Bears burst past University for Sneaky win

Central Valley beat rival University at its own game to win 64-46 Thursday in their Greater Spokane League boys basketball rivalry.

The Bears got the best of transition basketball on Stinky Sneaker night, solving an early case of tight rims by scoring at will with a sizzling fast break in front of a noisy crowd of 4,176 fans.

“Not much was going right early,” said CV coach Rick Sloan of a game that saw his team crawl to a 7-5 first-quarter lead. “But we did a good job of making stops until we got going.”

The victory bumped CV (5-8) into sixth place in the league and left the Titans (4-9) in a four-team group behind them.

CV also was awarded the Stinky Sneaker trophy at the end of the girls-boys doubleheader.

The Bears struggled to a 7-2 lead, surviving misses and turnovers thanks to determined rebounding by Chris Burdick.

After U-Hi’s main weapon, Mason Johnson, hit a 3-pointer to cut the deficit to a basket, CV scored nine straight points in the first 2 minutes of the second quarter to move up 16-5.

The Titans got no closer than seven points after that. In the up-tempo third quarter, the Bears increased the lead to as many as 20, forcing turnovers and getting fast-break points from a variety of sources.

But they got the same steady rebounding by Burdick, who finished the night with 12.

“It’s something I’m trying to work on,” said the senior, playing in his fourth game since sitting out five with a knee injury. “I’m a smaller post and have to be aggressive.”

Six CV players approached double figures and contributed on the boards as well. Nick Ambrose had three second-quarter baskets to jump-start the offense and finished with 17 points. Williams Davis added 10, hitting a late second-quarter 3-pointer and scoring five more points in the third quarter when the team pulled away.

“This gets us going in the right direction,” Burdick said. “We’d lost three straight and have to get rolling.”

Johnson provided most of the offense for the Titans, scoring 17 of his game-high 20 points in the second half.

Ferris 79, Rogers 48: Scotty Livengood scored 18 points and moved into fourth place among GSL career scorers with 968. But his Pirates (4-9) were no match for the visiting Saxons (13-0). Erick Cheadle and Jared Karstetter each had 19 points and Ferris outscored Rogers 23-8 in the third quarter. Livengood passed CV’s Derek Taylor among GSL scores and is 22 points from catching Shadle Park’s Brett Weisner for third.

Shadle Park 59, Mt. Spokane 41: The host Highlanders (10-2) reversed the outcome of their previous meeting with the Wildcats (6-6). The teams were tied after a quarter, but Shadle pulled away to remain second in the GSL. Nick Gaebe made four 3-pointers to join leading scorers Aaron Dunn and Zack Humphrey (13 points apiece) in double figures. Kyle Redmon scored 15 for Mt. Spokane.

Mead 61, East Valley 48: After a quick getaway, the Panthers (10-3) found themselves trailing the host Knights (2-9) at halftime. But with Brendan Ingebritsen scoring 26 points and Lucas Ashe 18, Mead clicked throughout the second half. Tanner Hamilton (14 points) and Cole Abramson (11) led EV.

Gonzaga Prep 77, North Central 47: Michael Stockton made 6 of 7 3-pointers to ignite the Bullpups (7-5). The visitors jumped to a 21-7 lead against the Indians (4-8). Beau Azadganian and Travis Long also were in double figures as G-Prep moved into fourth place.