Ferris, U-Hi District Titlists

District 8 4A

It doesn’t matter how many times a team beats Ferris, odds are it won’t happen in the District 8 boys basketball championship game.

The sixth-ranked Saxons won their eighth title game in 13 appearances under veteran coach Wayne Gilman at the Arena on Friday night, pounding Greater Spokane League champion and fourth-ranked Gonzaga Prep 69-52 as their only senior starter, Jacob Pounds, scored a career-high 20 points.

“They just relaxed trying to stop (6-foot-7 Sean) Mallon,” said Pounds, who knocked down five 3-pointers, four in a 17-point first half. “It was the same way last time (the teams played). I just didn’t make the shots.”

It was the same for Sara Steblaj, only it was in the second half.

Steblaj and her University teammates had a red-hot, 46-point second half to win the school’s third district girls title, and first since 1990, with a 65-50 win over Shadle Park. The Titans trailed 24-18 at halftime.

“Our shots were just falling,” said Steblaj, who had 25 of her 29 points in the second half, hitting five 3s. “We’re like that; we’re a second-half team. We’re so confident now. We’re like that every game, it’s not even a concern.”

The Titans and Saxons, both seeded second for district, open the Eastern 4A Regional Tournament at Gonzaga University on Tuesday. They play the fourth seeds out of the Big Nine, which will be determined tonight. U-Hi goes at 6 p.m., Ferris at 7:30.

The GSL No. 2s, Shadle Park and Gonzaga Prep, play at Eastern Washington University, boys first.

The third-fourth seeding games in the Big Nine are Southridge girls at Pasco and Kamiakin boys at Walla Walla.

The battles for Big Nine top seeds are Richland at second-ranked Kennewick for the girls and Eisenhower at No. 2 Davis for boys.

All Big Nine games are at 7:30 tonight.

In the GSL seeding games for third and fourth, Central Valley topped Mead 59-57 in the girls and East Valley knocked off Shadle Park 64-56 in the boys.

Their Tuesday games are doubleheaders, girls at Pasco with CV first, and boys at the Sun Dome in Yakima, East Valley first.

Friday’s four games at the Arena drew 3,812.

Boys

Ferris 69, Gonzaga Prep 52

This game started as a shootout with the Bullpups hitting 11 of 16 shots in the first quarter for a 24-16 lead.

Pounds, who had eight in the first quarter, scored nine in the second and Jordan Bursch converted a three-point play 3 seconds before the half to put the Saxons up 38-37.

Ferris opened the third quarter making its first five shots and went on a 13-4 run to take command.

“I thought they did a better job paying attention to both Chris (Bond) and Greg (Johnson),” Prep coach Mike Haugen said. “I didn’t think we came out with near the energy they did in the second half… . We stood around too much… . We had more difficulty getting (the ball) into the high post in the second half.”

The Saxons put four players in double figures with Mallon, held to two points in the first half, getting 15, Bursch 14 and Erik Benzel 11.

“We didn’t give up transition layins,” Gilman said. “They just didn’t get the opportunities, whether we were more conscious or things fell our way.”

Ultimately, the difference was Pounds, who had three and nine points in the Saxons’ two regular-season losses to Prep.

“Other games we played here I always had trouble adjusting to the backdrop,” he said. “I guess I got used to it.”

“I knew he could shoot. He was probably more aggressive,” Haugen said. “We didn’t pay enough attention to him trying to help out (on Mallon). He made us pay.”

Ferris 16 22 15 16 - 69

Gonzaga Prep 24 13 11 4 - 52

Ferris (19-3) - Benzel 4 1-1 11, Bursch 3 7-7 14, Clift 1 1-2 3, Mallon 7 1-1 15, Pounds 6 3-3 20, Kasen 0 0-0 0, Fike 2 2-3 6. Totals 23 15-18 69.

Gonzaga Prep (20-2) - Johnson 4 0-0 10, Ryan 1 0-0 2, Bloom 0 0-0 0, Simpson 5 0-0 11, Frankovic 2 2-2 6, Bond 7 1-4 15, Nickol 2 3-4 8, Maher 0 0-0 0. Totals 21 6-10 52.

3-point goals - Benzel 2, Bursch, Pounds 5, Johnson 2, Simpson, Nickol. Total fouls - Ferris 13, Gonzaga Prep 20. Fouled out - Frankovic, Bloom. Technicals - None.

E. Valley 64, Shadle Park 56

The Knights jumped to an early 7-0 lead and were up by as many as 15 in the third quarter before the Highlanders stormed back.

Demetrius Scott, held scoreless in the first half, led Shadle with 17 points, nine in the fourth quarter when the Highlanders caught the Knights at 46 midway through the quarter but couldn’t get ahead. An offensive foul ended their one chance to take a lead.

East Valley, which made 14 of 18 free throws in the fourth quarter, had four players in double figures. Andrew Burgess, the GSL’s leading scorer, had 14, nine in the fourth quarter.

Both teams scored 18 points from the line. EV was just 4 of 20 from 3-point range and Shadle was 2 of 9.

