Boys basketball: Highlanders rout Bullpups

Confidence is rising at Shadle Park.

The Highlanders rolled through Gonzaga Prep’s best efforts to come back from a sizable deficit Tuesday night en route to a dominating 48-31 home victory in a Greater Spokane League boys basketball game.

Shadle Park has won five of its last six games and improved to 8-2. G-Prep lost its second consecutive game and fell to 5-4.

The Highlanders reeled off 10 straight points to end the first half with a 24-13 advantage. G-Prep finally got its offense untracked in the third quarter and appeared it could climb into contention, but Shadle Park suffocated the Bullpups in the final quarter – holding them scoreless for six minutes – while racing away for the win.

“We always say it’s right here in your chest,” said Shadle Park point guard Leo Avila, his left hand placed over his heart. “We’re never scared when teams come at us like that.”

Zack Humphrey led all scorers with 15 points and three 3-pointers. Avila complemented his teammate’s performance with 11 points.

Avila’s layin ignited the Highlanders’ game-changing run to cap the first half. Humphrey sandwiched a pretty pull-up jumper with two of his 3-pointers to give his team an 11-point cushion at intermission.

“Coach (Tim Gaebe) tells me I have a green light, that any time I have a good shot I should take it,” Humphrey said. “Most of our big guys set big screens for me. If I’m open, I take it.”

Travis Long played inspired basketball inside to lead G-Prep with 12 points. Beau Azadganian added 10.

Mead 53, Central Valley 40: Ben Loewen and Brendan Ingebritsen scored 14 points apiece as the Panthers handled the host Bears.

Lucas Ashe chipped in with 12 points for Mead (8-2).

J.C. Agen scored 10 points and grabbed eight rebounds to lead Central Valley (4-6).

East Valley 59, Mt. Spokane 55: Emerson Fulton scored 24 points and Tanner Hamilton chipped in with 14 as the Knights slid past the Wildcats.

East Valley (2-8) outscored Mt. Spokane 18-9 in the third quarter to take an eight-point lead into the fourth.

Kyle Redmon scored 16 points to lead the Wildcats (5-4).

North Central 62, Rogers 47: Justin Anderson scored 22 points and collected 14 rebounds as the Indians (3-7) topped the visiting Pirates (3-7).

Josh Taylor scored 19 points to lead the Pirates.

Great Northern League

Colton Curtis scored 12 points and David Ramacus added 11 as Medical Lake beat visiting Cheney 36-32. Gardner Torrence added eight rebounds, seven assists and five points for the Cardinals (4-3, 1-0). Griffon Jones scored 12 points to lead Cheney (2-5, 0-2).

Whitman County League

Justin Taylor scored 19 points, guiding St. John-Endicott (4-5, 3-0) to a 75-62 win over Garfield-Palouse (5-2, 2-1) in St. John. … Elsewhere, Thomas Jacobs scored 20 points as Colton (4-5, 1-2) topped visiting Sprague-Harrington (3-6, 0-3) 59-50.

Caribou Trail League

Kyle Jim scored 31 points, leading Lake Roosevelt to a 91-60 win over host Omak.

Non-league

Derek Gianukakis and Cody Groth combined for 55 points as Republic took care of Team Australia 77-67. Gianukakis finished with a game-high 33 points and pulled down 13 rebounds for the Tigers (10-1). … Kevin McNeil scored a game-high 37 points, leading Deer Park to a 70-53 win over visiting Newport (1-8). The Stags (3-4) took control of the game after outscoring the Grizzlies 27-13 in the third quarter.