Mead Girls Prevail With Smith’S Help

District 8 4A

Errin Smith went from good to great, joining teammate Morgan Bennett to make Mead this season’s best Greater Spokane League girls basketball team.

Smith had career highs of 15 points and 16 rebounds, added four steals and two blocks and led the ninth-ranked Panthers past No. 4 Central Valley 61-49 Friday night to win the District 8 4A tournament at the Arena.

Bennett contributed 24 points, seven assists, five rebounds and three blocks for Mead, which split with the Bears during the regular season as the teams shared the league title.

“We just wanted to win,” Smith said. “We wanted it more than they did. We proved it to them. We outplayed them.”

In the boys game, it was Andre Atkins’ turn to be great as Ferris continued its dominance of Lewis and Clark with a 51-39 win that wasn’t that close.

The fourth-ranked Saxons had four three-point plays and two 3-pointers within the first 10 minutes of the game to open a 15-point lead and went on to their third win and second romp over the Tigers. “We were pumped up, we wanted to win,” said Atkins, who scored 18 for the Saxons, including the first seven points of the game. “We knew we had to start fast to get them down. Knowing their aggressive defense, we knew we couldn’t take them lightly.”

Atkins hit his season high with three three-point plays, including a circus layup and foul shot to put Ferris up 41-24 in the opening seconds of the fourth quarter.

All four teams will remain at home on Tuesday when the Eastern 4A regional tournament opens with the Big Nine. Ferris and Mead play at Gonzaga University; CV and LC head to Eastern Washington University. Game times are 6 p.m. and 7:30, with the Mead girls and LC boys going first.

In Friday’s other two seeding games, the University girls defeated LC 58-50 and the CV boys edged Gonzaga Prep 43-38.

Both GSL girls teams head to Kennewick for a Tuesday doubleheader at Southridge High. They’ll face Kamiakin and Kennewick, with LC first at 6 p.m. The boys go to Walla Walla and Davis respectively.

The Big Nine teams heading this way are the Eisenhower and Pasco boys and Pasco and Richland girls. Exact pairings will be determined tonight when the Big Nine finishes its tournament.

GIRLS

Mead 61, Central Valley 49

The Bears rallied from 16 points down to trail by six with 6:18 to play when the Panthers went on a 9-0 run to secure their second straight district title.

Smith, who had a strong game Thursday against LC, started the run with an offensive rebound and had four points in the surge.

“Errin Smith played real well,” CV coach Dale Poffenroth said. “Our goal was to keep Morgan Bennett under 20 and Courtney Ferguson under 10. We were close, they had 32. Smith was the difference. When a third kid steps up like that, it makes a big difference.”

Bennett only had 12 when she fouled out in a regular-season loss at CV.

“I felt better this game,” she said. “Last game, I was sick. I moved my feet better. I concentrated on that because I knew they’d come at me.”

Central Valley 11 14 13 11 - 49

Mead 17 13 16 15 - 61

Central Valley (19-3) - Phinney 2 3-4 7, Wilson 5 2-2 14, Ferguson 1 0-0 3, Loss 0 0-0 0, Bragdon 1 0-0 2, Jewell 5 4-4 14, Liepman 3 0-0 6, Coyle 1 0-0 3. Totals 18 9-10 49.

Mead (19-3) - Slater 2 0-0 6, Smith 7 1-6 15, Ferguson 3 1-2 8, Bennett 9 5-7 24, Bailey 0 1-2 1, Leaf 0 2-2 2, L. Gonnella 2 0-0 5. Totals 23 10-19 61.

3-point goals - Wilson 2, K. Ferguson, Coyle, Slater 2, C. Ferguson, Bennett, L. Gonnella. Total fouls - Central Valley 15, Mead 10. Fouled out - None. Technicals - None.

University 58, Lewis and Clark 50

Vanessa Shelton and Casey Lektorich, shut out against CV a day earlier, combined for 25 points to spark U-Hi.

The Titans created a little breathing room in the third quarter, outscoring the Tigers 13-6 as Shelton had seven of her 15 points.

