A Heady Victory For Ferris Saxons Focus On Task To Remain Unbeaten

Second meetings between rivals can be difficult for the team that won the first time. Chuck the Chicken helped Ferris take care of that.

With the hoopla surrounding the South Hill Rubber Chicken spirit game, which drew 6,835 people to the Arena on Friday night, the unbeaten Saxons knew they had to concentrate in their Greater Spokane League basketball matchup.

With the same four underclassmen scoring in double figures as in the season-opening first meeting, Ferris improved to 9-0 with a 68-49 win over Lewis and Clark. Yet LC got the consolation prize, maintaining possession of the coveted chicken.

“We look at it as a different thing,” said Ferris junior Jordan Bursch, who scored 15 points. “You can throw out the records, it’s all emotion.”

Ferris scored the first nine points, including a dunk by 6-foot-7 sophomore Sean Mallon, who was called for a technical foul for hanging on the rim. That led to three quick fouls for the Saxons’ leading scorer, who still finished with 16 points. But Bursch scored six points in the first quarter and Ferris opened a 20-10 lead.

“The first game and this game we got off to a slow start,” said LC coach Terry Reed, referring also to the Tigers’ 77-56 season-opening loss to the Saxons. “As the game continued, we started to catch back up, but we were just worn down after a while.

“They are big bodies and they keep bringing them in.”

LC used an 11-0 run in the last half of the second quarter to pull within 31-27, but Ferris junior Kirby Fike, who scored 14, finished the half with four quick points.

A 7-0 surge midway through the third quarter upped the lead to 13, and LC never recovered.

“Thinking back to some of these games over the years … a lot of things that wouldn’t happen in normal games happened in this game,” Ferris coach Wayne Gilman said. “It’s good to get that one out of the way.”

Erik Benzel, another junior, added 12 points for Ferris, which hit 16 of 18 free throws despite being in the Arena for the first time this season.

“Overall, they did a good job,” Gilman said. “We got a good start again, and again we had some pretty good defense in the early going. And they did a good job maintaining an offensive flow when they didn’t have (Mallon) to dump it into.”

Erik Coleman led LC with 16 points, but leading scorer Jonathan Hook was held to one field goal and seven points. Senior Billy Etter went down with a knee injury with 43.8 seconds left in the first quarter. He tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee, the same knee in which he dislocated his kneecap, forcing him to miss the first half of the football season.

“It’s easy to say we lost our will when Billy went out,” said Coleman. “But they keep pounding it out. They have so many threats.”

Ferris 68, Lewis and Clark 49

Lewis and Clark 10 17 12 10 - 49

Ferris 20 15 16 17 - 68

Lewis and Clark (5-4) - Morgan 0 0-0 0, Hook 1 4-5 7, Erik Coleman 5 6-6 16, Erin Coleman 0 0-0 0, Etter 2 0-0 5, Fry 0 0-0 0, Hurd 0 0-0 0, Domit 3 0-2 6, Black 5 0-2 10, Johnson 1 3-4 5, Nelson 0 0-0 0. Totals 17 13-19 49.

Ferris (9-0) - Aronson 0 0-0 0, Lee 0 0-0 0, Benzel 4 3-3 12, Bursch 5 5-5 15, Clift 1 1-2 3, Mallon 7 2-2 16, Pounds 1 2-2 5, McLauchlin 1 0-0 2, Lommen 0 0-0 0, Kasen 0 1-2 1, Fike 5 2-2 14. Totals 24 16-18 68.

3-point goals - Hook, Etter, Benzel, Pounds, Fike 2. Total fouls - Lewis and Clark 18, Ferris 18. Fouled out - None. Technicals - Mallon.

Gonzaga Prep 66, East Valley 50

Adam Frankovic scored 17 points to lead four players in double figures and the Bullpups used a quick start to beat the Knights at EV.

Prep hit 17 of 30 shots in the first half while the Knights were just 6 of 26.

Andrew Burgess scored 24 and grabbed eight rebounds for EV.

The unbeaten Bullpups will face Ferris Tuesday at Spokane Falls.

Gonzaga Prep 23 16 13 14 - 66

East Valley 12 6 18 14 - 50

Gonzaga Prep (9-0) - Johnson 5 2-2 13, Ryan 2 0-0 5, Arte 0 0-0 0, Bloom 4 1-1 10, Simpson 2 0-0 4, Frankovic 7 3-3 17, LeSage 1 0-0 2, Bond 7 1-2 15, Nickol 0 0-0 0, Maher 0 0-0 0, Custer 0 0-0 0. Totals 28 7-8 66.

