Saxons Grab Their Redemption Mccaffery Leads Ferris Past Mead

A month ago, Kelly McCaffery left the Arena in tears.

She was all smiles Tuesday night, and with good reason.

The Ferris senior scored 10 points, including what proved to be the winning basket, as the Saxons held off Mead 40-39.

The win kept the Saxons tied with Central Valley for the Greater Spokane League basketball lead and put them one win away from clinching a spot in the regional tournament.

Ferris plays Lewis and Clark at the Arena and CV goes to Shadle Park for Highlanders coach Linda Sheridan’s last home game on Thursday night. If Ferris and CV win, the Saxons get the top seed into next week’s District 8 tournament because they swept the Bears this year.

Gonzaga Prep knocked off fourth-place Lewis and Clark 58-43 to create a three-way tie for the sixth and final district berth. The Bullpups are tied with Rogers and University. Prep plays Rogers Thursday at the Arena while U-Hi plays at Mt. Spokane.

“It was a crucial game,” McCaffery said. “We all had to step up.”

No one made a bigger step than McCaffery, who was scoreless in the meeting a month ago when the Panthers overcame a 15-point deficit to win 44-39.

“I didn’t have any confidence last time we played them,” McCaffery said. “I was pretty tense the whole game. Every mistake I made I was pulled. I was pretty frustrated with myself.”

She didn’t blame the coach for pulling her then, but she didn’t give Art Rojas that opportunity this time.

McCaffery’s basket gave the Saxons (16-3 overall, 15-2 GSL) a 38-25 lead with 6:26 to play. Then the Panthers (14-5, 14-3) reeled off 11 straight points, capped by Morgan Bennett’s 3-pointer from the top of the key with 2:46 left.

Both teams missed opportunities before McCaffery converted a feed from Karie Pruett to make it 40-36 with 1:25 to play.

Stacy Schuerman hit two free throws for the Panthers 30 seconds later. Then, after a Ferris miss, Bennett, who sparked the Mead comeback by scoring all 15 of her points in the second half, went to the foul line for two shots with 21 seconds left. She made only one, and because the Panthers had committed only two fouls to that point, Mead couldn’t foul enough to get the ball back before time ran out.

“We weren’t playing our trapping defense with the same intensity,” Rojas said about Mead’s comeback. “They made some adjustments and we didn’t adjust to their adjustments. I think when we started missing shots, we were getting tight.”

The game had the makings of deja vu. An 8-0 run put Mead up 8-7 late in the first quarter, but Ferris had an 18-6 advantage in the second quarter to lead 27-24 at the half.

McCaffery opened the scoring in the second half. Then Bennett scored seven points in a 9-0 run for Mead.

Karie Pruett, who had four 3’s and 14 points for Ferris, stopped the string with a 3. Then McCaffery had two baskets as the Saxons scored the first three of the fourth quarter to rebuild the lead to 38-25.

“This time, I knew I had to play hard,” McCaffery said. “I knew that I had to get the confidence, I had to be strong.”

Rojas said, “It was nice to see Karie and Kelly step up. Kelly has been (in big games) a lot. Hopefully, this game is going to catapult her.”

Ferris 40, Mead 39

Mead 8 6 11 14 - 39

Ferris 9 18 5 8 - 40

MEAD - Zelinski 0 0-0 0, Slater 1 0-0 2, Ferguson 0 0-0 0, Bailey 3 2-2 8, Bennett 4 3-10 15, Leaf 0 0-0 0, Curry 1 0-0 2, Schuerman 4 4-5 12. Totals 13 11-17 39.

FERRIS - Pruett 5 0-0 14, Lytle 0 0-0 0, George 2 2-2 6, Morrisette 1 0-2 2, Brazzle 0 0-0 0, Martin 0 0-0 0, McCaffery 5 0-0 10, Benzel 4 0-0 8. Totals 17 2-4 40.

3-point goals - Bennett 2, Pruett 4. Total fouls - Mead 11, Ferris 17. Fouled out - Zelinski.

Central Valley 63, Rogers 44

Rikki Jackson’s 22 points, including five 3’s, powered the sixth-ranked Bears (17-2, 15-2) past the Pirates (9-10, 7-10).