Lewis and Clark 13 16 7 14 - 50

University 13 17 13 15 - 58

Lewis and Clark (12-11) - Gill 2 2-2 6, Bassett 2 2-2 7, Malone 0 0-0 0, Wendle 4 2-2 11, Dressel 2 0-0 4, Travis 3 0-0 6, Dedas 2 0-0 5, Glotfelty 1 5-7 7, Babin 2 0-0 4. Totals 18 11-13 50.

University (16-7) - Parker 2 0-0 4, Steblaj 1 2-2 4, Schroeder 1 0-0 2, Poole 1 0-0 3, Black 0 0-0 0, Valkenaar 2 2-2 6, Shelton 4 6-6 15, Arnold 6 0-0 12, Nelson 1 0-0 2, Lektorich 3 2-2 10. Totals 21 12-12 58.

3-point goals - Bassett, Wendle, Dedas, Poole, Shelton, Lektorich 2. Total fouls - Lewis and Clark 15, University 15. Fouled out - None. Technicals - None.

BOYS

Ferris 51, Lewis and Clark 39

The Saxons destroyed the Tigers 49-27 eight days ago and this game wasn’t a whole lot better.

In racing to a 30-15 halftime lead, the Saxons made 11 of 21 shots and had an 18-9 rebounding edge. The Tigers were just 5 of 20.

The Saxons had too much balance to let the Tigers, who were almost flawless a night earlier in knocking off league champion CV, get closer than 10. “They have a different style,” LC coach Terry Reed said. “They’re big and active, tough to match up with. We didn’t shoot well. That’s a tribute to them.”

Lewis and Clark 5 10 9 15 - 39

Ferris 14 16 8 13 - 51

Lewis and Clark (15-7) - Malone 1 0-0 2, Hook 1 1-2 3, Defour 3 2-3 8, Coleman 2 2-2 6, Avery 0 2-2 2, Etter 1 0-0 2, Floyd 2 0-0 5, Kuhlmann 2 2-2 7, Marshall 1 0-0 2, Black 0 0-0 0, Spurgetis 1 0-0 2. Totals 14 9-11 39.

Ferris (20-2) - Aronson 0 0-0 0, Clift 0 0-0 0, Benzel 1 2-3 5, Bursch 0 0-0 0, Atkins 5 7-7 18, Fike 0 0-0 0, Pounds 0 0-0 0, Watts 6 2-3 15, Hodl 0 0-1 0, Mietus 5 0-0 10, McLaughlin 0 0-0 0, Mallon 0 0-0 0, Williams 1 1-1 3. Totals 18 12-15 51.

3-point goals - Floyd, Kuhlmann, Benzel, Atkins, Watts. Total fouls - Lewis and Clark 18, Ferris 16. Fouled out - Coleman. Technicals - None.

Central Valley 43, G-Prep 38

Jake Hebden scored four foul shots in the last 24 seconds to rally the third-ranked Bears past the Bullpups.

CV made just 10 of 41 field goals while missing all six shots from 3-point range, but made 23 of 28 free throws, including 8 of 8 in the fourth quarter.

Gonzaga Prep 9 11 8 10 - 38

Central Valley 6 14 11 12 - 43

Gonzaga Prep (16-7) - Johnson 6 1-3 14, Ryan 1 0-0 2, McIntyre 1 0-0 2, Bloom 1 0-0 2, Simpson 0 0-0 0, Frankovic 1 4-5 6, Sullivan 2 0-0 4, Bacon 0 2-2 2, Nickol 3 0-0 06. Totals 15 7-10 38.

Central Valley (20-2) - Eigenhuis 1 3-4 5, D. Boast 0-0 0, Priebe 0 0-0 0, K. Boast 3 4-4 10, Gosney 0 0-0 0, Hebden 0 4-4 4, Libey 3 6-7 12, Depew 3 4-7 10, Kreiger 0 2-2 2. Totals 10 23-28 43.

3-point goals - Johnson. Total fouls - Gonzaga Prep 25 Central Valley 13. Fouled out - Ryan. Technicals - none.