Ferris pounds CV in regional final
The Ferris Saxons tied for the Greater Spokane League boys basketball title this season and cruised through the regular season 20-1. Then they lost two straight in district play, making the road for a return trip to the WIAA State 4A basketball tournament a long one.
Saturday night the Saxons completed the three-game sweep through the ConAgra Foods/Lamb Weston Eastern Regional with a 47-26 rout of Central Valley in the championship game at Kennewick’s Toyota Center.
Those two schools will be the only Greater Spokane League representatives at state in Tacoma next week, after Kennewick’s Southridge High eliminated both Gonzaga Prep and Mt. Spokane in loser-out games.
Ferris 47, Central Valley 26: The district losses included a 58-55 one in overtime to the Bears. But that was last week.
This week the Saxons are regional champions.
“We’re moving the ball pretty well right now,” Ferris coach Don Van Lierop said when asked where he thought the biggest difference was. “They are seeing what can happen when we move the ball offensively, you’re a regional champion. When you don’t do that, you’re 0-2 in districts.”
One area of improvement for the Saxons (23-3 and regional champs for the first time since 2002) is their inside play. It started in the regional opener against Eisenhower, one of the state’s taller teams, when Brian Hallett and Caleb Rath each posted a double-double in points and rebounds. And it continued in Kennewick, at least defensively and on the boards.
Hallett pulled down 12 rebounds Saturday, Rath another five, and that was a big reason why Ferris was able to go on three huge runs: 14-0 early, 9-0 near halftime and 10-0 to start the fourth.
“For us it really is all about defense and rebounding,” said Hallett, a 6-4 senior. “If we do that, our guards can leak out and we can run.”
“It helps our guards if we are a threat,” said Rath, a 6-3 senior, to which Hallett added, “(most teams) pretty much focus on our guards. We have to match up inside and make ourselves available.”
Those guards – seniors Jon Clift and Jace Mattinson and sophomore Shawn Stockton – all were in double figures with 14, 10 and 10 respectively. Clift was named the regional MVP after spearheading the three Saxon victories.
The Bears (20-6 and also headed to Tacoma next week) started slow (trailing 14-2 after 4 minutes) and never really got untracked. No one reached double figures, they shot just 22 percent and were out-rebounded 43-30.
Southridge 54, Mt. Spokane 41: In their second game of the day, both teams looked tired after a first half that ended tied at 16. So the Suns (21-6) went for fresh legs after halftime.
Reserve guard Stephen Mickelsen hit five 3-pointers, including two in a 12-2 run that put the game away. He finished with a game-high 19 points.
”(Mickelsen) broke our back with some of those shots he made,” said Mt. Spokane interim coach Dan Brown. “Our biggest thing was the fact we were playing a second game in a day and our legs just weren’t there. It’s hard to shoot well when you don’t have your legs. And against a team as big as Southridge, we need to have the shots falls.”
The Wildcats, who finish 15-12, hit just 32 percent of their shots after shooting better than 50 percent when they stopped the Suns in last Tuesday’s first-round game. This time Matt Dorr, who led Mt. Spokane with 12 points, was just 3 of 15 from the floor, including 1 of 10 from behind the arc. The Cats were 6 of 24 from long range, with Ryan Selland hitting three en route to 11 points.
Mt. Spokane 70, Davis 67: In their early afternoon loser-out game, the Wildcats played methodical, efficient basketball for a little more than three quarters. At that point, Mt. Spokane had built a 59-40 lead. And then …
“Our shot selection was a little poor for a while,” Brown said. “In that time and score situation we needed to keep the clock moving. They scored quickly partly because we had a little problem with the press.”
The Pirates (15-12) got within one (68-67) with 6.4 seconds left, but Dorr converted two free throws – he finished with 19 – to seal it.
Southridge 48, Gonzaga Prep 46 (OT): Spencer Towne, a 6-foot-8 center, tipped in Travis Mattair’s miss with 4 seconds left to end the Bullpups’ season on their second consecutive last-second loss.
The Pups had a chance at the buzzer, but Houston Stockton’s 25-footer at the buzzer rimmed out. The loss came on the heels of G-Prep’s one-point loss to CV in Friday’s semifinals.
Neither Beau Azadganian’s jumper at the end of regulation with the score tied at 44, nor Stockton’s effort, missed by much, just enough to keep the Pups (19-6) from a second-consecutive State 4A tournament.
Michael Johnson led G-Prep with 17.