Lewis and Clark girls romp

In three quarters of basketball Friday night at Lewis and Clark, Mead head girls coach Regan Freuen thought her team played pretty well.

It was the second quarter, though, that was her team’s undoing as the Tigers’ depth, defensive pressure and offensive efficiency gave LC a 17-point halftime lead on the way to a 63-47 win.

“I think we scored five points in the quarter and we had seven turnovers,” Freuen said. “You just can’t afford to do that.”

Actually, in 9 minutes and 20 seconds stretching from near the end of the first quarter to halftime, LC (10-0, 4-0) was 8 of 14 from the field while limiting Mead to 2-of-10 shooting and nine turnovers, good for a 19-5 run.

Most of that spurt came from 6-foot-2 senior Heather Bowman, who had nine of those points, and sophomore guard Brittany Kennedy, who had six.

Bowman had little trouble inside against the Panthers (7-4, 2-2), finishing with 18 points and six rebounds on 5-of-7 shooting.

Mead could have matched up against Bowman with 6-0 junior Kelli Valentine, but Valentine was playing in her first game since missing three with mononucleosis and could only play in short spurts.

“She wasn’t playing as effective and as strong and they don’t have the size to match any of our bigs,” LC head coach Jim Redmon said. “We’re just going to do that until they take it away.”

“We’ve had to play small,” Freuen said. “Some of them are more 3s (small forwards) and they’re having to play down there with the big girls.”

Also, Mead had three of its top five scorers in foul trouble in the first half, and the Tigers took advantage with their depth – turning up the defensive pressure with fresh legs.

“I think that’s one of our strengths,” Redmon said. “We’re going to try and continue to utilize that the further we go.”

LC was 23 of 49 (46.9 percent) from the field and held a 16-6 advantage at the free-throw line.

Katelyn Redmon had 13 points and eight rebounds for the Tigers, and Kennedy added 10 and seven. LC outrebounded Mead 38-28.

Where Mead did have an advantage was from the outside, where Nikki Nelson hit three of the team’s six 3-pointers on the way to 22 points on 8-of-16 shooting.

LC moves on to a big non-league game, as the Tigers, ranked second in the 4A by WashingtonPreps.com, will take on River Ridge, ranked second in the 3A classification, on Monday in Yakima.

Gonzaga Prep 54, Ferris 44

A 10-3 run in the third quarter created some separation for the Bullpups (9-2, 3-1) as they won at Ferris (4-7, 1-3).

Georgia Burke had seven of her 13 during the decisive third quarter and G-Prep held on down the stretch by hitting 10 of 12 free throws. Tara Cronin had 15 and Corrina O’Brien had 11 for G-Prep, who forced 23 Saxons turnovers while only turning it over eight times. Jenna Galloway led the Saxons with 13 points and 15 rebounds, helping fuel a 31-15 edge on the boards.

Mt. Spokane 60, East Valley 57

Two late offensive rebounds on missed free throws helped the Wildcats (6-5, 3-1) hold on to their slim lead and beat the Knights (5-6, 1-3) at East Valley. Charlee Jackson (23) and Sam Patrick (19) combined for 42 of Mt. Spokane’s points. Eleaya Schuerch led EV with 13 points and the Knights hit six 3-pointers but had 20 turnovers.

Shadle Park 84, Rogers 47

In her first start at Shadle, Highlanders junior Nicole Cantu scored 19 points as Shadle (7-4, 2-2) routed the visiting Pirates (2-9, 0-4). Cantu was one of four Highlanders in double figures, joining Heather Jackson (10), Lexi Bishop (15) and Lexie Petterson (16). SP enjoyed a 17-2 advantage at the free-throw line.

West Valley 45, Cheney 43

Olivia Parvey had 15 points and nine rebounds and the Eagles (2-9, 1-3) held off a late Blackhawks (4-7, 0-4) charge to win at West Valley. WV led by seven points with less than 2 minutes left, but four Calynne Oyolokor points were part of a run that cut the lead to one. Jordyn Sodorff hit a free throw to push the game to its final margin.