Gsl Ends First Half In Style
The Greater Spokane League reached the halfway point of its basketball season in fine fashion - a pair of battles among league leaders.
It would be hard to find a better game than Tuesday night’s Ferris-Gonzaga Prep boys game, played before a near-full house at 3,500-seat Spokane Falls Community College.
Prep won the battle of unbeatens 73-62.
The interesting part of the boys race is in the middle of the standings, where three teams - Lewis and Clark, East Valley and Mt. Spokane - are tied at 5-5 for the final two playoff spots.
In the girls race, league-leading Prep also defeated Ferris, which was tied for second, 49-32. There is a two-game separation between sixth and seventh places. The top six make district.
The scoring races also change constantly.
Three of the top four boys are new to the GSL - Andrew Burgess of East Valley (20.1 ppg), Chris Bond of Gonzaga Prep (18.8) and Sean Mallon of Ferris (18.3). EV is new to the league, Bond attended Cheney High last year and Mallon is a sophomore.
Three of the top four girls are juniors: Raeanna Jewell of Central Valley, Sara Shogren of East Valley and Juliann Laney of Gonzaga Prep.
The first Associated Press poll came out this week with Ferris No. 2 and Gonzaga Prep No. 9 in the 4A boys top 10. Garfield was first with Walla Walla, the team that defeated Ferris for the state title last March, at No. 8.
Lake Washington is No. 1 in girls rankings with Kennewick No. 2, Gonzaga Prep eighth and Richland 10th.
The only area 3A team ranked was the West Valley boys at No. 8.
There will be rankings for all classes next week.
Gar-Pal football coach resigns Marc Maiuri has resigned as head football coach at Garfield-Palouse High School after two seasons to become the offensive line coach at Western Montana College in Dillon.
Western Montana is an NAIA Division I college and a member of the Frontier Conference.
Maiuri attended DeSales High School, Walla Walla Community College and played with Seattle Seahawks quarterback Jon Kitna at Central Washington University.
Quit while you’re ahead
Republic’s girls basketball team went 2-0 last weekend with assistant coach Chuck Wilson filling in for a flu-stricken Mike Lust.
Wilson was also 2-0 when he spelled Republic boys coach Rory Rickard while Rickard served a two-game suspension last season.
“I’m ready to retire with a perfect record,” Wilson said.