Perfect go-round for LC

Lewis and Clark aced its final test of the first round of Greater Spokane League girls basketball.

The Tigers – with a boost from two juniors, 5-foot-11 Jeneva Anderson and 6-1 Sarah Kliewer – defeated visiting Shadle Park 53-40 for a first-round sweep of their expected challengers.

Kliewer scored 11 of her 13 points in the first half. Anderson scored the first three baskets of LC’s third quarter for a 30-26 lead.

When big things were needed, the Tigers (8-0) could always count on point guard Brittany Kennedy, whose 3-pointer following a rebound extended the lead to 36-26 with less than two minutes to play in the third quarter.

“Shadle is so sound,” said LC coach Jim Redmon. “They’ve always been extremely tough to score against, they do so well with help defense, and we’ve always had battles with them.”

It was certainly the case in this game where just two points separated the teams with about 13 minutes left to play.

The Highlanders had done a good job of staying patient against LC’s full-court pressure, deftly passing their way upcourt and leading 10-9 after a quarter on the seven-point effort of GSL scoring leader Lexie Pettersen.

Pettersen, however, didn’t get another shot in the half and didn’t score again until 2:05 remained in the game, to end with 12 points.

LC had two scoring runs, 13-4 in the second period to lead 22-14, and 18-7 to go up 46-33 midway through the fourth quarter. During the latter, the Highlanders didn’t take particularly good care of the ball in their end of the court and didn’t shoot well.

“The reality is, their press bothered us a little bit, in the third quarter particularly,” said Shadle coach Chad Dezellem. “They made us rush and when you rush your shooting percentage goes down.”

Ahead 16-14 in the second quarter, LC parlayed two turnovers into 3-pointers 17 seconds apart, by Kliewer and Kiki January, for an eight-point lead. Shadle (5-2) moved back to within a basket by intermission as Lindsay Niemeier hit a 3-pointer and Amanda Carlton swished another on a desperation attempt from the top of the key with 1 second left on the shot clock.

LC, however, outscored the visitors 29-18 in the second half.

“We calmed down and took better shots,” said Redmon. “Our hope is with our depth, we’re just going to keep going at them. I don’t know if that was the difference or not, but I think they kind of got tired.”

First it was Anderson and her soft touch around the basket. Then it was Kennedy who scored following a turnover, rebounded a missed free throw and hit her decisive 3-pointer.

“We’re not that far away,” said Dezellem. “For the most part we defended well, but kids who normally score for us didn’t. LC’s a good team and what we didn’t do well, they kind of created that.”

Kliewer led all scoring and pulled down 14 rebounds. Anderson and Kennedy had 19 points between them and Kennedy also had 10 rebounds.

“I thought there was some really good interior passing that made some things happen,” said Redmon.

Central Valley 73, Gonzaga Prep 41: The Bears (7-1) bounced back from Tuesday’s loss at LC in a big way. Four CV players finished in double figures against the host Bullpups (2-5). Justine Bowman scored 18 and Lindsey Gigler eight of her 12 in the second half.

University 65, Mt. Spokane 49: The visiting Titans (5-3) also had four double-figure scorers and were 16 for 23 from the free-throw line to top the Wildcats (3-4). Riki Schiermeister scored 17 for U-Hi.

East Valley 65, Rogers 39: In a game between winless teams, the host Knights (1-6) got 28 points from Kelsi Jacobson and two other double-figure efforts to best the Pirates (0-7).

Ferris 42, North Central 41: The Saxons (2-5) rallied from an eight-point first quarter deficit to outscore the host Indians (1-6) 17-8 in the third period for a basket lead and hung on. Saxons Nicole Barber and Amber Quann each scored 12.