Soph Paces Saxons

GSL boys

Not that Sean Mallon was a secret, standing 6-foot-7 and all, but Wayne Gilman wasn’t about to put his super sophomore in any hall of fame after one game.

“He’s a nice addition,” the Ferris coach said.

Then he broke into a big smile.

“He’s going to open a lot of eyes in the next three years,” Gilman added.

Mallon did that in one night.

He scored 23 points - hitting 10 of 11 shots - and grabbed 12 rebounds as Ferris opened the Greater Spokane League boys basketball season Tuesday night with a 75-56 win over Lewis and Clark in Squinty Hunter Field House.

“I wasn’t expecting it,” Mallon said of his first start - he made a couple of token appearances in the playoffs last year. “I was just going out and playing hard. I was surprised I got that many good looks.”

The good looks come because Mallon is surrounded by a great array of offensive talent.

Erik Benzel had 20 points and Jordan Bursch and Kirby Fike had 14 apiece. All three are juniors.

But when they dished to Mallon, he knew what to do with a variety of inside moves to the basket and even a turnaround fall-away jumper.

The Saxons took control with a 16-3 burst at the start.

All four of the double-figure scorers contributed, with most of the baskets coming on layins, five resulting from turnovers, usually created by Benzel and Bursch.

“I was very pleased with the defensive effort at the beginning of the game,” Gilman said. “I was pleased with the offense, especially with the transition offense.”

LC finished with 22 turnovers and Ferris had 23, but there was a difference.

“We both had a lot of turnovers, but ours led to transition baskets and theirs led to to another possession for us,” LC coach Terry Reed said. “The game was back and forth. We had chances to get it to single digits but we didn’t take care of the ball.”

Ferris finished with 32 baskets in 55 attempts (58 percent) while LC was 19 of 51 (37 percent). The Saxons also had a huge rebounding edge, 37-20.

A barrage of 3-pointers - Jonathon Hook and Billy Etter had four apiece - kept LC in the game. The duo, which combined for 34 points, had five 3’s in the third quarter.

“Obviously, there were some defensive things we could have done better later,” Gilman said.

Ferris 75, LC 56

Ferris 20 20 15 20 - 75

Lewis and Clark 9 15 20 12 - 56

Ferris (1-0) - Aronson 0 0-0 0, Lee 0 0-0 0, Benzel 9 2-2 20, Bursch 5 2-4 14, Clift 0 0-0 0, Mallon 10 3-4 23, Pounds 0 1-2 2, McLauchlin 1 0-0 0, Lommen 0 0-0 0, Kasen 0 0-0 0, Fike 7 0-0 14. Totals 32 9-12 75.

Lewis and Clark (0-1) - Morgan 0 0-0 0, Hook 6 2-6 18, Barnes 0 0-0 0, Erik Coleman 1 0-0 3, Erin Coleman 0 0-0 0, Etter 6 0-0 16, Fry 0 0-0 0, Hurd 0 0-0 0, Domit 1 1-2 3, Black 1 0-0 2, Johnson 3 6-8 12, Nelson 1 0-0 2. Totals 19 9-16 56.

3-point goals - Bursch 2, Hook 4, Erik Coleman, Etter 4. Total fouls - Ferris 15, LC 14. Fouled out - none.

Gonzaga Prep 77, East Valley 58

Cheney transfer Chris Bond led four players in double figures as the Bullpups opened a big lead at Prep and spoiled the Knights’ first game in the GSL.

Bond scored 21 points and Andy Bloom added 14, hitting four 3’s.

Andrew Burgess poured in 21 points for East Valley.

Both teams were exceptional at the foul line. EV hit 20 of 24 and Prep 22 of 28.

East Valley 6 16 23 19 - 58

Gonzaga Prep 24 28 12 13 - 77

East Valley (0-1) - Burgess 6 8-8 21, Lennick 1 2-2 4, Quirk 0 0-0 0, Brown 0 0-0 0, Paul 3 3-4 10, Duncan 2 5-7 9, Horgan 2 2-2 6, Hansen 2 0-1 4, Mathison 2 0-0 4. Totals 18 20-24 58.

Gonzaga Prep (1-0) - Johnson 3 7-8 13, Ryan 1 0-1 2, Arte 0 1-2 1, Bloom 5 0-0 14, Simpson 2 1-1 5, Frankovic 3 4-5 10, LeSage 1 0-0 2, Bond 7 6-7 21, Nickol 2 2-2 6, Maher 1 1-2 3, Custer 0 0-0 0. Totals 25 22-28 77.