East Valley (4-5) - Burgess 10 3-4 24, Lennick 0 2-2 2, Quirk 0 4-4 4, Brown 2 1-2 5, Paul 2 0-0 4, Duncan 2 0-1 5, Horgan 2 0-0 4, Hansen 1 0-0 2, Mathison 0 0-0 0. Totals 19 1-13 50.

3-point goals - John, Ryan, Bloom, Burgess, Duncan. Total fouls - Gonzaga prep 14, East Valley 10. Fouled out - none. Technicals - Bond.

Mead 69, University 59

The Panthers went on an 11-0 run to close the third quarter and had four players score in double figures to defeat the visiting Titans and end a seven-game losing streak.

Mead made 23 of 45 shots. Chris Cwik scored 11 of his 14 in the first half as the Panthers opened a 33-25 lead. Sophomore Eric Williams led Mead with seven rebounds. Josh Dvorak and Erik Leaf, both sophomores, had 11 and 10 points, respectively.

Brandon Benefield and Karson Neal combined for 30 points for U-Hi.

University 17 8 12 22 - 59

Mead 16 17 16 20 - 69

University (3-7) -J. Bright 1 0-0 3, Christiansen 3 0-0 9, Benefield 4 6-8 15, Moore 3 4-6 13, D. Bright 0 0-0 0, Johnson 1 0-0 2, Florence 0 0-0 0, Neal 6 3-6 15, Thompson 0 0-0 0, Madsen 1 0-0 2. Totals 19 13-20 59.

Mead (3-7) - Stallings 1 3-6 5, Zelinski 3 2-5 9, Stucky 1 1-4 3, Dvorak 4 2-4 11, Leaf 1 7-8 10, Cwik 5 3-4 14, Williams 3 2-2 8, Fischer 5 0-0 10. Totals 23 20-30 69.

3-point goals - Moore 3, J. Bright, Benefield, Christiansen, Zelinski, Dvorak, Leaf. Total fouls - University 17, Mead 18. Fouled out - Christiansen. Technicals - none.

Central Valley 51, North Central 39

The visiting Bears opened the game with three quick 3-pointers and went on to defeat the Indians.

CV finished 19 of 61 from the field with five 3-pointers. NC only made 12 of 55 shots.

Central Valley 16 13 12 10 - 51

North Central 8 6 10 15 - 39

Central Valley (6-3) - Liepman 0 0-0 0, Rodgers 3 1-1 7, Nylund 3 0-0 7, Boast 4 3-5 13, Mosby 3 2-2 8, Filice 0 1-2 1, Walls 5 0-0 12, Stewart 1 1-2 3. Totals 19 8-12 51.

North Central (2-7) - Moffitt 0 1-2 1, Lamanna 0 3-4 3, Peterson 2 1-3 5, Lesesne 0 0-0 0, Roloff 0 0-0 0, Donovan 3 2-2 8, Lattin 0 0-0 0, B. Johnson 1 0-0 2, Martyn 2 5-8 10, Smith 4 2-3 10, M. Johnson 0 0-0 0. Totals 12 14-23 39.

3-point goals - Nylund, Boast 2, Walls 2, Martyn. Total fouls - Central Valley 18, North Central 15. Fouled out - none. Technicals - Mosby.

Mt. Spokane 61, Rogers 48

Matt Tabisz and Kyle Vessey combined for 42 points and the Wildcats jumped to an early lead to defeat the Pirates at the Arena.

Rogers 8 12 17 12 - 48

Mt. Spokane 20 14 12 15 - 61

Rogers (0-9) - Worley 2 2-2 6, Baker 0 1-2 1, Wallen 3 6-8 12, Mullerleile 1 4-7 6, Bogle 1 0-0 3, Olson 1 0-0 2, Perez 2 2-2 6, Bowerman 0 0-0 0, Vaughan 3 2-3 8, Berend 1 2-2 4, Reed 0 0-0 0, Gaffaney 0 0-0 0. Totals 14 19-26 48.

Mt. Spokane (4-5) - Tran 0 1-2 1, Lessig 2 4-4 8, Swanson 4 1-1 9, Hornstein 0 0-0 0, Franklin 0 0-3 0, Pederson 0 0-2 0, Tabisz 9 3-5 21, Meyer 0 1-2 1, Vessey 7 7-11 21, Proett 0 0-0 0, Meyers 0 0-0 0, Lewis 0 0-0 0. Totals 22 17-30 61.

3-point goals - Bogle. Total fouls - Rogers 22, Mt. Spokane 21. Fouled out - Swanson. Technicals - Tabisz.