Panthers showcase balance

At 5-foot-9, Mead’s Kami Clark gladly surrendered her spot on the low block to 6-5 freshman Alexis Olgard to better showcase her perimeter skills.

The change suited the Panthers, who defeated visiting Ferris 51-32 in their season-opening Greater Spokane League girls basketball game Tuesday night.

Four Mead veterans, led by Clark’s 11 points, accounted for 32 of the winner’s total. Three freshman newcomers, including Olgard – who had eight points, seven blocked shots and as many rebounds – made contributions in their varsity debuts.

The Panthers fell behind early 7-2, but their active defense and the looming presence of Olgard inside led to a 25-5 burst over a near 9-minute period to effectively put away the game.

The closest Ferris came thereafter was to within 28-20 on Jenna Galloway’s 3-pointer to open the second half. But Mead was back in front 37-20 just 3 minutes later to spoil Saxons coach Barry Olson’s debut.

“I thought they did a really nice job of kind of coming out of their doldrums,” Olson said. “We had our spark of energy and got things going, but they adjusted well. Having a 6-5 body in there was kind of hard for our munchkins to get around.”

Courtney Hatch scored all seven of Ferris’ points during the hot early start.

But fourth-year veteran Kelli Valentine scored six successive points to put Mead up 9-7 and Clark made her first basket on a drive, right-to-left and down through the key.

The Panthers improved the lead to 20-9, then 27-12, Valentine and Clark finishing the half with seven points apiece and a third senior, Alysha Green, adding five second-period points.

The 6-foot Valentine had 10 points and four blocked shots and Green had her second 3-pointer in the second half.

Olgard’s fellow freshmen, guards Jazmine Redmon and Kristina Puthoff, helped Mead dictate tempo with their pesky defense.

“We try to run things off our defense to get everything else going,” said coach Regan Drew. “They move their feet well, their hands are active and they feed off each other.”

She added that Clark’s best place on the floor is the perimeter, where she can handle the ball and get more open shots.

The second-year player, who transferred from Almira/Coulee-Hartline, scored three times on drives.

“It was hard being little and playing big,” Clark said of last year’s position. “You work through it and do what you can do. I enjoy this a lot more than getting banged around.”

Ferris’ Galloway scored 11 of her game-high 14 points in the second half. Hatch finished with 10.

In other games, last year’s top three finishers, University, Gonzaga Prep and Lewis and Clark, won easily, and Shadle Park broke a halftime tie to beat Central Valley.

Shadle Park 51, Central Valley 41: The Highlanders took advantage of charity in their victory at home over the Bears.

More than half of Shadle’s points came at the free-throw line during a game in which CV was whistled for 28 personals and had two players foul out. The Highlanders made 30 of 42 from the line, Lexi Bishop hitting 16 of 20 en route to a game-high 25 points. Nicole Cantu was 10 of 14 and scored 16 against a team that played four freshmen and sophomores.

Lewis and Clark 75, Mt. Spokane 31: The host Tigers were ahead 21-8 after a quarter and 41-18 by halftime. They shot just less than 50 percent from 3-point range, making seven, and missed only 2 of 10 free throws.

Katelan Redmon led the scoring with 17 points. Lyndi Seidensticker and newcomer sophomore Emily Travis finished in double figures.

Gonzaga Prep 73, Rogers 29: Bullpups coach Mike Arte said that when sophomore Brigette Pinsoneault moved here from Denver she was “a little behind, but a pretty good basketball player.” Pinsoneault scored 16 points in her GSL debut. Tara Cronin and Jenna Sayman also scored in double figures.

The Bullpups roared to a 19-2 first-quarter lead and led 57-15 after three quarters.

University 77, North Central 38: Last year’s 1-2 scoring punch of Angie Bjorklund and Dara Zack took up where they left off, combining for 40 points for the Titans. A fully healthy Riki Schiermeister pitched in with 18 more and Leah Archibald was also in double figures as the Titans cruised.

U-Hi scored 38 first-half points and 39 in the second half.