Rogers Uses Free Throws To Bounce Nc

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Adam Hooper’s free throw bounced high off the rim, dropped down and bounced around before finally falling in.

Finally, the bounces went Rogers’ way.

The Pirates needed every bounce they could get to escape from North Central with a 69-68 victory Tuesday night.

They did it by building a nine-point lead with 2 minutes to go and then hitting clutch free throws as the Indians battled back.

“It’s our turn, isn’t it?” Rogers coach Rick Mergenthaler asked. “We’ve been in enough close games not to fold. These young kids are really growing up. They did a good job, they’re playing more like seniors.”

The Pirates (11-6 overall, 9-6 in league) had reason to wonder, having lost four Greater Spokane League games by a total of 10 points and a fifth in overtime to league-leading Central Valley. Of course, now they have four wins by a total of nine points.

Brett Oglesbee, who hit 13 of 14 free throws, made 1 of 2 with 2:12 left to put the Pirates up 58-49.

Sean Allbery hit two for NC, but Oglesbee got those back at 1:56. From there, NC hit seven straight shots, the last a 3-pointer at the buzzer by Allbery.

Rogers countered with four more free throws by Oglesbee and 5 of 6 by Hooper.

Hooper missed his first one but got the second to make it 65-59 with 50 seconds left. After an Allbery bucket, the Pirates turned the ball over in backcourt and Jacob Martyn scored to make it 65-63 with 25 seconds to play.

Four seconds later, Hooper was fouled and it was his first free throw that took the good bounce. He swished the next, and after a Chris Blotsky basket with 15 seconds left he swished two more at 7 seconds to seal the game.

“I wish we would have played better defense down the stretch, but credit NC and (coach) Jay Webber,” Mergenthaler said. “They didn’t quit, but we deserved to win.”

The loss really hurt the Indians (7-10, 7-8) in the race for the sixth and final playoff spot.

“We have to depend on other teams, our fate is not in our hands,” Webber said. “That’s not a great situation. But I told the kids not to give up… . We’ve come too far to quit now.”

His complaint was also defense, particularly when Oglesbee, held to two free throws in the first half, scored 22 in the second half, including three clutch 3’s.

“I just decided to be more aggressive and take the shots, not be so passive,” Oglesbee said after his season-high 24 points. “When we pass into (Dempsey), it opens up shots for the rest of us and makes it easy.”

NC won the first meeting 70-58.

“We didn’t play good enough defense to win, that’s the bottom line,” Webber said. “This was a big game for us and we came up short. I thought Rogers did a good job of controlling the tempo. I don’t think we were ever in sync offensively.”

Both teams shot well and played well, Rogers was 21-41 from the field with eight turnovers and NC 28-55 with 12 turnovers. The difference was the free throws the Pirates were forced to hit - they made 23 of 28, including 12 of 14 in the fourth quarter.

Rogers 69, North Central 68

Rogers 15 9 20 24 - 69

North Central 13 13 17 25 - 68

ROGERS - Hooper 3 5-6 12, Bedford 0 0-0 0, Ridley 5 2-3 12, Oglesbee 4 13-14, Dempsey 8 3-5 19, Pugh 1 0-0 2, Rother 0 0-0 0. Totals 21 23-28 69.

NORTH CENTRAL - Allen 8 0-0 17, Lesesne 0 0-0 0, Robinson 0 0-0 0, Blotsky 8 1-1 19, Farr 3 0-0 7, Allbery 6 3-4 16, Martyn 3 3-3 9. Totals 28 7-8 68.

3-point goals - Hooper, Oglesbee 3, Allen, Blotsky 2, Farr, Allbery. Total fouls - Rogers 10, NC 20. Fouled out - none.

CV 57, Mt. Spokane 45

Casey Clark scored a career-high 26 points at the Arena to keep the Wildcats (1-15, 0-15) within 12 points of the eighth-ranked Bears (14-3, 13-2).

Mt. Spokane 9 12 11 13 - 45

Central Valley 14 17 14 12 - 57

MT. SPOKANE - Gordon 1 0-1 2, Adams 0 0-0 0, Wilson 0 0-0 0, Gaston 1 0-0 2, Tabisz 2 2-5 7, Clark 8 9-13 26, Bishop 0 0-0 0, Hardman 0 0-0 0, Hammond 2 1-1 5, Swanson 0 0-0 0, Lewis 1 1-5 3. Totals 15 13-25 45.

