Prairie Puts Clamps On Mead

4A girls

Prairie put the D on Mead Thursday, dropping the Panthers into the losers bracket at the girls State 4A basketball tournament.

“They were all over me,” Mead point guard Courtney Ferguson said after the Panthers fell 45-30. “It seemed like there were five of them on me.”

The second-ranked Falcons, favored to defend their state title, shut down the Panthers to advance to the semifinals against No. 6 Cascade-Everett.

“They should go all the way,” Mead’s Morgan Bennett said after scoring 23 points. “They have everything, the inside game, the outside game, defense.”

Especially defense.

The previous lowest score for the ninth-ranked Panthers (22-5) was 36 points in the second game of the season. Thursday, they had 16 points and 15 turnovers at halftime.

Still, the Panthers were in the game, trailing by just five. But while they protected the ball better, they were held to three free throws in the third quarter and missed 10 shots from the field to fall behind 32-19.

Only tight defense and Bennett kept the score respectable for Mead, which will face Redmond (18-9) in a loser-out game at 1 p.m. today.

No. 4 Central Valley (23-4) stayed alive in the losers bracket with a 50-49 win that ousted No.1 Roosevelt (25-4). The Bears will play Pasco in a loser-out game today at 2:30.

Pasco (15-13) destroyed Puyallup 73-43. No. 8 Kamiakin (14-13) also avoided elimination with a 69-43 win over Port Angeles (22-4).

Prairie 45, Mead 30

The third quarter did in the Panthers, who then hit just 3 of 12 shots in the fourth quarter on the way to a 14 percent second half.

“We had lots of trouble against their on-ball pressure,” Bennett said. “I thought their ball movement on offense was excellent. I’ve never seen a team pass so quick.”

Prairie’s Santa Clara-bound Courtney Cushing, a 6-foot-2 post, had 11 points despite foul trouble.

Mead finished at 22 percent shooting (7 for 32) and 23 turnovers.

“Pretty good defense, but we sure made it look better,” Mead coach Beth Wing said. “We didn’t execute. We allowed them to take us out of our offense. We didn’t look to shoot. We were not the aggressive team we usually are.”

The Panthers held Prairie to its lowest output of the season. The Falcons had 48 in a 10-point loss to Lake Mary (Fla.), the fifth-ranked team in the country, in a Tennessee tournament.

Mead 10 6 3 11 -30

Prairie 11 10 11 13 -45

Mead (22-5) - Straight 0 1-2 1, Smith 1 0-0 2, Wolverton 0 0-0 0, Slater 0 0-0 0, G.Gonnella 0 0-0 0, Ferguson 1 1-6 4, Shea 0 0-0 0, Bennett 5 12-14 23, Bailey 0 0-0 0, Leaf 0 0-0 0, L.Gonnella 0 0-0 0, McClinton 0 0-0 0. Totals 7 14-22 30.

Prairie (22-2) - Beveridge 4 0-1 8, Anderson 0 0-2 0, Moldenhauer 2 2-3 6, Grimm 2 0-0 5, Oury 2 1-2 5, Wright 0 0-0 0, Pickup 1 0-0 2, Jones 2 2-2 6, H.Cushing 0 0-0 0, Hamberg 0 0-1 0, Spooner 1 0-0 2, C.Cushing 5 1-1 11. Totals 19 6-12 45. 3-point goals - Ferguson, Bennett, Grimm. Total fouls - Mead 14, Prairie 21. Fouled out - Wright. Technical fouls - none.

Central Valley 50, Roosevelt 49

Marisa Liepman was only credited with one rebound, but it was enough.

The lead had changed hands eight times in the fourth quarter when 5-foot Courtney Phinney rebounded a Roosevelt miss with 18 seconds left and the score tied at 47. Jenny Wilson turned that into a lay-up and a chance for a threepoint play with 7 seconds to go.

Although Wilson missed the free throw, Liepman rebounded the ball and was fouled 2 seconds later. She made 1 of 2 foul shots for a 50-47 lead, which was just enough as the Roughriders mistakenly went for a layup at the buzzer.

Roosevelt 17 11 7 14 -49

Central Valley 10 20 4 16 -50

Roosevelt (25-4) - Ostrom 0 0-0 0, Hartung 0 1-2 1, L.Wilson 10 5-5 26, Seidel 0 0-2 0, Nims 1 0-1 2, Nord 1 0-0 2, Holme 0 0-0 0, Miller 0 2-2 2, White 2 1-2 6, Watson 0 0-0 0, Crosby-Helms 4 1-2 10. Totals 18 10-16 49.

Central Valley (23-4) - Phinney 1 2-2 5, Renslow 0 0-0 0, J.Wilson 4 6-7 14, Ferguson 4 0-0 10, Bragdon 2 2-4 6, Liepman 2 10-14 14, Coyle 0 0-0 0, Wagner 0 1-2 1, Loss 0 0-0 0. Totals 13 21-29 50.

3-point goals - L.Wilson, White, Phinney, Ferguson 2. Total fouls - Roosevelt 25, Central Valley 16. Fouled out - L.Wilson, Miller. Technical fouls - none.