Gonzaga Prep pulls out another OT win

A little of the karma from Gonzaga Prep’s charmed football season spilled over Friday onto the basketball court where the Bullpups won their second overtime Greater Spokane League boys game this week, 66-53 over visiting Central Valley.

Twice they overcame second-half, double-digit deficits to ultimately force the extra period.

“There are some games you probably shouldn’t win,” said relieved Bullpups coach Mike Haugen, “but you do.”

For a while the contest might have been a game show title – “Whose Gym is it Anyway?” G-Prep (11-5) shot anemically, less than 25 percent, on its court and was forced to play catchup from nearly the outset.

CV (7-10) led by as many as 10 points in a first half that emphasized smothering defense by both teams. But the Bears controlled rebounding and Chris Burdick scored nine points inside to fuel the double-figures advantage.

The lead stretched to 31-18 on a pair of Kevin Cameron baskets early in the third quarter.

Then Bullpups heroes began to emerge. Beau Azadganian, who had but a single first-half field goal, caught fire. He unleashed a rapid-fire, 14-point scoring barrage that wiped out most of the Bears’ lead.

The score was deadlocked at 37 at the end of the quarter, but the first half of the final quarter was all CV, which rebuilt a 10-point lead, 49-39. Nick Ambrose scored 10 points of the Bears’ 12 points, eight of them in a row, and most a by-product of Cameron’s penetration and dishing.

But then surfaced G-Prep hero No. 2, Kevin Kunz. He had tied the game with a 3-pointer to end the third quarter and banged home two more back-to-back following three missed Bears layins. That knotted the score at 49 with 1 minute, 40 seconds remaining.

“I just like to step up when it’s needed and I felt the team needed it at that moment,” he said of the baseline 3s on each side of the goal.

CV responded with 1:11 left to make it 51-49, Cameron assisting on a Burdick basket that gave him 15 points in the game.

Then came hero Bullpups No. 3, Michael Stockton. Scoreless in the second half to that point, he somehow connected on the game-tying shot with 23 seconds left to force overtime. Well defended, he twisted to his left as if stealthily peering around a doorway and banked in the basket from 12 feet on the left side. CV never got a good look at a winner.

“I thought we had great defensive possessions when we finally started putting baskets in,” said Haugen.

Like Tuesday’s win over Shadle, G-Prep took the overtime offensive right away. Azadganian, who had 21 second-half points, made a 3-pointer.

Cameron cut the lead to 54-53, but Stockton scored twice, the first a coast-to-coast layin after a defensive rebound, the second following a turnover. Free throws finished it off.

For CV, missed layins in both the third quarter and in the game’s final 2:22 proved costly.

Ferris 80, North Central 46: The Saxons (16-0) outscored the visiting Indians (4-11) 28-12 in the third quarter to break open the game. The win secured their third straight GSL title. All 12 Ferris players scored, five of them in double figures.

Shadle Park 62, Lewis and Clark 47: It took a second-half comeback, including a 22-12 fourth-quarter scoring advantage, for the Highlanders (12-4) to get past the Tigers (5-11) at LC. Trailing by a basket at intermission, Shadle got untracked with 41 second-half points to create a second-place GSL tie. Zack Humphrey scored a game-high 26 points, 21 of them in the second half, including 14 of the team’s 19 in the third quarter.

Mt. Spokane 69, University 54: The host Wildcats (7-8) put on a sparkling shooting performance to turn back the Titans (5-11) and move into fifth place in the GSL. They were 24 for 39 (62 percent) from the field. Connor Haley reached double figures for the first time, a career-high 19.

Rogers 77, East Valley 65: The Pirates (6-11) won for the second time this week in The Gauntlet spirit game at EV (2-12). Andrew Durant scored a career-high 24 points as one of four Rogers players in double figures. EV’s Josh Peck had 20.