1 1-2 3, Mencke 6 3-4 15. Totals 24 13-23 63. CENTRAL VALLEY Nesbitt 0 0-0 0, Millar 1 0-0 2, Smith 1 0-0 2, Schuh 2 5-6 9, Abrahms 0 1-2 1, Allen 3 0-1 6, Hinckley 2 1-2 5, Platt 1 2-3 4, Jochim 1 0-0 2, McFarlane 0 2-4 2, May 2 3-4 7, McElvain 0 0-0 0, Schulz 1 0- 0 2. Totals 14 14-22 42. 3-point goals - Homer 2. Total fouls - LC 17, CV 19. Fouled out - Abrahms.

Girls

Mead 52, Ferris 36

There was no reason to suspect the second half wouldn’t match the first half, which was a defensive struggle. Then the Panthers (20-2) blitzed the Saxons (18-4).

Mead scored the first eight points of the third quarter and after a Ferris bucket scored the next 15. Stacy Clinesmith, who scored a season-high 24 points, had half in the quarter. The Panthers outscored Ferris 23-4.

The Panthers forced Ferris into 18 turnovers while committing just 10, two in the second half, and held Ferris to 11-of-36 shooting.

“When our two sophomores got into foul trouble we were very fragile,” Ferris coach Janet Skaife said. “Mead stepped it up in the second half and we broke down defensively for a couple of minutes.”

Ferris 12 6 4 14 - 36

Mead 7 10 23 12 - 52

FERRIS Pruett 2 0-0 6, George 2 1-2 6, Jay.Morrisette 2 4-4 9, M.Martin 1 0-1 3, Watkinson 0 0-0 0, Rasmussen 1 0-0 2, Brown 0 0-0 0, Swinton 2 2-2 6, Jan.Morrisette 1 2-4 4. Totals 11 9-13 36. MEAD Beatty 2 0-1 4, C.Clark 0 0-0 0, Turner 4 0-0 12, Zelinski 0 0-0 0, Clinesmith 7 8-9 24, Roberts 0 0-0 0, Wakefield 0 0-0 0, Edburg 0 0-0 0, J.Clark 2 2-2 6, Bennett 2 2-4 6. Totals 17 12-16 52. 3-point goals - Pruett 2, George, Jay.Morrisette, Turner 4, Clinesmith 2. Fouls - Ferris 16, Mead 14. Fouled out - none.

Central Valley 66, Shadle Park 43

The Bears (18-4) made 25 of 56 2-pointers and held Shadle (12-11) to 12-of-44 shooting to win the third seed.

Ricki Jackson scored seven of her nine points early to give CV the lead. Then Crystal Lee, who had 18 points, made 6 of 7 free throws in the second quarter to help boost the lead to 33-20.

The Bears play the loser of the Wenatchee at Kamiakin and the Highlanders play the winner. The Kamiakin game will be at Richland, beginning at 6 p.m., in a doubleheader with the Pasco boys. The Wenatchee game will be at Eastmont at 7:30.

Shadle Park 11 9 10 13 - 43

Central Valley 16 17 15 18 - 56

SHADLE PARK Larkin 0 0-0 0, Christensen 2 4-7 8, Pilkington 0 2-2 2, Heimbigner 5 0-0 14, Drake 0 2-2 2, Alexander 1 0-0 2, Clary 2 0-0 4, Nelson 0 0-2 0, Potter 1 0-0 3, Johnson 0 3-6 3, Harchuck 1 3-3 5. Totals 12 14-22 43. CENTRAL VALLEY Kallas 3 1-2 7, Ault 1 0-0 2, Clark 0 0-0 0, Macphee 4 3-5 11, Sanders 5 1-1 11, Shoquist 1 0-0 2, Dahlgren 1 0-2 2, Lee 5 8-9 18, White 2 0-0 4, Coyle 0 0-0 0, Jackson 4 0-0 9. Totals 26 13-19 66. 3-point goals - Heimbigner 4, Potter, Jackson. Total fouls - SP 17, CV 20. Fouled out - none.

, DataTimes