Upsets aplenty in GSL district playoffs

It was a night for the unexpected when favorites fell like duckpins during the first round of the District 8 4A basketball playoffs.

Only one higher seeded team, Mead’s girls, survived with their easy 62-38 victory that eliminated Gonzaga Prep. Otherwise, the upstarts prevailed

Central Valley’s boys and girls, both seeded fifth, advanced to Thursday with the boys winning 61-57 at Mead and the girls posting a 55-51 win at University.

The night’s biggest shocker came at Gonzaga Prep where sixth-seeded U-Hi ousted third-place G-Prep 53-51.

Boys

CV 61, Mead 57: Visiting teams in the past may have found it difficult to shoot well in Mead’s gym, but not the Bears, who came in having lost six of their last seven games. As a result, they prevailed in a wild game.

The Bears (11-11) made five first-half 3-pointers for a 30-28 lead, offsetting their foul troubles that sent the Panthers (10-11) to the line 17 times, where they made 12.

William Davis swished three 3-pointers and had 14 points for the Bears by intermission.

“We came in a bit early and I shot a lot of 3s,” Davis said. “I got used to it and the ball was going in.”

In the second half, the Bears were efficient at the free-throw line making 15 of 20 before a late-game glitch, while the Panthers missed their last six free throws and were 9 for 20 in the second half.

Davis was 6 of 7 as he put the finishing touches on a 26-point night.

CV took a 46-37 lead in the fourth quarter, but gave most of it up in less than a minute and led just 59-57 with 20 seconds left.

Alex Howard tipped out the last of four straight free-throw misses to Davis, who clinched the win with 6 seconds remaining.

Travis Monahan sparked Mead early in the game for a 27-22 lead. He finished with 16 points.

Brendan Ingebritsen, who was saddled to the bench with fouls for 4 minutes in the third quarter, tore off nine of his 17 to wipe out CV’s nine-point lead.

But the Bears hung together for the victory.

“Early in the year as a team they accepted their roles,” said CV coach Rick Sloan. “But then we got away from that. Tonight they started playing better.”

A victory in a thriller was the result.

University 53, Gonzaga Prep 51: The Titans (9-12) defeated the turnover-plagued Bullpups (14-7) with a 24-12 first-quarter start and overcame G-Prep’s rally for a fourth-quarter lead. Mason Johnson scored the winning basket with 4 seconds left. Ryan Dixon had a big game inside, making 9 of 16 shots for 18 points.

Girls

Mead 62, Gonzaga Prep 38: Basketball outcomes often are a case of how teams match up. The Bullpups (9-12) were mismatched against the Panthers’ (17-4) size.

“It’s not a good matchup for us, and it’s been the way all year,” said G-Prep coach Mike Arte. “We did a better job on (Jazmine) Redmon, but we still couldn’t handle them inside.”

Alexis Olgard’s 6-foot-5 presence proved intimidating and 6-2 Tifa Puletasi came off the bench to score eight points in a little more than 1 minute, 30 seconds for a 23-2 first-quarter lead. That, in essence was the game.

Puletasi scored a dozen points as did 6-foot Kristina Puthoff, and 6-2 Madeline Heider added 11. G-Prep’s quick, but shorter lineup had no answer.

“We didn’t like what happened Saturday (a 20-point loss to LC),” said Mead coach Regan Drew. “We knew there were things we needed to do better and came out and did them.”

Good passing to open shooters was one of them.

Next up are Shadle’s Highlanders, who beat Mead twice this year.

Central Valley 55, University 51: The Bears (12-9) hadn’t beaten U-Hi (14-7) since 2004, but the third-quarter combination of Justin Bowman and Brittany Catron changed that. They scored 13 of the period’s 14 points, giving them a 42-31 lead that held up.

The pair totaled 36 of CV’s 55 points. Bowman scored 19 and Catron added 17.

U-Hi’s Kasey Jurich had 13 of her 18 in the final-period rally, but it wasn’t enough. U-Hi’s Chenise Pakootas hit three 3-pointers en route to 15 points.