Mt. Spokane Practices Dismantling Shadle

GSL boys

Practice doesn’t make perfect. If it did, the Mt. Spokane boys basketball team wouldn’t be 2-0.

The Wildcats lit up visiting Shadle Park in the second half to roll to a 70-42 win Tuesday night in the first Greater Spokane League game for the Highlanders.

“We had two crummy days of practice,” Mt. Spokane coach Bill Ayers said. “I told them to realize they had two bad practices but they had 19 good ones before that. Two bad practices wasn’t going to outweigh the good. You know what to do.”

What they did was hit 17 of 26 shots in the second half to turn a 29-21 lead into a rout. They also had a huge edge in rebounding and displayed great balance with four starters in double figures - and that didn’t include top returning scorer Kyle Vessey, who had eight points and a game-high nine rebounds.

“Everybody on this team can score,” senior wing Casey Franklin said. “Depending on the situation, somebody is going to step up.”

It started with 6-foot-9 sophomore Zach Proett, who had six of his career-high 15 in the opening minutes. Then it was Ferris transfer Jordan Bursch, who had nine of his game-high 16 in the second quarter. He added six assists.

Then it was Franklin and sophomore Joel Clark, who combined for 19 of their 21 points in the second half.

“They’ve got an inside game, they’ve got guards who can pass the ball and they can shoot,” Shadle Park coach Darcy Weisner said. “You can tell they played a game and we haven’t. They having timing and rhythm.”

Mt. Spokane broke the game open with an 11-0 run to open the second half, starting with the 6-3 Franklin’s offensive rebound basket. Proett made a free throw and then scored on a feed from Franklin. Vessey followed with a drive to the basket and then Bursch hit a short banker and a steal for a layup.

Shadle had five turnovers and four misses before Brett Weisner’s 3-pointer from the left corner ended the drought. However, Franklin answered with a 15-foot jumper and a three-point play after being held scoreless in the first half.

Mt. Spokane 70, Shadle Park 42

Shadle Park 9 12 5 16 - 42

Mt. Spokane 14 15 20 21 - 70

Shadle Park (0-1) - Alexander 2 0-0 4, Bell 1 0-0 2, Bishop 0 0-0 0, Logwood 0 2-2 2, McCracken 3 0-0 7, Okorn 0 0-0 0, Pariseau 7 0-1 15, Weisner 2 7-10 12, Zimmerman 0 0-0 0. Totals 15 9-13 42.

Mt. Spokane (2-0) - Barkley 0 2-2 2, J. Bursch 6 2-2 16, Z. Bursch 2 0-0 5, Clark 4 0-0 10, Cooley 1 0-0 2, Franklin 5 1-1 11, Hornstein 0 1-2 1, Langston 0 0-0 0, Lessig 0 0-0 0, Proett 7 1-2 15, Schultheis 0 0-1 0, Vessey 4 0-0 8. Totals 29 7-10 70.

3-point goals- Pariseau, Weisner, McCracken, Z. Bursch, J. Bursch 2, Clark 2. Total fouls- Shadle Park 16, Mount Spokane 13. Fouled out- none. Technicals- none.

G-Prep 82, U-Hi 75 (3OT)

At U-Hi, Ryan Simpson poured in 34 points and Andy Bloom added 29 as the Bullpups held on for a wild win over the Titans.

Prep, which blew a 14-point lead in the fourth quarter, grabbed the lead in the third OT and protected it with free throws.

Prep missed a shot at the end of the first OT and U-Hi’s Jono Grondel scored just before the buzzer to end the second extra session after Simpson scored a 3-pointer with 10 seconds left.

Matt Thompson’s four-point play highlighted the U-Hi comeback, but the Titans only made 29 of 47 free throws. Jeremy Bright led U-Hi with 18 points and Thompson had 16. Keith Christensen added 13, all from the foul line.

GP 15 18 14 13 5 10 7 - 82

U-Hi 9 17 11 23 5 10 0 - 75

Gonzaga Prep (2-0) - Bloom 11 5-9 29, Cox 1 1-2 4, Holbrook 1 0-0 2, Lenoue 2 1-3 5, Nickol 0 0-0 0, Pawlusiak 0 3-4 3, Phillips 0 3-4 3, Rogers 0 0-0 0, Simpson 13 6-7 34, Velis 1 0-2 2. Totals 29 19-31 82.

University (0-2) - D. Bright 3 0-0 5, J. Bright 4 8-10 18, Christensen 0 13-17 13, Cox 0 0-0 0, Ellersick 1 2-2 4, Florence 0 0-0 0, Grondel 4 2-3 10, Johnson 3 1-4 9, Jones 0 0-0 0, Thompson 5 3-11 16. Totals 19 29-47 75.

