Girls basketball: Bishop leads Shadle to victory

Lexi Bishop doesn’t have enough fingers and toes to keep track of all the times she’s played against Gonzaga Prep’s Tara Cronin.

If Tuesday night was any indication, Bishop doesn’t think the challenge is getting old.

In a girls basketball game matching up two of the Greater Spokane League’s elite senior guards, it was Bishop who led host Shadle Park to a 55-52 victory over her long-time rival and the Bullpups.

Bishop scored a game-high 21 points to pace the Highlanders, who withstood Gonzaga Prep’s two last-second jumpers to notch the victory and improve to 6-4 in the GSL. The Bullpups slipped to 5-4.

“I think Tara’s got more of an inside game,” Bishop said, noting the two also have played club ball together during the summer. “Me, I’m more of an outside player. We’ve played (against each other) since we were little, and I think we know each other’s weaknesses.”

As proficient as Bishop was on the offensive end, it was her stifling defense on Cronin that sparked Shadle Park to a 31-18 halftime lead. Cronin didn’t register a point until four minutes after halftime and was largely ineffective until she ripped off all of her 10 points over the next four minutes to pull G-Prep within 46-42 at the end of the third quarter.

The Bullpups flirted with taking the lead in the last eight minutes, but never managed to seize it away. They closed within 51-50 on Elise Kuhar-Pitters’ free throw and 52-51 on Mariah Knopp’s 15-foot jumper, but the Highlanders preserved their lead and the win with Sara Nichols’ two free throws with 2:06 left.

Lexie Petterson gave the Highlanders an active presence inside and finished with 14 points.

Kuhar-Pitters led G-Prep with 12 points, and Knopp and Molly Anderson matched Cronin with 10.

Mead 64, Central Valley 42: Alysha Green scored 14 points and Kami Clark added 11 as the visiting Panthers (8-2) cruised to an easy victory over the Bears (3-7).

Justine Bowman tallied 15 points for Central Valley.

The game was essentially over by halftime as Mead built a 41-12 lead.

Mt. Spokane 46, East Valley 44: Korina Baker scored 16 points, including four 3-pointers, as the Wildcats (2-7) edged the host Knights (4-6).

Mt. Spokane’s layin with 5 seconds remaining gave the Wildcats a two-point lead and the win.

Kelsi Jacobson scored 12 points to lead East Valley.

Rogers 38, North Central 35: Denisha Whitehead’s 3-pointer late in the fourth quarter broke a 35-35 tie and gave the Pirates (2-8) a win over the host Indians (0-10).

Alicia Kahler scored a team-high 10 points for North Central.

Great Northern League

Kyle Miller scored 24 points, leading Cheney (5-3, 1-1) to a 46-43 win over host Medical Lake. Richelle Daily had 23 points, eight rebounds and eight assists to lead the Cardinals (3-4, 0-1).

Whitman County League

Ellen Miller scored 23 points as St. John-Endicott (6-4, 2-1) beat Garfield-Palouse (5-3, 0-3) 61-48 in St. John. … Alisa Moehrle scored 21 points and Sammie Druffel added 18 as Colton (10-1, 3-0) edged visiting Sprague-Harrington (8-1, 2-1) 67-66 in double overtime. Roni Jo Mielke scored 40 points for the Falcons.

Non-league

Alicia Smith scored 30 points, leading Newport (4-5) to a 56-35 win over host Deer Park (2-5). … Marianne Raynor scored 13 points, leading St. Michael’s (5-4) to a 45-32 win over host Christian Heritage.