GSL girls basketball: Bullpups’ presence too much for Bears

In a matchup between the girls basketball teams picked to finish 1-2 in the Greater Spokane League, it was a classic mismatch.

Defending State 4A champ Gonzaga Prep used its experience to suffocate the young Central Valley Bears early, and the visiting Bullpups didn’t let up in a 72-53 whitewash Tuesday.

Granted the Bears will improve much by season’s end. But here’s the scary thing – so can the Bullpups.

And here was Gonzaga Prep coach Mike Arte concerned about his team’s first four games. The record will reflect the Bullpups have used a 4-0 start to extend their winning streak to 27.

G-Prep (4-0, 2-0 GSL) opened the season a week ago with a similarly impressive runaway win over Lewis and Clark. Then the Bullpups dispatched two highly-touted Oregon teams over the weekend at The Fitz tournament.

Senior point guard Laura Stockton led the Bullpups with a game-high 23 points, seven rebounds, six assists and two steals Tuesday. Senior post Otiona Gildon worked through foul difficulties to finish with 18 points and eight rebounds, and Oona Harrington made 6 of 8 shots from the field to score 14 points. Tayler Drynan added five assists.

“I’d say we’re better than last year,” Stockton said. “But when it comes to the rest of the games, we have to play our best in order to get there and say we’re the champions. It’s not going to be handed to us. The teams we’ve played so far could definitely beat us if we don’t play at our best.”

Arte didn’t want any part of a conversation about delivering the GSL title trophy early to the school on Euclid.

“It’s the Greater Spokane League, come on,” Arte said.

For the opening quarter, it didn’t look like the GSL. It was completely lopsided as G-Prep shot out to a 20-4 lead.

CV (1-1, 1-1) managed to get the lead under double digits twice in the second quarter before the Bullpups finished the half on a 9-1 surge for a 33-17 lead.

G-Prep pushed the lead to 20 points late in the third. A three-point play by Courtney Carolan pulled CV within 59-49 with 3:45 to go, but that’s as close as the Bears would get.

Madison Hovren led CV with 17 points and eight rebounds.

University 64, Ferris 55: Emma Kennedy did a little bit of everything for the Titans (2-0, 2-0) against the visiting Saxons (1-1, 1-1). Kennedy finished with 13 points, eight rebounds and eight assists. Teammate Brooke Bailey had a team-high 17 points and Kaitlin Pannell had 12 points and 10 rebounds. Bria Bowton led Ferris with 21 points, six rebounds and four steals.

Mead 57, North Central 48: The visiting Panthers (3-1, 2-0) rolled to a 32-15 lead by halftime and cruised past the Indians (0-4, 0-2). Sue Winger led Mead with 17 points and Bailey Bordelon added 13. Megan Dean led the Indians with 16 and Hailey Leeking scored 10.

Mt. Spokane 57, Rogers 43: The visiting Wildcats (1-1, 1-1) overcame a 27-19 deficit to knock off the Pirates (0-3, 0-2). Ari Newcomb led Mt. Spokane with 17 points. Talia Felice led Rogers with 15.

Lewis and Clark 55, Shadle Park 33: Riley Lupfer had 18 points, eight assists and six rebounds to lead the Tigers (1-1, 1-1) past the visiting Highlanders (0-4, 0-2). Brooklyn Howlett led LC with 13 rebounds, 11 offensive.