U-Hi girls, CV boys take wins

What began and ended as a barnburner turned in between on the talents of University’s X-factor.

Angie Bjorklund’s scoring, rebounding and, perhaps, more impressively her magical passing, spurred the Titans past rival Central Valley 69-58 Friday in the opener of the Stinky Sneaker spirit game.

The Bears earned a split of the night’s games when the boys scored the final 10 points in the finale for a 46-39 win over their rivals. CV regained the shoe after a two-year absence, its fourth spirit win in the 2000s.

The Sneaker journeyed west to the Spokane Arena, attracting a noisy crowd of 4,524 which would about have filled both of the Spokane Valley schools combined.

While the girls teams seemed right at home, both shooting well in an unfamiliar environment, the boys struggled for a half on long-range shooting attempts.

Girls: U-Hi’s opening win didn’t come without trepidation.

CV trailed 63-48 with 2:10 remaining in the game, but full-court pressure forced a succession of turnovers that resulted in eight points in a minute and cut U-Hi’s lead in half.

The Bears had the opportunity not many seconds later to pare it to just four points.

But Heidi Heintz’s shot bounced of the rim and U-Hi scored five free throws for its final victory margin.

“We just threw it to them, didn’t we?” Titans coach Mark Stinson asked rhetorically. “To CV’s credit, they didn’t quit. That’s a good team, a very good team.”

Both clubs were unbeaten after three Greater Spokane League counters and they started quickly.

The hot-shooting pace continued through the game’s first 10 minutes with the score deadlocked at 22.

But in the final 5:45, U-Hi (9-2, 4-0) went on a 14-4 tear with Bjorklund scoring eight of her first-half 13 points and Dara Zack adding four more.

“They beat us in transition,” said CV coach Judy Walters. “At certain points we played too tentative.”

CV (7-4, 3-1) failed to score in the half’s final 3 minutes, 46 seconds, the early stages of a 13-minute field-goal drought that Walters attributed to fatigue.

The Titans scored 16 unanswered points during CV’s shooting dearth to lead 56-31.

During the run, Bjorklund scored 12 in a row, half of them on 3-point baskets. She had a couple of spectacular no-look, over-the-shoulder assists as well.

“Those are fun passes to watch,” said Stinson. “They were running a double (team), which I’d probably run on her, too. Whoever was getting left ran to the hoop and our girls converted most of them, too. That was a big thing.”

While the lead seemed secure enough, the final 2 minutes were harrowing. The Bears went back the pressing and running style that suits them best and almost wiped out the lead.

They scored, got the ball back in the press and scored some more.

“They beat us on fast break points, but we kept chipping away and chipping away,” said CV’s Salena Leavitt.

She scored a season-high 20 points when U-Hi focused it attention on stopping Heintz. Nevertheless, the GSL scoring leader wound up with 19.

Then there was Bjorklund. Playing in only her sixth game this season, Stinson said she is not in full form, if scoring 31 points by hitting 11 of 18 shots, leading all rebounders with 15 and directing traffic when necessary is an average performance.

Boys: Back-to-back baskets, including a timely 3-pointer, by Brad Johnson rallied the Bears to victory over their rival.

Historically, CV-U-Hi boys games are played close to the vest and a fast start is not necessarily the indicator of a successful finish.

That was the case again. Both teams struggled on offense, content to launch long-range shots during a first half when the two teams hit a combined 25 percent from the field.

U-Hi (4-8, 1-3) got back-to-back 3-pointers by Tyler Olson and Ryan Ristau to take a 13-8 lead. But the Bears (9-2, 3-1) went on an 11-3 run over the last half of the second quarter that included two successive 3-pointers by Matt Morgan for the halftime lead.

CV’s biggest advantage was 27-21 in the third quarter, almost all of the scoring done inside by Nick Ambrose, who finished with 15 points.

Then the Titans mounted an 11-3 rally in the fourth quarter for a 39-36 advantage midway through.

Enter Johnson, who has been slowed this winter by an ankle sprain that caused him to miss two games in mid-December. He scored with 3:24 remaining and buried the long shot following a missed U-Hi lay-in with 1:36 left.

“I just saw an opening. It was a rhythm shot and I took it,” he said. “It’s a good thing it went in.”

Ahead 41-39, CV hung on as the Titans missed inside opportunities that became Bears free-throw points in the game’s final 25 seconds.

“Brad really showed his leadership in the fourth quarter,” said CV coach Rick Sloan. “He suggested a little defensive change and had that look. He’s a real key to what we do.”

Although Ambrose struggled early this season, he’s played well of late, said Sloan.

“The kids showed good poise and did what they had to down the stretch to get the ‘W’,” said Sloan.