CV girls too much for Mead, 57-42

It’s much too early for the Central Valley girls basketball team to be a finished product.

If the defending state champion and No. 1-ranked Bears have their way, they have another 25 games to go.

CV is more than playing well enough, though, as evidenced by its 57-42 win over the Mead Panthers in a Greater Spokane League game Friday at Mead.

Bears coach Freddie Rehkow knows it’s too early to be expecting anything remotely close to what he desires.

“When we moved the ball we did well,” Rehkow said. “We had some good shots but they weren’t all falling. I told the girls we keep hearing that we’re supposed to roll people. We have to understand that a 15-point win is good. These closer games are going to make us better.”

CV standout Lacie Hull agreed.

“I think everyone is going to give us their best shot,” Hull said of Mead. “We just have to stay together and keep playing defense and our hardest.”

CV (3-0 overall and league) extended its winning streak, dating back to an undefeated season a year ago, to 31.

The Bears penetrated Mead’s 2-3 zone often in the first half, finishing with 10 assists while taking advantage of 15 turnovers by the Panthers in the first two quarters.

CV used a 9-0 surge that spilled over from the first quarter to open a 23-11 lead. A 3-pointer from Courtney Carolan and two free throws from Lexie Hull gave the Bears a 36-19 lead at halftime.

Mead (3-2, 1-2) played much better in the second half.

A 3-pointer from Aaliyah Pauling pulled Mead within 41-32 with 2:29 to go in the third.

Lacie Hull made a 3-pointer with four seconds to go to give CV a 46-34 lead going into the final quarter.

Again, Mead clawed back, cutting CV’s lead to 48-39 when Pauling completed a conventional three-point play with 4:26 remaining. But the Bears finished strong, using a 9-1 run to extend their lead to 57-40.

The Hull twins – who gave Stanford oral commitments in late October – did their usual job filling up the basket among other things. Lexie scored a game-high 23 points to go with five rebounds and three steals and Lacie added 11 points, 10 rebounds, four assists and four steals.

Pauling led Mead with 19 points and five rebounds.

Rehkow praised his team for its late-game finish.

“We answered their run at the end to say ‘we respect you but now we’ve got to do our job’,” he said. “I thought Mead played extremely hard. They shot the ball well.”

Gonzaga Prep 57, North Central 36: Freshman Olivia Mayer scored 19 points and grabbed 11 rebounds to lead the Bullpups (3-1, 3-0) past the visiting Indians (0-4, 0-3). Mia Scelfo added 19 points for the Bullpups. Sunny Ellenwood led NC with 11.

Lewis and Clark 64, Rogers 23: Dominique Arquette scored a team-high 13 points as all 11 Tigers (3-3, 2-1) scored against the visiting Pirates (1-3, 0-3).

Mt. Spokane 49, University 48: The visiting Wildcats (3-0, 3-0) needed all of a 13-point lead to stand up to thwart the Titans’ (3-2, 2-1) late rally. Aspyn Adams led Mt. Spokane with 20 points and Claire Dingus’ 14 was high for U-Hi.