First-place CV boys earn 10th straight win

Shadle Park boys basketball coach Tim Gaebe isn’t sure how to stop Central Valley.

Not that it’s a mystery, but Gaebe’s team was the last to do so, in late December.

The visiting Bears, using stingy defense and passing the ball well on offense, posted their 10th straight win, pulling away from the Highlanders 69-52 in Greater Spokane League action Tuesday.

“They play good team defense,” Gaebe said. “They have a lot of guys who can do a lot of different things.”

The league-leading Bears (13-3 overall, 12-2 league) aren’t flashy but are quite efficient.

“It’s a lunch-pail group,” CV coach Rick Sloan said. “That’s how they practice. They’re fun to coach in practice because they work hard and it’s fun to watch in the games. I love the team. I love coaching a team that’s unselfish.”

The teams played evenly in the first half. A 3-pointer with 4 seconds to go before halftime by Kyle Knutsen gave Shadle (9-8, 7-8) a 29-28 lead.

The second half belonged to the Bears, who outscored the Highlanders 41-23.

Eight Bears scored six or more points and four finished with nine or more. Leading the way was senior post Anthony Brommer, who had 15 to go with seven rebounds.

“Basically our defense kept going at them and we tired them out,” Brommer said. “We knew we just had to keep running the ball in transition and the shots would fall.”

CV made 16 of 26 shots from the field in the second half.

A basket by Beau Byus off a pass from Adam Chamberlain with 15 seconds remaining in the third quarter extended CV’s lead to 48-38.

A steal by Danny Nimri followed by an assist in transition put CV up 50-38 seconds into the fourth, and the Bears were off and running.

“We knew coming into the season we’d be a hard team to beat,” Brommer said. “The question was whether we could put it all together soon enough.”

No other CV player was in double-figure scoring but Chamberlain, Nimri and Austin Rehkow had nine apiece.

“We’ve got a lot of interchangeable parts, guys who don’t care who gets the points,” Sloan said.

Brett Boese led Shadle with 20 points and four rebounds.

“We’re going to bounce back,” Gaebe said. “We just have not played our best basketball yet. I really do think that we’re going to find it.”

University 43, Ferris 34: The Titans (14-3, 11-3) remained in second place, holding off the visiting Saxons (11-5, 9-5) in a physical, defensive battle.

Brett Bailey led U-Hi with 19 points, nine rebounds, three blocked shots and two steals, while Zech Martin had 15 points, 12 rebounds, two blocked shots and two steals.

U-Hi limited the Saxons to three points in the fourth quarter.

Gonzaga Prep 70, Rogers 52: Big first (20-8) and third quarters (23-12) by the Bullpups (10-6, 10-4) put away the visiting Pirates (5-10, 4-10).

TJ Bracey had 11 assists for G-Prep. Ryan Gregory led with 18 points and five rebounds while Reed Hopkins had 11 points and Sam Dowd chipped in 10. Amaujae Daniels led Rogers with 18 points.

Mead 60, North Central 44: Gunnar Kayser had a career-high 27 points to lead the Panthers (4-12, 4-10) over the visiting Indians (3-13, 3-11).

Kayser scored 22 points in the second and third quarters. He also had eight rebounds. Walker Pettis added 10 points and Andy Wetzel had eight assists.

Jamil Foster led NC with 22 points.

Lewis and Clark 64, Mt. Spokane 39: The Tigers (11-6, 9-6) outscored the visiting Wildcats (3-13, 2-12) 23-2 in the decisive third quarter.

Matt Dovall led LC with 17 points and Austin Damon had 15, nine coming in the third. He also finished with 11 rebounds.