Selland in hero role

Mt. Spokane junior Ryan Selland made good on a do-over that capped the best scoring game of his varsity career with victory. The Wildcats defense did the rest in the 40-36 win over Rogers in a game with crazy twists and turns.

Selland, who had missed at the line 11 seconds earlier, hit two free throws with 17 seconds left to secure the come-from-behind victory over the visiting Pirates.

“I knew we needed to make those last two,” said Selland, whose 20 points sparked the offense. “When I needed to put them down, I put them down.”

Mt. Spokane shut down high-scoring Scotty Livengood, who came in averaging 28.5 per game. But in the process, Josh Taylor of the Pirates also had a career night.

He finished with 26 points and scored his team’s first 18. Staking Rogers to an 8-0 start, he scored 10 more in succession after Mt. Spokane ran off 11 to lead by three after a quarter. Taylor had 20 of the Pirates’ 23 at halftime.

Rogers upped its lead to 25-15 early in the third quarter before the Wildcats scored another 10 straight to tie the game midway through the period.

Taylor hit a pair of 3-pointers for a 34-31 lead with 5:34 to go, but the Pirates couldn’t find the basket again.

Selland scored Mt. Spokane’s final nine points, including those make-good free throws for the win. He and AAU basketball youth teammate Jordan Poynor combined for three-quarters of the team’s points, including five 3-pointers.

Poynor’s defense stifled Livengood, limiting him to seven points on two rebound putbacks and three free throws.

“They ran a box and one on him and we wouldn’t set screens for him,” said Rogers coach Brian Kissinger. “I don’t understand why. We stood around a lot. It’s frustrating.”

“What we’re trying, again, to do is to get back to hanging our hat on defense,” Mt. Spokane coach Bill Ayers said.

Mead 58, Lewis and Clark 39: Nine players scored and several players had a similar number of steals and assists for the Panthers (3-1) in a win that coach Glenn Williams stressed was “a great team effort.”

Mead shot 52 percent from the field, led by Lucas Ashe’s three 3-pointers and 15 points, to tame the visiting Tigers (1-3), who had 24 turnovers. Tyler Mounce added 10 points for the victors. Skyler Kliewer led LC with 11.

Central Valley 54, North Central 47: In a tale of two halves, the Indians (2-2) had the upper hand for the first 16 minutes, leading 25-17 at intermission. But the visiting Bears (2-2) ralled from the deficit to outscore the Indians 37-22 in the second half.

Nick Ambrose scored 18 points, 15 in the second half. Kevin Cameron added 14 points, 11 in the second half. NC had three players in double figures, Nick Rijon with 14, Justin Anderson with 13 and Javier Grigsby with 10.

Shadle Park 53, East Valley 40: A hot start lifted the Highlanders (3-0) past the visiting Knights (0-3). Shadle scored the game’s first 10 points and led 23-11 after a quarter.

EV staged a third-period comeback, an 18-point burst that cut Shadle’s lead to seven.

Three Highlanders finished in double figures including Zack Humphrey, who had three 3-pointers and 14 points. The Knights were led by Danny Marshall, who scored 14 points.

Ferris 85, University 68: There was no stopping DeAngelo Casto, but it wasn’t until the fourth quarter that the host Saxons (4-0) got past the Titans (0-4). Ferris’ 6-foot-8 junior post scored a GSL career high of 37 points, including shooting 10 of 15 from the free-throw line. He scored 21 in the first half, and had 21 rebounds for the league leaders. Mason Johnson scored 21 for U-Hi.