CV Boys, Mead Girls Wear District 8 Crowns

District 8 basketball

More than 20 games ago, Greater Spokane League basketball coaches were bragging about their balance.

The District 8 tourney confirmed it.

Central Valley won the boys title with a 57-54 win over fourth-seeded Lewis and Clark and Mead took the girls title by edging Ferris 51-50 Friday night at the Arena.

CV got a big boost from reserve Craig Eigenhus while Tom Perkes and LC post Pat Luce battled to a draw inside, scoring 19 and 18 points, respectively. Perkes hit two foul shots with 8.9 seconds left and LC threw the ball away going for a last shot.

Another reserve sparked Mead, Courtney Ferguson banging down four 3-pointers and scoring 19 points. Ferris hit three 3s in the final minute, including one at the buzzer, to make it a one-point game.

The CV boys and Ferris girls had shared GSL titles with the Ferris boys and CV girls, which both finished third. Ferris topped the sixth-seeded Gonzaga Prep boys 69-51 and CV blitzed the LC girls 78-37.

All the teams advance to face the top teams from the Big Nine in the Eastern 4A Regional Tournament, which begins Tuesday and continues Friday in the Tri-Cities. The top four boys and girls teams advance to state.

The CV and LC boys will be at EWU on Tuesday and the Mead and Ferris girls at GU. The other teams travel. Big Nine opponents will be determined tonight.

Boys: CV 57, Lewis and Clark 54

Ryan Smith’s steal and layup with 13.6 seconds left gave the Bears (18-4) the fifth and final lead change with the Tigers (16-7) in the fourth quarter.

“I think the big difference was we shot our free throws, 13 of 15,” CV coach Rick Sloan said. “When you hit your free throws, you usually win. That was two pretty evenly matched teams, two pretty scrappy teams.”

The Bears defeated the Tigers by eight and 18 during the regular season but an 11-2 run gave LC a 13-4 lead in the first quarter. Eigenhuis beat the buzzer with a 3 that closed the margin to 18-16.

After two ties early in the second quarter, LC surged ahead by eight but the Tigers didn’t score for the final 3:33 and a 3 by Eigenhuis started a final surge that allowed CV to tie the game at 30.

All nine CV players scored, with the Bears’ bench, led by Eigenhuis with eight points, having an 18-6 edge.

Lewis and Clark 18 12 10 14 - 54

Central Valley 16 14 11 16 - 57

LEWIS AND CLARK - Bowman 4 1-2 9, Defour 1 0-0 2, Hook 2 0-0 6, Avery 1 0-0 3, Donastorg 5 0-0 13, Floyd 1 0-0 3, Kuhlman 0 0-0 0, Luce 9 0-0 18. Totals 23 1-2 54.

CENTRAL VALLEY - Eignehuis 2 2-2 8, Priebe 1 0-0 2, Smith 4 0-0 9, Hebden 1 0-0 3, Hinckley 3 0-0 6, Libey 1 0-0 2, DePew 1 4-6 6, McFarlane 0 2-2 2, Perkes 7 5-5 19. Totals 20 13-15 57. 3-point goals - Hook 2, Avery, Donastorg 3, Floyd, Eigenhuis, Smith, Hebden. Total fouls - LC 14, CV 9. Fouled out - none.

Ferris 69, Gonzaga Prep 51

The Saxons (18-4) raced to a 24-13 lead after one quarter but didn’t put the Bullpups (9-14) away until the second half.

Ferris was up 36-29 at halftime but outscored Prep 16-8 in the third quarter, two 3’s by Brad Hodl providing the spark.

Four players scored in double figures for the Saxons, who held Shane Hartnett, Prep’s top scorer, to four points, more than 10 below his average.

Gonzaga Prep 13 16 8 14 - 51

Ferris 24 12 16 17 - 69

GONZAGA PREP - Johnson 5 0-0 13, Ryan 0 0-0 0, McIntyre 3 0-0 7, Thielman 3 1-2 8, Maher 1 0-0 2, Frankovich 0 2-2 2, Dixson 4 1-1 9, Bacon 1 0-0 2, Hartnett 2 0-0 4, Ivers 0 0-0 0, Yarbrough 1 2-2 4. Totals 20 6-7 51.

