Saxons Capture Surprising Rout

GSL boys

Sean Mallon was sick on Wednesday.

Thursday he, and his Ferris teammates, made Shadle Park sick.

The sixth-ranked Saxons destroyed the Highlanders 73-39 at the Arena in a game that should have been anything but a blowout.

The teams entered the game with identical 16-3 records, tied for second place in the Greater Spokane League, with an automatic berth in the regional tournament was on the line.

But Ferris used an 18-0 run in the second quarter to eliminate the suspense against a team that had a 12-game winning streak, including a 66-63 win in the first meeting and the season’s only win over GSL champion Gonzaga Prep.

“That was a nice performance - against a quality team,” Ferris coach Wayne Gilman said. “It kind of keyed on a good defensive effort. The offense did a nice job, but the key was the defense.”

Shadle now will face Central Valley on Tuesday in a loser-out District 8 Tournament game. The Bears grabbed the last playoff berth with an 84-70 win at University as Kyle Boast scored 37 points.

The other district game Tuesday will have Lewis and Clark at East Valley. LC won Thursday’s night’s game between them 46-33, but EV’s Andrew Burgess clinched the league scoring title. Burgess had 13 points, giving him 371 in 20 games, an 18.55 average.

Ferris held the Highlanders to four free throws in the second quarter. Meanwhile, Mallon hit four of five shots. He finished with 19 points, 10 rebounds, four blocks and six assists, despite not starting after missing Wednesday’s practice.

“I had no energy at all but today I woke up and felt a lot better,” the 6-foot-7 sophomore said. “I wasn’t really sure how I’d feel out there. I didn’t think I ran as well or jumped as well as usual. Luckily, the shots fell.”

He showed a wide variety of moves to the basket and knocked down a number of medium-range jumpers, hitting 9 of 14 shots, six in a row.

“They have big guys. I was trying to take what was open,” he said.

“He’s very capable of hitting those but he hasn’t taken many of them,” Gilman said. “Maybe a day off is what he needed.”

Shadle Park was pounded by 15 on the boards, and Demetrius Scott was held to four first-quarter points, 14 below his average.

“We got beat,” Shadle coach Darcy Weisner said. “We fell apart in every area… . . They’re playing better, obviously, than when we first played them. We were playing better, I thought. We just didn’t have it tonight.”

Erik Benzel, who matched Mallon’s 19 points, started the game-breaking run with two free throws. Then Jordan Bursch made a steal and fed Mallon for a breakaway dunk. Mallon followed with a put-back and a jumper from the right baseline. After a Marcus Clift layup from Bursch, Mallon hit another jumper and fed Benzel for a layup that made it 33-14.

“I know we’re capable but it surprised me,” Benzel said. “It was rebounding. We held them to one shot pretty much every time. I think we learned a lot from Tuesday (a 56-52 loss to Prep). We were more intense.”

The halftime score was 39-17 and it was 57-22 after three.

“I was very pleased with our overall execution on offense,” Gilman said. “The bottom line is the shots were falling when we got the opportunities, but we were executing well to get those shots. I think we had a pretty good defensive play for what hurt last game. Things that bothered us we handled better.”

Ferris 73, Shadle Park 39

Shadle Park 13 4 5 17 - 39

Ferris 16 23 18 16 - 73

Shadle Park (16-4) - Bishop 0 0-0 0, Scott 2 0-0 4, Alexander 1 0-0 2, K. Johnson 0 0-0 0, Rowe 6 0-3 12, Pariseau 1 2-4 4, Weisner 3 1-2 8, McCracken 0 0-0 0, Gabriel 3 1-1 7, Doyle 0 1-4 1, J.J. Johnson 0 0-0 0, Henderson 0 1-2 1. Totals 16 6-16 39.

Ferris (17-3) - Aronson 1 0-0 3, Lee 1 0-1 3, Benzel 6 5-5 19, Bursch 2 0-0 5, Clift 1 1-2 3, Mallon 9 1-2 19, Pounds 2 3-4 7, Lommen 1 0-0 2, Kasen 0 0-1 0, Fike 5 1-2 12. Totals 28 11-17 73.

3-point goals - Weisner, Aronson, Lee, Benzel 2, Bursch, Fike. Total fouls - Shadle Park 16, Ferris 17. Fouled out - Pariseau. Technicals - None.

Gonzaga Prep 82, Mt. Spokane 41

Greg Johnson dished off 18 assists and five players scored in double figures as the fourth-ranked Bullpups coasted past the visiting Wildcats.

Johnson, the Bullpups’ second leading scorer, didn’t score, but reserves Joey Nickol and Colin Maher combined for 24. Prep shot 60 percent for the game and hed Mt. Spokane to 26 percent shooting.

Mt. Spokane 9 10 11 11 - 41

Gonzaga Prep 25 17 19 21 - 82

Mt. Spokane (6-14) - Tran 0 0-0 0, Lessig 0 2-2 2, Swanson 0 0-0 0, Hornstein 1 0-0 3, Franklin 1 0-0 2, Pederson 0 0-0 0, Tabisz 3 5-8 11, Meyer 1 0-0 2, Vessey 5 2-3 13, Proett 1 3-4 5, Meyers 0 2-2 2, Lewis 0 1-2 1. Totals 12 15-21 41.

