Nash Dunham provides offensive boost, Mead boys handle Ridgeline; Falcons girls hold off Panthers late

The Mead boys have a busy week : three games including its annual district rivalry game and the league opener Friday.
The Panthers got a needed shot in the arm Tuesday at home against Ridgeline, as the game marked the return of senior all-league guard Nash Dunham, who had been out since late November with an ankle injury.
Dunham scored 17 points, junior Brady Thornton led four in double figures for Mead with 20 and the Panthers pulled away from the visiting Falcons 82-61 in a nonleague matchup.
Junior guard Cadan Andreas led Ridgeline with 23 points.
“That was amazing,” Dunham said. “Just, 37 days without a game – it just felt so good to be back. In warmups I got the butterflies like it was Christmas morning.”
Mead (6-3) led by seven at halftime and used a 25-point third quarter to open things up. Ridgeline fell to 4-6.
Mead coach Luke Jordan was thankful to have his starting five together again for the first time since opening night.
“It’s been a long time coming since our first game, but we knew it was going to take a little bit of acclimation,” he said. “I mean, Nash is one of those players that we didn’t necessarily need to get him going. It’s just we’ve got to relearn how to be this version of us. So, it was encouraging just get all healthy bodies back on the court so that we can start working from here.”
“I just stuck with it this whole time being injured, not knowing when I was going to be back,” Dunham said. “Being on the sideline – I’m not used to it. It gave me a different perspective that I need to be more grateful in life because you never know. Basketball’s going to end soon, and I have to be grateful while I’m playing it.”
Sophomore Karson Maze had 16 points and senior Bryce Lynd added 12 for the Panthers.
“I mean, that’s us,” Jordan said. “Yes, Nash can light it up, and Karson can light it up and Bryce can light it up. We’ve got guys that can score in bunches, but we’ve got guys that can just score period. …We’ve had multi ple 20-point scorers throughout the season. So, we’ve got this next man up mentality. And our whole thing is it doesn’t matter who does it, so long as it gets done.”
The win gives Mead a little momentum heading into its game against Mt. Spokane on Wednesday and league opener against LC on Friday.
“If we think going to state is a realistic opportunity, we’ve got to get used to playing on quick turnaround on little rest,” Jordan said. “You’ve got to be able to work on the fly and make adjustments and make in-game decisions. And so for us, four games before winter break in that week, and then three games coming out, I thought it was a good way for us to kind of see what we are made of when we have quick turnarounds.”
Mead used a 9-4 spurt at the start of the third quarter to open a 10-point lead. Thornton had eight in the quarter and Mead led 59-42 entering the fourth.
Dunham hit a couple of 3-pointers in the fourth quarter to stretch the lead to 20.
“It came to me throughout the game,” Dunham said. “Once I saw one go down, I was ready for them all to go down.”
Girls
Ridgeline 57, Mead 54: Emma Myers scored 23 points and the visiting Falcons (8-2) beat the Panthers (4-4) in the late game.
Gracie Wenkheimer led Mead with 18 points, all on 3-pointers.
Mead trailed by as much as nine in the second half, but Wenkheimer hit her third 3 of the fourth quarter with 28.6 seconds left to make it a two-point game. A Ridgeline turnover put Ellie Thornton on the line for two and she made one with 13.2 seconds left.
Myers made a pair of free throws to make it a three-point game with 10 seconds to go and Mead didn’t hit the rim on its last two shots.
“That game reminded me of all those battles we have against Mead when I was with (Central Valley),” Ridgeline coach Freddie Rehkow said. “This is what it’s all about. We needed this to show that we can still step it up a notch because (Mead) did a great job of coming back after we put them down.”