3-point goals - Burgess, Paul, Bloom 4, Bond. Total fouls - EV 23, G-Prep 22. Fouled out - none.

Mead 70, University 65

Andy Zelinski scored 26 points and the Panthers hit 29 of 35 free throws to beat the Titans at U-Hi.

Mead was down one entering the fourth quarter but inched ahead and iced the game after U-Hi missed a potential game-tying layup with 40 seconds to play.

Brandon Benefield had 18 points and Karson Neal 17 with 11 rebounds for University, which lost Mark Hein’s first game as a head coach.

Mead 7 22 16 25 - 70

University 15 14 17 19 - 65

Mead (1-0) - Stallings 2 2-3 6, Zelinski 8 8-9 26, Stucky 4 5-6 13, Dvorak 2 4-5 8, McNaghten 1 2-2 5, Leaf 0 2-2 2, Cwik 1 2-2 4, Williams 1 1-2 3, Fischer 0 3-4 3. Totals 19 29-35 70.

University (0-1) - Gazaway 4 0-0 10, Bright 0 0-0 0, Christiansen 0 0-0 0, Benefield 4 8-10 18, Ellersick 0 2-2 2, Moore 4 1-4 10, Bright 1 0-0 3, Grondel 1 0-0 2, Weaver 1 1-1 3, Neal 7 3-10 17. Totals 22 15-27 65.

3-point goals - Zelinski 2, McNaughten, Gazaway 2, Benefield 2, Moore, Bright. Total fouls - Mead 26, University 29. Fouled out - Stucky, Williams, Weaver. Technicals - Weaver.

Central Valley 59, North Central 49

Kristian Nyland hit six free throws in the last 2 minutes as the Bears held off the visiting Indians.

Transfer Willie Mosboy scored six quick points to help CV open an early lead but NC rallied to close within three entering the fourth quarter.

Cameron Wallas had 15 points and Kyle Boast 12 and each had eight rebounds.

Ryan Cheek had 10 points and 10 rebounds for NC.

North Central 10 10 18 11 - 49

Central Valley 16 11 14 18 - 59

North Central (0-1) - Peterson 2 2-4 7, Roloff 2 0-0 5, Donovan 1 1-3 3, Lattin 0 0-0 0, B. Johnson 2 0-0 4, Martyn 3 0-0 6, Smith 5 4-6 14, Cheek 5 0-0 10, M. Johnson 0 0-0 0. Totals 20 7-16 49.

Central Valley (1-0) - Liepman 1 0-0 2, Rodgers 3 0-0 7, Nylund 3 7-8 13, Boast 4 2-3 12, Mosby 4 0-0 8, Filice 1 0-2 2, Walls 6 2-6 15. Totals 22 11-19 59.

3-point goals - Peterson, Roloff, Rodgers, Boast 2, Walls. Total fouls -NC 18, CV 15. Fouled out - Smith, Filice.

Mt. Spokane 42, Rogers 34

The Wildcats closed the third quarter with a 9-2 run to defeat the Pirates in Tuffy Ellingsen Fieldhouse.

Matt Tabisz scored 17 points to pace Mt. Spokane, which led 7-0 after the first quarter.

No player scored in double figures for Rogers in former NBA player Craig Ehlo’s debut as a high school coach.

Mt. Spokane 7 11 15 9 - 42

Rogers 0 13 11 9 - 34

Mt. Spokane (1-0) - Tran 0 0-0 0, Lessig 0 0-1 0, Swanson 2 0-0 6, Hornstein 0 0-0 0, Franklin 3 1-1 8, Pederson 0 0-0 0, Tabisz 7 3-4 17, Meyer 0 0-0 0, Vessey 2 0-2 4, Proett 2 0-0 4, Meyers 0 0-0 0, Lewis 2 1-1 5. Totals 18 5-8 42.

Rogers (1-0) - Rockstrom 0 0-0 0, Worley 0 0-0 0, Baker 0 0-0 0, Wallen 4 0-0 9, Mullerleile 3 3-4 9, Bogle 0 0-0 0, Olson 1 0-0 3, Perez 0 0-0 0, Bowerman 0 0-0 0, Vaughan 4 1-4 9, Berend 2 0-0 4, Reed 0 0-0 0, Gaffaney 0 0-0 0. Totals 14 4-8 34.

3-point goals - Casey Franklin, Josh Wallen, Matt Olsen. Total fouls - Mt. Spokane 11, Rogers 13. Fouled out - Scott Mullerleile.