CV Knocks Off Ferris

GSL girls

Dale Poffenroth made a promise years ago and almost forgot it.

His memory paid off Tuesday night as the Central Valley Bears defeated the Ferris Saxons 61-56 in a crucial Greater Spokane League girls basketball game at the Arena.

“I promised myself years ago when I had Jacque Clark (1993) that if I ever had another big girl, I would work with her,” Poffenroth said. “It helps. Sometimes it makes a difference if you take a personal interest in a player… . She’s getting more confident.”

Several weeks of intense work with 6-foot-1 sophomore Felice Moore were rewarded with 12 points and seven rebounds against the Saxons.

“In practice, I’ve been working on put-backs,” Moore said. “I’ve been working before practice and after practice. It’s really helped me.”

Fellow sophomore Katie Rodgers agreed.

“We’ve been working on (getting the ball to Moore) in practice,” she said. “She’s really been working hard, staying after practice.”

The win, which avenged an 11-point loss at home, was even bigger after Lewis and Clark’s 57-41 upset of league-leading Gonzaga Prep. That threw CV, Mead and Prep into a three-way tie in the loss column with four apiece, one game ahead of University.

It was the second huge win for LC, trying to stay alive in the playoff race, following a big win at Mead two weeks ago.

“I didn’t hear the score but I heard Prep lost,” Rodgers said. “I said, `Let’s go get ‘em.’ It fired the team up.”

Ferris lost its third straight, falling from a tie for the lead to fifth place.

Rodgers scored 22 points, the third straight game she’s been over 20.

“We were more focused, concentrating on running our offense and not worrying about them shoving us around,” she said. “I was really focused on playing basketball. It’s really hard because this place is so big.”

She had a good shootout with Ferris’ Jenny Benzel, who had 21, and Katie Foster added 17. But the Bears had more balance.

After Benzel opened the fourth quarter with a 3 to put the Saxons up 46-44, Moore fed Rodgers, Jaymie Heinen turned a Ferris turnover into a breakaway layup and Kendra Ferguson followed another turnover with a 3 from the left corner.

“Fourth-quarter turnovers and turning the ball over in bad spots,” Ferris coach Art Rojas lamented. “We played hard but we didn’t defend as well as we normally do. In the first half, we left people open for 3s and in the second half we didn’t front the post.”

The teams traded surges throughout the game. It was tied at 29 at halftime but Ferris, with Benzel scoring five, went up 36-31. CV then ran off 11 straight with Rodgers getting five and Moore four to lead 42-36 with 1:28 to go in the third quarter.

Ferris got right back in it with a Foster 3 and two buckets by Megan Taylor to close within 44-43 at the end of the quarter.

Central Valley 61, Ferris 56

Central Valley 9 20 15 17 - 61

Ferris 12 17 14 13 - 56

Central Valley (13-4) - Hatcher 0 0-0 0, Heinen 3 0-0 8, Rodgers 8 4-6 22, Ferguson 3 0-0 8, Wing 1 0-0 2, Rae. Jewell 4 1-2 9, Wagner 0 0-0 0, Moore 6 0-0 12. Totals 25 5-8 61.

Ferris (11-6) - Lynn 0 0-0 0, Foster 7 0-0 17, Coombs 0 2-2 2, Gilpin 0 0-0 0, Davidson 0 0-0 0, Kirstein 0 0-0 0, Clift 0 0-0 0, Benzel 8 2-2 21, Olajoyegbe 0 0-0 0, Taylor 3 2-2 8, Kelly 3 2-2 8. Totals 21 8-8 56.

3-point goals - Heinen 2, Rodgers 2, Ferguson 2, Foster 3, Benzel 3. Total fouls - Central Valley 11, Ferris 14. Fouled out - None. Technicals - None.

Lewis and Clark 57, G-Prep 41

The shorter, quicker Tigers had no trouble with a half-court trap defense, building a big early lead by getting the Bullpups into early foul trouble at LC.

Sophomore Sarah Bassett hit 8 of 15 from the floor for a career-high 21 points, and dished off four assists. Molly Gill added eight rebounds and four steals and Sarah Travis had seven rebounds and three streals.

LC won for the fourth time in five games.

The Tigers hit 17 of 23 free throws while Prep was 8 of 12.

Juliann Laney had 10 rebounds and Katie Gillum nine for Prep.

Gonzaga Prep 11 10 15 5 - 41

Lewis and Clark 19 13 15 10 - 57

Gonzaga Prep (13-3) - Gillum 1 2-2 4, Laney 3 2-2 8, Umbdenstock 1 0-1 2, Heitman 0 0-0 0, Barnes 5 2-2 13, Gibbon 0 0-0 0, O’Brien 1 0-0 2, Housam 3 1-2 7, Wood 2 1-3 5. Totals 16 8-12 41.