Central Valley 18 16 14 15 - 63

Rogers 16 10 12 6 - 44

CENTRAL VALLEY - Phinney 1 1-2 3, Wilson 2 0-0 5, Donaldson 1 0-0 2, Grafos 4 0-1 11, Jackson 8 1-3 22, Shoquist 2 1-2 5, Liepman 1 7-8 9, J.Coyle 3 0-0 6, Bragdon 0 0-0 0. Totals 22 10-16 63.

ROGERS - Abrahamson 3 0-0 6, Hatch 3 0-0 6, Zahrowski 0 0-0 0, Perry 0 2-4 2, Logue 2 0-4 4, Delger 1 1-2 4, Fairbanks 6 4-6 16, Bayne 1 0-0 2, Wright 1 2-3 4. Totals 17 9-19 44.

3-point goals - Wilson, Grafos 3, Jackson 5, Delger. Total fouls - CV 18, Rogers 16. Fouled out - Abrahamson.

Gonzaga Prep 58, LC 43

Freshman Juliann Laney was perfect on six free throws to score 10 of her career-high 17 points in the fourth quarter to help the Bullpups (7-12, 7-10) past the visiting Tigers (9-10, 9-8).

Lewis and Clark 7 12 16 8 - 43

Gonzaga Prep 14 11 13 20 - 58

LEWIS AND CLARK - Hamre 3 3-7 11, Wendle 2 0-0 5, Travis 0 0-0 0, Marquess 4 1-2 11, Glotfelty 3 1-2 7, Thompson 1 3-5 5, Hansen 0 2-2 2, Lopes 0 0-0 0, Ford 0 2-4 2. Totals 13 12-22 43.

GONZAGA PREP - Bloom 5 0-0 14, Laney 5 7-10 17, Gibbon 0 0-0 0, Machtolf 1 0-0 2, Boren 0 1-2 1, Barnes 0 0-0 0, Jordan 6 6-8 19, Lindstrom 1 0-0 2, So.Housam 0 0-0 0, St.Housam 1 1-2 3, Millersmith 0 0-0 0. Totals 19 15-22 58.

3-point goals - Hamre 2, Marquess 2, Wendle, Bloom 4, Jordan. Total fouls - LC 18, GP 19. Fouled out - Lindstrom.

University 62, North Central 18

The Titans’ (7-12, 7-10) bench scored 33 points on the way to a win over the visiting Indians (2-16, 2-15), who were held to 20 percent from the field.

North Central 4 4 4 6 - 18

University 20 18 7 17 - 62

NORTH CENTRAL - Webber 0 0-0 0, Graesser 0 0-0 0, Ellenwood 0 0-0 0, Eschenbacher 0 0-0 0, Westland 0 0-0 0, White 0 1-3 1, Kennedy 2 0-0 5, Holdren 0 1-2 1, Stearns 4 3-13 11. Totals 6 5-18 18.

UNIVERSITY - Conant 3 0-0 7, Frost 4 0-0 8, Lektorich 2 2-2 7, Nelson 3 0-2 6, Oglesbee 0 3-4 3, Owen 2 1-2 6, Parker 2 1-2 5, Schroeder 3 2-2 9, Shelton 2 1-2 6, Valkenaar 0 0-0 0, Whitney 2 0-0 5. Totals 23 10-16 62.

3-point goals - Kennedy, Owen, Shroeder, Whitney, Shelton, Conant, Lektorich. Total fouls - NC 8, U-Hi 19. Fouled out - Valkenaar.

Shadle Park 69, Mt. Spokane 24

The visiting Highlanders (11-8, 9-8) defeated the Wildcats (0-19, 0-17).

Shadle Park 16 21 16 16 - 69

Mt. Spokane 5 8 6 5 - 24

SHADLE PARK - Ridings 1 0-1 2, Caldwell 5 0-0 13, Schurra 2 0-0 4, Fay 6 0-0 12, Harchuck 2 0-0 5, Stockman 2 0-2 4, Olzendam 4 1-1 11, Buckley 0 0-0 0, Alake 3 0-2 6, McGrath 4 0-0 8, Kiritz 2 0-2 4. Totals 28 1-8 69.

MT. SPOKANE - Gemmill 1 0-0 2, Atwood 2 2-4 7, Anderson 2 1-2 5, Klobucher 0 0-0 0, Monroe 1 2-2 3, Louck 0 0-0 0, Brumleve 3 1-4 7. Totals 9 4-7 24.

3-point goals - Caldwell, Harchuck, Olzendam 2. Total fouls - Shadle Park 13, Mt. Spokane 11. Fouled out - none.

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