Gonzaga Prep (19-1) - Johnson 0 0-0 0, Ryan 2 0-0 5, Arte 0 0-0 0, Bloom 5 0-0 13, Simpson 2 0-0 5, Frankovic 5 2-3 14, LeSage 0 0-0 0, Bond 6 3-3 15, Nickol 4 2-2 11, Maher 5 3-3 13, Cooney 3 0-0 6. Totals 32 10-11 82.

3-point goals - Hornstein, Vessey, Ryan, Bloom 3, Simpson, Nickol. Total fouls - Mt. Spokane 16, Gonzaga Prep 22. Fouled out - None. Technicals - None.

Central Valley 84, University 70

Kyle Boast grabbed 10 rebounds and hit 10 of 22 shots, including 6 of 11 3-pointers as the Bears defeated the Titans at U-Hi.

The Titans cut a 24-point deficit entering the fourth quarter to five, but CV continued its good shooting from the foul line, finishing 21 of 29. University was 10 of 12 from the line.

Four players scored in double figures for both teams. Brandon Benefield led the Titans, who made eight 3s, with 18.

Central Valley 18 25 22 19 - 84

University 13 12 15 29 - 70

Central Valley (9-11) - Rodgers 2 2-2 6, Nylund 6 1-2 14, Field 0 0-0 0, Boast 10 12-16 38, Mosby 1 1-2 3, Filice 0 0-0 0, Walls 5 2-3 12, Stewart 4 3-4 11. Totals 28 21-29 84.

University (7-13) - J. Bright 0 0-0 0, Christensen 4 2-2 14, Benefield 6 4-4 18, Ellersick 0 0-0 0, Moore 3 0-0 7, D. Bright 1 0-0 3, Johnson 4 2-3 10, Weaver 0 0-0 0, Neal 7 2-3 16, Thompson 1 0-0 2. Totals 26 10-12 70.

3-point goals - Nyland, Boast 6, Benefield 2, Moore, Christensen 4, D. Bright. Total fouls - Central Valley 12, University 23. Fouled out - Benefield, Christensen, Johnson. Technicals - Filice.

Lewis and Clark 46, East Valley 33

Erik Coleman scored 20 points and the Tigers milked the clock to slow down the visiting Knights.

East Valley was 0 for 6 from the foul line while LC hit 10 of 17. Tyler Black had eight rebounds for LC.

East Valley 4 6 9 14 - 33

Lewis and Clark 12 6 6 22 - 46

East Valley (12-8) - Burgess 6 0-0 13, Lennick 0 0-0 0, Quirk 2 0-2 4, Brown 2 0-0 4, Paul 5 0-0 12, Duncan 0 0-0 0, Horgan 0 0-4 0, Hansen 0 0-0 0, Mathison 0 0-0 0. Totals 15 0-6 33.

Lewis and Clark (11-9) - Hook 4 0-0 10, Denbeigh 0 0-0 0, Erik Coleman 8 4-6 20, Erin Coleman 0 0-0 0, Fry 0 0-0 0, Hurd 0 0-0 0, Domit 1 0-0 2, Black 4 2-7 10, Johnson 0 4-4 4. Totals 17 10-17 46.

3-point goals - Burgess, Paul 2, Hook 2. Total fouls - East Valley 20, Lewis and Clark 16. Fouled out - Horgan, Erin Coleman. Technicals - None.

East Valley 73, Rogers 51

Jake Martyn hit five of the Indians’ 10 3-pointers and scored a career-high 31 against the Pirates at the Arena.

Martyn had 10 points in the first quarter as NC got off to a quick start then had two 3s and 12 points in the third quarter when NC broke away.

Rogers 9 18 8 16 - 51

North Central 19 16 21 17 - 73

Rogers (0-20) - Mobbs 0 2-2 2, Worley 1 0-0 2, Apelskog 0 0-0 0, Anderson 5 0-0 11, Mullerleile 1 3-4 5, Bogle 1 2-3 4, Olson 1 0-0 2, Perez 0 0-2 0, Smith 1 2-2 4, Vaughan 6 2-4 14, Berend 1 0-0 3, Reed 1 2-2 4, Gaffaney 0 0-0 0. Totals 18 13-19 51.

North Central (7-13) - Moffitt 0 0-0 0, Lamanna 0 3-4 3, Peterson 3 1-3 9, Lesesne 0 0-0 0, Roloff 3 1-2 9, Donovan 1 0-0 3, Lattin 1 0-0 2, B. Johnson 1 0-0 2, Martyn 9 8-8 31, Smith 3 3-4 9, Cheek 1 1-4 3, M. Johnson 1 0-0 2. Totals 23 17-23 73.

3-point goals - Anderson, Berend, Peterson 2, Roloff 2, Donavon, Martyn 5. Total fouls - Rogers 18, North Central 16. Fouled out - None. Technicals - None.