Lewis and Clark (7-10) - Gill 4 2-3 10, Bassett 8 2-4 21, Malone 2 6-8 11, Soden 0 0-0 0, Wohl 0 0-0 0, Travis 2 5-6 9, Woodruff 0 2-2 2, Bowman 1 0-0 2, Maua 1 0-0 2. Totals 18 17-23 57.

3-point goals - Barnes, Bassett 3, Malone. Total fouls - Gonzaga Prep 19, Lewis and Clark 16. Fouled out - Malone. Technicals - None.

Mead 53, East Valley 42

Amy Bailey scored a career-high 19 points, nine in the third quarter when the Panthers took control against the Knights at the Arena.

The difference was the third quarter when Mead out-scored EV 11-4. Against the starters, the Knights made the game interesting with a 16-9 advantage. Mead won its fourth straight.

EV played without scoring leader Sarah Shogren, out indefinitely with a shoulder injury.

Mead 19 14 11 9 - 53

East Valley 9 13 4 16 - 42

Mead (14-4) - L. Gonnella 3 2-3 8, C. Ferguson 5 0-1 11, Shea 0 0-0 0, Brodsky 0 1-2 1, G. Gonnella 3 1-2 7, Adams 0 0-0 0, Bailey 8 3-5 19, A. Ferguson 1 3-4 5, Wilson 1 0-0 2. Totals 21 10-17 53.

East Valley (6-11) - Douglas 0 0-0 0, Kline 2 0-0 4, Nead 2 0-0 4, M. Frazier 5 0-4 12, J. Frazier 2 2-2 6, Tonani 1 0-0 2, Girven 4 0-0 8, Clift 0 0-0 0, Younker 0 6-6 6, Como 0 0-0 0. Totals 16 8-12 42.

3-point goals - C. Ferguson, M. Frazier 2. Total fouls - Mead 13, East Valley 13. Fouled out - none. Technicals - none.

University 73, Mt. Spokane 32

The Titans defense shut down the Wildcats.

Teresa Valkenaar led balanced U-Hi with 14 points. The Titans won their eighth straight to move into fourth place.

University 19 20 20 14 - 73

Mt. Spokane 8 7 9 8 - 32

University (13-5) - S. Steblaj 3 1-2 8, Owen 5 0-0 10, Murray 0 0-0 0, Poole 4 0-0 9, Buchanan 1 0-0 3, Valkenaar 6 2-4 14, Shelton 1 0-0 2, Bachmeier 2 0-0 5, L. Steblaj 5 0-0 11, Lochmiller 2 0-0 4, MacDonald 3 0-0 7. Totals 32 3-6 73.

Mt. Spokane (6-11) - Nikula 0 1-2 1, Bertholf 2 0-0 4, Monroe 1 0-0 2, T. Amistoso 2 0-0 4, Horobiowski 1 0-0 2, Patrick 1 2-2 4, Brumleve 1 1-3 3, Wetzel 3 1-1 7, Wyrick 1 0-0 2, Bussiere 1 0-0 3. Totals 13 5-8 32.

3-point goals - S. Steblaj, Poole, Buchanan, L. Steblaj, MacDonald, Bussiere. Total fouls - University 14, Mt. Spokane 12. Fouled out - None. Technicals - None.

Shadle Park 76, Rogers 38

Amy Ridings scored 18 points, Andrea McGrath had 17 and Shanny Warren added a career-high 16 as the Highlanders defeated the Pirates at Rogers.

Ridings had at least 10 steals and the Highlanders hit 30 of 68 shots. The Pirates made just 15 of 49 shots.

Shadle Park 25 19 19 13 - 76

Rogers 6 11 10 11 - 38

Shadle Park (10-7) - Ridings 6 4-5 18, Stockman 2 0-0 4, Runkel 1 0-1 2, Jones 4 1-2 9, Osborn 1 0-1 2, Warren 6 4-6 16, McGrath 7 1-1 17, Flemming 1 1-6 3. Totals 30 14-27 76.

Rogers (0-17) - O’Shogay 6 2-3 14, Lehman 1 4-6 6, Schock 2 0-0 5, Abrahamson 0 0-0 0, Jones 0 0-0 0, Smith 2 0-1 4, Francis 0 0-0 0, Bayne 4 1-2 9, Taylor 0 0-0 0. Totals 15 7-12 38.

3-point goals - Ridings 2, McGrath 2, Schock. Total fouls - Shadle Park 14, Rogers 20. Fouled out - Stockman, Abrahamson. Technicals - None.