FERRIS - Biggerstaff 0 0-0 0, Servine 6 2-2 15, Atkins 5 2-2 14, Sleeth 0 2-2 2, Gill 1 1-1 3, Watts 1 0-0 2, Hodl 5 1-2 14, Mietus 4 0-2 8, Donner 0 0-0 0, Williams 3 5-6 11, Fike 0 0-0 0, Pounds 0 0-0 0, hite 0 0-0 0, McLaughlin 0 0-0 0. Totals 25 13-17 69. 3-point goals - Johnson 3, McIntyre, Thielman, Servine, Atkins 2, Hodl 3. Total fouls - GP 16, Ferris 13. Foueld out - none.

Girls: Mead 51, Ferris 50

Two defensive teams were anything but that in the first quarter with the Panthers (18-5) racing to a 21-16 lead over the Saxons (18-4).

In the second quarter, the defenses regrouped but Ferguson helped push the Panthers to a 12-point lead. “I don’t know what my rhythm was … I just felt lucky tonight,” said Ferguson, who said she superstitiously followed the same routine she did before the Panthers beat CV a night earlier. “Coach told me they’d need me tonight, I’d be key. I just went in and did my job.”

Ferguson had 10 of her 18 in the first half, hitting all four of her shots. Ferris cut the margin to five in the third quarter and had three chances to get it down more but couldn’t convert. Ferguson then opened the fourth quarter by banking in a 3, her third of four. “You know it’s going wrong for you when they make a bank like that,” Ferris coach Art Rojas said. “When we got it down to five and had three chances. … That was big. We just didn’t shoot very well. We had open shots. I didn’t think we played very good defense in the first half. We did in the second.”

GSL scoring leading Amy George led the Saxons with 16 points but made just 6 of 17 shots.

Mead 21 9 9 12 - 51

Ferris 16 4 13 16 - 50

MEAD - Zelinski 3 1-1 8, Slater 2 0-0 4, Ferguson 6 2-2 18, Bailey 3 0- 0 6, Bennett 1 2-7 5, Curry 1 0-2 2, Schuerman 4 0-0 8. Totals 20 5-12 51.

FERRIS - Pruett 5 0-0 12, Lytle 1 0-0 2, George 6 4-5 16, Morrisette 1 5-8 8, Brazzele 2 0-0 5, Martin 0 0-0 0, McCaffery 1 1-2 3, Benzel 2 0-0 4. Totals 18 10-15 50. 3-point goals - Zelinski, Ferguson 4, Bennett, Pruett 2, Morrisette, Brazzle. Total fouls - Mead 13, Ferris 14. Fouled - none. Technical foul - Ferris bench.

CV 78, Lewis and Clark 37

After the Tigers (10-13) scored the first four points, the Bears (19-3) reeled off 15 straight and coasted.

Rikki Jackson and Jenny Coyle scored nine points apiece in the first quarter when CV raced to a 22-7 lead. They finished with 18 and 17 points respectively. Six different Bears combined to knock down 10 3-pointers.

Lewis and Clark 7 8 9 13 - 37

Central Valley 22 20 18 18 - 78

LEWIS AND CLARK - Kauppila 0 0-0 0, Travis 2 0-0 4, Hamre 0 3-4 3, Gil 1 4-4 6, Babin 0 0-2 0, Wendle 0 0-0 0, Marquess 1 1-2 3, Thompson 1 0-0 2, Hansen 0 0-0 0, Glotfelty 2 4-5 8, Lopes 0 0-0 0, Ford 3 1-2 7, Dressel 1 0- 0 2, Brooks 1 0-0 2. Totals 12 13-19 37.

CENTRAL VALLEY - Phinney 2 1-2 6, Renslow 0 0-0 0, Wilson 5 1-2 11, Donaldson 1 0-0 2, Grafos 2 0-0 6, Jackson 7 2-2 18, Ferguson 3 0-0 7, Shoquist 1 0-0 3, Liepman 0 0-0 0, J.Coyle 7 0-0 17, P.Coyle 2 0-0 4, Bragdon 1 0-0 2, Grob 1 0-1 2. Totals 32 4-7 78.

3-point goals - Phinney, Grafos 2, Jackson 2, Ferguson, Shoquist, J.Coyle 3. Total fouls - LC 13, CV 18. Fouled out - none.

, DataTimes