Falcons beat Lancers, hop into Bi-Co driver’s seat

After a pair of second-place Bi-County League finishes, this looked to be the season that Sprague-Harrington’s girls could take home their first regular-season title in eight years.

An early January matchup against Liberty, probably the Falcons’ closest competition, would show S-H exactly how close they were.

Even without playing particularly well, S-H (8-0, 6-0) put itself in the driver’s seat with a 58-41 win over the Lancers (6-1, 4-1) in Sprague, breaking a tie atop the Bi-Co.

“It’s a huge game for us to be tested, because we haven’t been tested yet, except against St. George’s,” said S-H sixth-year head coach Ed Shields, whose Falcons finished sixth in the State B tournament last year. “We’ve won most games by an average of 25 to 30 points. For us, this is the best team I’ve ever had.”

S-H’s girls last won a Bi-County regular-season championship in 1997-98, when they won the Bi-Co’s East Division the last year the league was split into divisions.

Tuesday night, S-H used a balanced scoring effort, as five Falcons scored at least nine points, and defensive pressure that caused 27 Liberty turnovers.

Stacie Shields, a 5-foot-8 senior and Ed’s daughter, led S-H with 15 points and eight rebounds, but on 5-of-15 shooting as the Lancers – specifically 5-foot-10 junior Cami Bullock – focused on shutting Shields down.

“Teams usually double-team me, and that leaves other people open,” Shields said. “That’s one good thing about it.”

Maria Rustemeyer had 11 points for the Falcons, Natalie Deking scored 10 and Roni Jo Mielke and Jamie Larmer both had nine.

“With this team, I’ve got five girls who can score and put the ball in the hole,” Ed Shields said. “Not too many ‘B’ teams have that. Most teams have two or three and the other players are just role players.”

Most of the Falcons offense came from the free-throw line, as S-H hit 27 of 44 (61.3 percent) free throws to make up for hitting 14 of 51 (27.5 percent) from the field.

Liberty, led by Laura Davis’ 11 points and six rebounds, hit 39.5 percent of its shots, but the Lancers turned the ball over too often against the Falcons’ pressure man-to-man, led by the 5-4 Deking’s six steals.

“We create so much defensively, and you didn’t really see our defense tonight,” Shields said. “That’s where we disrupt a lot of things, and we didn’t do that tonight like we normally do.”

S-H only led 41-36 after Bullock’s jumper with 5:34 left in the game, but the Falcons held the Lancers scoreless for nearly 4 minutes while running off six straight points – then S-H hit 11 of 16 free throws down the stretch to put it away.

•In other Bi-Co action, Kaylee Semprimoznik had 19 points, five assists and four steals as Davenport (6-2, 4-2) cruised to a 48-32 over Almira/Coulee-Hartline in Hartline. Andrea Edwards had 11 points and 11 rebounds for the Warriors (0-6, 0-5), who trailed 33-6 at halftime. … Tuyet Pitkonen scored 12 points and Kali Schmidt added 10 as Northwest Christian (3-5, 2-3) defeated host Valley Christian 49-28. Hillary Joyce and Amanda Baker scored seven apiece for the Panthers (1-7, 1-5), who shot 6 of 22 from the free-throw line and had 35 turnovers. … Maddisen Petersen had 19 points, and she and Ashley Warnecke hit key 3-pointers down the stretch as Wilbur-Creston defeated host Reardan 49-35. Warnecke and Zenda Reidt added 11 points apiece for the Wildcats (4-3, 3-2), while Ashton Jeney scored 12 to lead the Indians (4-4, 3-3). … Andrea Kuch scored 10 of her 21 points in the fourth quarter, leading Odessa to a 34-29 victory over host Lind-Ritzville. Kuch also had seven rebounds for the Tigers (5-3, 3-3), while Jenna Kragt and Jill Cain scored seven points apiece to lead the Broncos (2-6, 2-4).

•Rochelle Druffel had 13 points and 10 rebounds as Colton defeated host Asotin 57-49 in a Whitman County League game. Alisa Moehrle added 12 points and eight rebounds for the Wildcats (5-3, 1-2). Amanda Barnes scored 12 to lead the Panthers (1-9, 0-3). … Anna Iverson hit two free throws with 10 seconds left to give Garfield-Palouse a 51-50 victory over Rosalia in Garfield. Freshmen Tianna Woltering (17 points) and Elisha Lopez (13 points, six rebounds) led the Gar-Pal (3-5, 1-1) attack, offsetting a 26-point effort from Clarissa Harston of Rosalia (3-6, 1-1). … Ellen Miller scored 30 points and hit 12 of 13 from the free-throw line as St. John-Endicott defeated Tekoa-Oakesdale 74-53 in Tekoa. Sydney Gossard and Jamie Hedlund scored 12 apiece for the Eagles (8-2, 3-0), who outscored the Nighthawks 45-27 in the second half. Shelby Puckett scored 11 and Kelsi Graffs added 10 for T-O (5-3, 2-1).

•Jamie Thornton had 14 points and six rebounds to lead Pullman to a 47-31 victory over visiting Colfax in a non-league game. Alyssa Garro added 12 points and five assists for the Greyhounds (5-3). Jordan Harazin led the Bulldogs (7-3) with 10 points. … Kyla Evans scored 22 points on 8-of-11 shooting as Brewster defeated host Republic 68-27. Sarah Knapton led the Tigers (2-5) with 11 points. … Laura Gibson scored 16 points as Deer Park (6-2) defeated visiting Newport 36-31. Heather Alkire scored 14 to lead the Grizzlies (3-6), and Ashley McDonald pulled down 11 rebounds. … Alyssa Koller scored 13 points and Pam Passmore added 11, but LaCrosse-Washtucna (5-4) lost to Dayton 46-41 in Washtucna.