CENTRAL VALLEY - Eigenhuis 1 2-2 5, Priebe 1 3-3 5, Smith 3 1-3 8, Hebden 2 0-0 4, Hinckley 3 1-2 7, Libey 0 0-0 0, Depew 1 4-4 6, McFarlane 4 4-6 13, Perkes 4 1-1 9, Kreiger 0 0-0 0. Totals 19 16-21 57.

3-point goals - Tabisz, Clark, Eigenhuis, Smith, McFarlane. Total fouls - Mt.Spokane 18, CV 22. Fouled out - None.

Mead 60, Gonzaga Prep 47

Brian Wolverton led a balanced attack with 12 points as the Panthers (12-5, 11-4) ended the Bullpups’ (8-9, 8-7) five-game winning streak.

Gonzaga Prep 15 3 15 14 - 47

Mead 13 16 13 18 - 60

GONZAGA PREP - Johnson 5 1-2 12, McIntyre 1 3-5 5, Thielman 2 0-0 4, Maher 4 1-1 10, Dixson 0 4-4 4, Bacon 0 0-2 0, Hartnett 4 4-6 12, Yarbrough 0 0-0 0. Totals 16 13-20 47.

MEAD - Adams 2 4-5 9, Stenerson 3 4-4 10, Stucky 0 1-2 1, Castillo 4 2-2 10, Zelinski 0 0-0 0, Schollmeyer 0 0-0 0, Scholl 0 0-0 0, Stone 2 2-2 7, Galles 5 1-3 11, Boydston 0 0-0 0, Wolverton 4 4-4 12. Totals 20 18-22 60.

3-point goals - Johnson, Maher, Adams, Stone. Total fouls - G-Prep 16, Mead 17. Fouled out - None.

Ferris 65, University 46

Tommy Servine shot six 3-pointers and scored a season-high 21 points to lead the sixth-ranked Saxons (14-3, 12-3) past the visiting Titans (1-16, 1-14).

University 13 12 5 16 - 46

Ferris 19 15 15 16 - 65

UNIVERSITY - Sale 3 0-0 7, Merrifield 0 0-0 0, Short 0 0-0 0, Benefield 0 0-0 0, Ruscio 1 0-0 3, Roberts 1 0-0 2, Van Dyne 5 0-0 15, Moore 0 2-2 2, Florence 5 1-1 11, Renz 0 0-0 0, Jeffries 0 2-4 2, Price 1 2-2 4, Schmidt 0 0-0 0.Totals 16 7-9 46.

FERRIS - Biggerstaff 0 0-0 0, Servine 7 1-2 21, Atkins 6 0-1 12, Sleeth 1 0-0 2, Gill 1 0-0 2, Watts 6 0-0 12, Hodl 3 0-0 8, Mietus 2 0-0 4, Donner 1 0-0 2, Williams 1 0-0 2.Totals 28 1-3 65.

3-point goals - Ruscio, Van Dyne 5, Sale, Servine 6, Hodl 2. Total fouls - University 10, Ferris 11. Fouled out - None. Technicals - Mietus.

LC 60, Shadle Park 43

Tyrees Donastorg scored 19 points, including three 3-pointers, to lead the visiting Tigers (12-5, 11-4) past the Highlanders (4-13, 3-12).

Lewis and Clark 16 13 15 16 - 60

Shadle Park 16 5 11 11 - 43

LEWIS AND CLARK - Bowman 0 1-3 1, Hook 0 0-0 0, Defour 3 0-0 6, Avery 1 0-0 3, Donastorg 7 2-4 19, Floyd 6 0-0 13, Kuhlmann 3 0-0 8, Spurgetis 1 0-0 2, Luce 3 2-4 8. Totals 24 5-11 60.

SHADLE PARK - Wynne 1 0-0 3, Ryan 4 0-0 8, Beal 2 1-2 6, Evans 0 0-1 0, Jerr.Johnson 0 1-2 1, Howlett 2 2-2 8, Bruck 1 0-0 3, Doyle 2 0-0 5, Jere.Johnson 0 0-0 0, Singleton 3 2-2 9. Totals 15 6-9 43.

3-point goals - Avery, Donastorg 3, Floyd, Kuhlmann 2, Wynne, Beal, Howlett 2, Bruck, Doyle, Singleton. Total fouls - LC 15, SP 13. Fouled out - None.

, DataTimes