East Valley 13 12 12 27 - 64

Shadle Park 6 10 14 26 - 56

East Valley (14-9) - Burgess 5 2-4 14, Lennick 0 0-0 0, Quirk 3 1-2 7, Brown 1 8-12 10, Paul 2 0-1 4, Duncan 2 2-2 6, Horgan 5 3-3 13, Hansen 0 0-0 0, Mathison 4 2-2 10. Totals 22 18-26 64.

Shadle Park (17-6) - Bishop 0 0-0 0, Scott 7 1-1 17, Alexander 0 0-0 0, K. Johnson 2 4-5 9, Rowe 2 1-2 5, Pariseau 0 11-12 11, Weisner 3 0-0 7, McCracken 0 0- 0 0, Gabriel 3 0-2 6, Doyle 0 0-1 0, J.J. Johnson 0 0-0 0, Henderson 0 1-2 1. Totals 17 18-25 56.

3-point goals - Burgess 2, Scott 2, K. Johnson, Weisner. Total fouls - East Valley 20, Shadle Park 25. Fouled out - Horgan, Scott, Pariseau, Weisner. Technicals - Gabriel.

Girls

U-Hi 64, Shadle Park 50

A miserable first half doesn’t bother the Titans, who have failed to score more than 18 in the first half for the last four games of their 13-game winning streak.

“I give the halftime talk in pregame. We’ll switch around,” second-year U-Hi coach Mark Stinson said.

Steblaj had 10 points in the third quarter, hitting 4 of 6 shots, and then she got really hot. She scored 15 in the fourth quarter, capping her outburst with a banked 3 from the top of the key.

“I came out cold in the first half and came out hot in the second half,” she said. “That’s always the way it’s been for me. At least I’m consistent.”

The Titans were 3 of 13 in the second quarter but matched their 18 first-half points just 4 minutes or so into the third quarter.

Steblaj scored on a feed from Vanessa Shelton, one of her eight assists, to put U-Hi up 27-26. After Shadle’s Andrea McGrath hit a 3 to tie it at 29, Shelton hit two free throws, Steblaj had a 3 and a layup, kicking off a 14-3 surge.

“I let the officials bother me too much,” Shadle Park coach Chad Dezellem said. He was contending that U-Hi was using moving screens to get open. “They hit their shots when they got those clean looks. They’re a good team, they just beat us. We need to have more composure. I need to have more composure.”

U-Hi had a big edge on the boards, with Teresa Valkenaar grabbing 11 and Shelton and Steblaj getting eight apiece.

McGrath led Shadle Park with 17 points and Amy Ridings 15.

Shadle Park 7 17 12 14 - 50

University 8 10 26 20 - 64

Shadle Park (13-10) - Ridings 4 7-7 16, Stockman 2 0-0 4, Runkel 0 0-0 0, Jones 2 2-4 6, Osborn 0 2-4 2, Warren 2 1-2 5, McGrath 6 2-5 17, Flemming 0 0-0 0, Malmquist 0 0-0 0, S. Ridings 0 0-0 0, Seadall 0 0-0 0. Totals 16 14-22 50.

University (19-5) - S. Steblaj 9 6-6 29, Owen 3 0-0 6, Murray 0 0-0 0, Poole 2 2-2 6, Buchanan 0 0-0 0, Valkenaar 1 4-8 6, Shelton 3 6-7 13, Bachmeier 0 0-0 0, L. Steblaj 1 1-1 3, Silvey 0 1-2 1, Lochmiller 0 0-0 0, MacDonald 0 0-0 0. Totals 19 20- 26 64.

3-point goals - Ridings, McGrath 3, S. Steblaj 5, Shelton. Total fouls - Shadle Park 18, University 18. Fouled out - McGrath. Technicals - None.

Central Valley 59, Mead 57

Six Bears combined to hit 10 of 15 shots in the third quarter to send the league champion Panthers out of the district tournament as the fourth seed to regional.

Felice Moore led the 20-14 run, hitting 3 of 4 shots. Raeanna Jewell and Katie Rodgers also had two baskets. The Bears were led by Jewell with 15 points but CV had six players score five to nine points.

Mead was down 12 in the fourth quarter before Courtney Ferguson led a rally. She had nine of her 19 points, including a 3 at the buzzer.

Neither team shot well from 3-point range - CV was 3-18 and Mead 4-14 - but the Bears were 22 of 43 from inside the arc while the Panthers were 17-41.

Central Valley 12 14 20 13 - 59

Mead 14 7 14 22 - 57

Central Valley (17-7) - Heinen 3 0-1 7, Rodgers 4 0-0 9, Ferguson 2 2-3 7, Wing 2 1-2 5, Rae. Jewell 6 3-4 15, Wagner 4 0-1 8, Moore 4 0-0 8. Totals 25 6-11 59.

Mead (16-6) - L. Gonnella 3 3-4 9, C. Ferguson 7 2-2 19, Shea 1 0-0 2, Brodsky 2 2-2 6, G. Gonnella 3 2-2 9, Adams 0 0-0 0, Bailey 2 0-0 4, A. Ferguson 3 2-6 8, Wilson 0 0-0 0. Totals 21 11-16 57.

3-point goals - Heinen, Rodgers, K. Ferguson, C. Ferguson 3, G. Gonnella. Total fouls - Central Valley 13, Mead 12. Fouled out - none. Technicals - none.