U-Hi Beats Bears To Set Up Rematch

The play didn’t go exactly according to plan, but neither Vanessa Shelton nor her University teammates seemed to care.

In the final seconds of U-Hi’s showdown with Central Valley Thursday night, Shelton drove the length of the floor and found Teresa Valkenaar, whose basket at the buzzer gave the Titans a 49-47 win, a share of second place in the Greater Spokane League and a Friday rematch with the Bears in a three-team playoff.

“I was supposed to go more left and find Sara Steblaj in the corner,” said Shelton. “I went right and there was Teresa. But it worked, right?”

The Titans haven’t had much luck against CV in basketball in recent years.

Not that many teams have. The Bears have compiled the best overall record of all schools since the Greater Spokane League was formed in 1976-77.

The winner of Friday’s Bears-Titans rematch (see today’s Sports section for results) plays Gonzaga Prep at 7:30 tonight for second place. The winner of the G-Prep game gets and a spot in the double-elimination portion of district playoffs.

This year, those top-two berths carry particular weight.

All six of the league’s playoff teams have shown the ability to beat one another. It will be risky tempting fate when the third- through sixth-place teams, including Ferris and Shadle Park, square off in loser-out games on Tuesday.

In Thursday’s game U-Hi scored the game’s first five points and led most of the half. CV made two 3-point baskets to build an eight-point advantage.

U-Hi scored the first eight points of the fourth quarter, including a three-point play by Valkenaar for a brief lead.

CV regained the upper hand at 47-44 on Katie Rodgers’ basket with 33 seconds to go.

Steblaj countered with a game-tying trey with 21 seconds left. And a charge on Bear Raeanna Jewell set the stage for the heroics of Valkenaar and Shelton as time ran out.

CV pulls out stops to thwart U-Hi

Two weeks ago, University’s boys basketball team was left for dead. On Thursday, the Titans were looking to play their way into the District 8 tournament.

But Central Valley, mired in a six-game losing streak, and Kyle Boast pulled out all the stops. Coupled with Matt Stewart’s career game, CV had its biggest offensive outburst of the year to win 84-70.

The 9-11 Bears return to the District 8 playoffs, traveling to Shadle Park on Tuesday to take on a team they beat on the road and lost to in overtime at home.

At stake is a trip to the regional tournament where CV has made a home.

U-Hi’s 7-13 season came to an end.

“To be honest,” said Titan coach Mark Hein, “I thought it would be Lewis and Clark we were chasing. I didn’t think it would be CV at this point in time.”

Boast had other plans. He scored 25 of his career-high 38 points in the first half, including five successive 3-point baskets.

The Bears outscored the Titans 27-6 and led by 18 points at halftime.

They upped the margin to 65-36 late in the third quarter before nearly withering under a relentless U-Hi comeback.

Keith Christensen hit three 3-pointers and was joined by Brandon Benefield and Karson Neal as U-Hi clawed back to 73-68 with 1:34 left in the game.

CV pulled away at the free throw line, then parlayed two turnovers into baskets.

CV’s inside game, which has been its season-long achilles heel, got a big boost from the 6-foot-5 Stewart. He had scored only 14 points all year, but had 11 against the Titans and was in double figures for rebounds as well.

Fourth-place Knights host playoff

East Valley on Tuesday secured fourth place in its first GSL season and hosts a district playoff game on Tuesday.

So the 46-33 spanking it took at Lewis and Clark Thursday night mattered little.

The Knights play the fifth-place Tigers at EV, 7 p.m. with the winner advancing to regionals in the Tri-Cities. From there, four teams will qualify for state.

EV completed its maiden GSL season with a 12-8 record.

Unofficially, Andrew Burgess edged Boast by a point for the league scoring title.

Eagles say, `Thanks, Colville’

West Valley’s boys finished undisputed first in Border League basketball, thanks to the Colville Indians.

Their victory over Cheney eliminated the need for a playoff and assured WV a spot in next week’s 3A regional tournament.

Tonight, the Eagles play the winner of Friday’s Cheney-Colville district playoff game. On the line in the 6 p.m. game at Mt. Spokane will the the top district seed. The winner of the district championship earns a bye into the double-elimination portion of the tournament at home on Thursday. The runner-up plays at home Tuesday against the third-place finisher from the Mid-Valley League in a loser-out game.

West Valley’s girls played Cheney Friday night. If the Eagle girls won, they play Colville tonight at 8 p.m. for top seed and would either wait until Thursday or play Tuesday in the loser-out portion of the six-team tourney.