University buries Lake City with hot shooting

If the University boys basketball team shoots all year like it did Saturday afternoon in a season opener, it will not only confirm the preseason pick as Greater Spokane League favorite but may not be challenged.

University shot well from the opening tip, especially from long range, as the Titans handled the Lake City Timberwolves 74-45 in the Coaches vs. Cancer Tipoff Classic at Gonzaga Prep.

The Titans zipped to an 11-0 lead, and a 3-pointer from Brett Bailey increased the lead to 18-1 late in the first quarter. Moments before halftime, U-Hi enjoyed its biggest lead of the first half at 43-20.

U-Hi made 17 of 32 shots in the first half, 8 of 14 from 3-point range. The Titans finished 29 of 56 overall and 13 of 21 from behind the arc.

The Titans found a new fan.

“They had us backtracking from the start,” LC coach Jim Winger said. “We probably should have pressured up a little more, but I don’t think it probably would have mattered. They’re a fabulous team. The things they do fit them perfectly. They play good defense. I thought they were much more physical than I thought they’d be. I have absolutely nothing but praise about them. That’s as good a team as I’ve seen in a while.”

U-Hi coach Garrick Phillips, whose team returned four starters and a handful of reserves, thought his team was ready for its opener before tipoff.

“These guys are really, really hungry,” Phillips said. “They’ve been waiting a long time and working really, really hard.”

Junior wing Bailey scored eight of his team-high 17 points in the first quarter. In the second, senior guard Jared Miller made three of his four 3-pointers. He finished with 12 points.

Senior Zech Martin had a team-high six rebounds and senior Cojo Smith had five.

Sophomore post Kyle Guice led LC with 19 points, eight rebounds and three blocked shots.

LC (3-1) had more stretches of competitiveness in the second half, but the T-Wolves were in too deep of a hole to climb out.

“It hasn’t happened a lot, but sometimes in this business you just get your butt kicked and we got our butt kicked,” Winger said. “We came in 3-0 and playing really well and beat a couple of good teams. But the thing I was disappointed in is we were really nervous, very uptight. Throw that in with the way they played and it was too much. I’m not walking out of here with my head down. They played absolutely fabulous. We’re young and that was probably good for us in the long run.”

Phillips expects his team to shoot well.

“That wasn’t out of the ordinary,” Phillips said. “Those guys who are making shots can really shoot it. If we can continue to do that we’ll put a lot of points on the board.”

West Valley 54, North Central 39: The Eagles (2-0) opened the game up in the second half and cruised past the Indians (0-2). West Valley extended its three-point halftime lead in the third quarter, outscoring North Central 19-11. Jake Love scored 11 of his 22 points in the third to guide West Valley, which forced the Indians into 18 turnovers. Chase McDuffie had 12 points for NC.

Rainier Beach 68, Gonzaga Prep 49: The Bullpups fell behind early and couldn’t recover in a loss to the Vikings. T.J. Bracey had 15 points and Ryan Gregory and Mac Johnson added nine apiece for Gonzaga Prep, which fell to 0-2 on the season.