Shorewood Christian recovers from slow start, gets past Curlew in 1B boys quarterfinals
Maybe it was the 9 p.m. tipoff, or maybe it was the unfamiliar opponent.
Whatever it was, the Shorewood Christian Lions struggled early, woke up in the second quarter, found their offense, and cruised to a 75-61 victory over the Curlew Cougars in a 1B boys matchup at the Spokane Arena.
Shorewood Christian advances to the semifinals, where it will face Neah Bay. Curlew is now in the consolation bracket, where it will take on Pomeroy.
The Lions were on the ropes early and trailed the Cougars 20-10 after the first quarter. The Lions had a hard time containing Curlew’s Coby Grumbach, a 6-foot-3 forward.
The Lions also had trouble breaking through Curlew’s full court press, which resulted in a number of first quarter turnovers. Curlew’s defense also limited Shorewood Christian to low percentage shot attempts.
“It’s typical of us, honestly,” Shorewood Christian head coach Alfonso Gonzalez said. “We have slow starts all the time and once we pick it up, we’re good.”
Something clicked once the second quarter began, and the Lions used a 10-0 run midway through the quarter to get back into the game. Sophomore Jovi Fevaleaki hit two 3-pointers on consecutive possessions to jumpstart the Lion run.
The Lions outscored the Cougars 17-6 in the second quarter to take a 27-26 lead into halftime.
“Once we picked it up, started rebounding and made some layups, that became our basketball game,” Gonzales said.
Fevaleaki led the way for the Lions, finishing with 26 points. J.J. Young finished with 15 points, while Stan Domingo chipped in 14. Young also grabbed 10 rebounds.
Grumbach led the way for Curlew with 23 points.
After the intermission, the Lions picked up right where they left off and extended their lead, taking control and breaking through the Curlew press, which allowed for a number of fast break baskets.
The Lions opened the second half on a 14-2 run. The quick pace at which the Lions scored provided for a 31-point output in the third quarter alone. The Shorewood Christian defense figured out how to contain Grumbach and held the Cougars to just five points in the third quarter.
After shooting just 35 percent in the first half, the Lions made 64 percent of their shots in the second half.
Curlew made just 38 percent of its shots for the game and made just one 3-pointer out of 15 attempts.
The Lions put it in cruise control in the fourth quarter on their way to the victory.