3-point goals- Bloom 2, Simpson 2, Cox, Thompson 3, J. Bright 2, Johnson 2, D. Bright. Total fouls- Gonzaga Prep 37, University 27. Fouled out- Velis, Pawlusiak, Cox, Holbrook, Ellersick, D. Bright, Johnson. Technicals- none.

Mead 77, Rogers 63

The Panthers dominated the fourth quarter as they hit five of their eight 3-pointers and Josh Wilponen had eight straight points against the visiting Pirates.

Mead was up 32-20 at halftime but the Pirates opened the third quarter with a 10-2 run.

Erik Leaf had 20 points for Mead and Josh Dvorak added 13 points, seven rebounds and five steals.

Corey Cody had a career-high 17 points for Rogers, which was outrebounded 29-18. The Pirates also had 23 turnovers.

Rogers 4 16 25 18 - 63

Mead 13 19 15 30 - 77

Rogers (0-2) - Baker 1 0-0 2, Berend 3 2-4 11, Cody 6 5-7 17, Mullerleile 2 2-3 7, Olson 0 0-0 0, Perez 3 0-0 7, Proctor 3 0-1 6, Scott 0 0-0 0, Smith 2 0-2 5, Vaughn 2 4-4 8. Totals 22 13-21 63 Mead (2-0) - Dvorak 5 3-5 13, Fischer 2 1-2 5, Harris 2 3-5 7, Leaf 7 2-2 20, Lunzer 0 0-0 0, Morrison 4 0-0 9, B. Williams 4 5-6 14, E. Williams 0 1-2 1, Wilponen 2 2-2 8. Totals 26 17-24 77.

3-point goals- Berend 3, Mullerleile, Perez, Smith, Leaf 4, Wilponen 2, B. Williams, Morrison. Total fouls- Rogers 22, Mead 21. Fouled out- none. Technicals- none.

NC 60, LC 49

The Indians hit 12 of 16 free throws in the fourth quarter to pull away from the visiting Tigers.

Kalen Stroyan scored a career-high 18 points and Josiah Roloff added 12, hitting all six of his free throws.

Jacob Domit had 15 points for LC.

Lewis and Clark 9 15 12 13 - 49

North Central 7 18 14 21 - 60

Lewis and Clark (0-2) - Adolphson 1 0-0 2, Black 1 0-0 2, Denbeigh 3 0-1 7, Domit 6 3-8 15, Fry 0 0-0 0, Seamon 2 2-2 6, Shaw 3 1-2 7, Webb 0 0-0 0, Zellers 4 1-2 10. Totals 20 7-15 49.

North Central (1-1) - Donovan 2 2-3 6, Repp 0 0-0 0, Peterson 1 0-0 2, Lesesne 0 0-0 0, Roloff 3 6-6 12, Beal 1 2-2 4, Garrett 4 0-0 8, Rijon 3 0-0 7, Stroyan 6 4-7 18, Steele 1 1-2 3. Totals 21 15-20 60.

3-point goals-Denbeigh, Zellers, Rijon. Total fouls-Lewis and Clark 19, North Central 15. Fouled out-None. Technicals-None.

Ferris 82, East Valley 30

The Saxons took advantage of turnovers and cold shooting by the Knights to coast to the road win.

Ferris, which put four players in double figures, was up by 21 after one quarter.

EV had 22 turnovers and made just eight of 30 shots.

It was the 499th carer win for Ferris coach Wayne Gilman. The Saxons have a bye on Friday and play at NC next Tuesday.

Ferris 29 24 18 11 - 82

East Valley 8 4 12 6 - 30

Ferris (2-0) - Aronson 1 0-0 2, Lee 2 0-0 5, Benzel 7 1-2 15, Clift 5 0-0 10, Mallon 6 1-1 14, Lommen 1 0-0 2, Fike 5 4-4 16, Parker 4 0-0 10, Jensen 0 0-0 0, Seaburg 4 0-0 8, Sloan 0 0-0 0. Totals 35 6-7 82.

East Valley (0-2) - Breneman 1 1-1 3, A. Brown 0 4-4 4, Duncan 0 0-2 0, Hirst 1 2-2 4, Lennick 4 0-0 10, Lindstrom 0 1-2 1, Mathison 1 2-2 4, Pflanz 0 2-2 2, Premoli 1 0-0 2. Totals 8 12-15 30.

3-point goals- Parker 2, Lee, Fike 2, Mallon, Lennick 2. Total fouls- Ferris 19, East Valley 10. Fouled out- none. Technicals- none.