Top-ranked Whitworth turns to big scorers to sink Puget Sound

The Puget Sound Loggers tried to shoot their way to an upset Saturday night, but No. 1 Whitworth again turned to its big three scorers for an 87-68 victory.

The Loggers made a game of it for a while in the first half, but a steady dose of George Valle, Kenny Love and Christian Jurlina kept the Pirates (17-0, 7-0 Northwest Conference) perfect on the season.

“UPS is a dangerous team because they shoot so many 3-pointers,” Whitworth coach Matt Logie said. “That puts a lot of pressure on your defense. But I thought our guys did a good job of contesting shots.”

Puget Sound (9-8, 4-4) fired 31 shots from behind the arc and hit 12. Kohl Meyer led the Loggers with 24 points and three others scored in double figures.

But Valle scored 23 points, Love had 21 and Jurlina had 20 as the Pirates never really let the Loggers get close in the second half.

Those three “really are in a nice rhythm right now,” Logie said. “We have a team that makes that happen, but those three are playing exceptionally well.”

Whitworth opened with a couple of misses before Matt Staudacher got a steal and found Love for a layup.

Valle scored on an inbounds play, but Puget Sound’s Meyer responded with a 3-pointer and both teams then traded blows for most of the first half.

The Loggers trailed 22-20 after Carlos Mancasola drained another long-range shot. Later, Meyer hit a layup to get UPS within three points, but the Pirates outscored the Loggers 9-3 to head to the break with a 41-33 lead.

Love said the coaches warned the players about the Loggers’ outside shooting.

“If you don’t keep track of them, they can really hurt you,” Love said.

Love opened the second half with a 3-pointer. Jurlina hit a jumper and center Drew Sears followed that with a monster dunk. Love then dribbled into traffic, got to the rim and was fouled.

He got open and hit a long-range 3-pointer to give Whitworth a 51-35 lead.

“Kenny had a great game,” Logie said. “He’s just so difficult to defend because he can penetrate, he has the midrange shot and he can pass.”

Valle said guys like Staudacher, Derek Isaak, Sears, and Forest Baker work hard to keep the defenders honest.

“At one point in every game, one of us finds our grove,” Valle said. “The team does a good job of letting him be aggressive and getting him the ball.”

Whitworth shot 55.8 percent from the floor, including 9 of 17 from the 3-point arc. The Loggers shot 40 percent from the floor.

“It’s always nice to get two wins in a weekend,” Valle said. “We ended our first half of the conference season undefeated. It feels good for sure.”

Women

Whitworth caught a hot-shooting Puget Sound team that kept hitting daggers to ice an 87-69 Loggers win.

Whitworth’s KC McConnell led all scorers with 29 points and Faith Emerson had 17, but they could not stop the Loggers (11-6, 6-2 NWC).

UPS got 17 first-half points from Elizabeth Prewitt, who averages 4.3 a game, and 24 points from Emily Sheldon. Prewitt finished with 19 and seven rebounds while Alex Noren notched 11 points and 10 rebounds.

“I don’t think we defended well,” Whitworth coach Helen Higgs said. “Especially on your home court, you’ve got to take care of business. We couldn’t get stops when we needed them.”

Puget Sound shot 55.6 from the floor, including 7 of 14 from the 3-point arc. Whitworth shot only 36.8 percent and made only 4 of 20 from 3-point range.

“KC had a good game. She showed a lot of fight and a lot of grit,” Higgs said.

Whitworth was without Faith Cebula and lost Alexis McLeod to injury in the third quarter.