Arrow-right Camera
The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Cheney upsets West Valley

Cheney’s Ben Camp hadn’t grabbed an offensive rebound all night. The 6-foot-6 senior hadn’t taken a shot in the fourth quarter.

He got both in the final 3.7 seconds, securing Derek Miller’s miss 10 feet from the basket, banking home the follow and giving the Blackhawks a 61-59 home-court upset of sixth-ranked West Valley on Friday night.

“When I saw Derek shoot it, I just looked for the open spot and hoped, if he missed, the ball would bounce to me,” Camp said, before pausing and talking about the importance of the upset. “This was a huge win for us. They were 10-0 and playing great while we were struggling a little trying to play as a team. This was a team victory, everyone contributed.”

In a sense yes, when you consider the Blackhawks (6-5 overall, 2-2 in Greater Spokane League play) received eight points from Luke Just, who isn’t in the GSL program because he almost didn’t turn out after a tough football season. And when you consider there were also key third-quarter baskets and fourth-quarter defense from two reserves, Kirk Meyer and Jesse Gibb, along with eight points from 6-8 post Matt Brunell and six more from Camp.

But in a bigger sense this was Miller’s game, especially the fourth quarter. The senior scored 13 of his game-high 29 in the final quarter, including being perfect on four free throws down the stretch.

“The third quarter we came back as a team and everybody stepped up,” Miller said after citing WV’s 13-point edge late in the quarter. “In the fourth I really tried to be aggressive taking the ball to the basket. I thought the last shot was a good one – I was trying to create either a shot for myself or for someone else – but I wasn’t worried about missing because I thought one of our bigs would get it.”

Miller’s faith was rewarded, but maybe a little unfounded.

The Blackhawks were beaten to rebounds all night (the Eagles finished with a 42-29 edge), especially when West Valley shot. The Eagles (10-1, 3-1) ran down 22 offense rebounds, most of them ending up in E.J. Richardson’s hands. The 6-6 junior post had 16 points in a first half in which he grabbed four offensive rebounds. In the second half, saddled with foul trouble and the Cheney posts cracking down inside, Richardson took just two shots, finishing with 20 points.

But he and Arton Toussaint, who attacked the rim seemingly at will early en route to 11 points, both missed a pair of free throws in the final 1 minute, 31 seconds as Cheney rallied.

Gonzaga Prep 55, Ferris 52

The host Bullpups (7-4, 3-1) used a balanced scoring attack to stop the 10th-ranked Saxons and force a five-way tie atop the league standings. Ryan Murphy led the way with 13 points, but Michael Johnson added nine points and seven assists, Jake Sayman added eight points and nine rebounds and Houston Stockton had a career-high nine points. Ryan Shelby paced Ferris (9-2, 3-1) with 13 points.

Mead 59, Lewis and Clark 49

The Panthers, who are part of the 3-1 league-leading logjam (6-5 overall), led by four going into the fourth quarter. The Tigers (3-7, 1-3) tied the game at 48 near the middle of the quarter, but Mead went on 11-0 run to put it away.

Mike Hoover, who had 11 points, was 6 of 6 from the line, including four in the last minute. Andy Mattingly led Mead with 14 points and nine rebounds. LC’s T.J. Lee-Hill scored a game-high 18 points.

Shadle Park 70, Rogers 44

The Highlanders (5-6, 3-1) moved into first with the easy win over the short-handed Pirates, who were playing without three starters.

Josh Landsverk led Shadle’s inside game with 17 points while Zach Humphrey hit four 3-pointers for 12 points. Scotty Livengood led host Rogers (2-10, 1-3) with 18 points.

Mt. Spokane 52, East Valley 38

The Wildcats turned up the defense, held the visiting Knights (4-7, 1-3) to 32 percent shooting and dominated the boards (a 26-14 edge) to earn the win.

Mt. Spokane (5-6, 2-2) was led by Edwin Miller’s 13 points while EV’s Chase Courchaine scored a season-high 12.