Tigers pulled together to knock off Bullpups
As unpredictable as Greater Spokane League boys basketball has been, few saw it coming when Lewis and Clark stunned Gonzaga Prep in a Saturday makeup game 49-48.
What made the win more surprising is the Tigers did it without their second-leading scorer.
Sean Hoffmann was in Baltimore for the funeral of a relative when LC pulled off the upset of the season. Hoffmann is averaging 12 points a game and would have provided a 6-foot-7 presence to counter the Bullpups’ size.
“It’s ironic that we won with our big guy missing,” said coach Jeff Norton. “When you’re faced with a little bit of adversity, kids will go one way or another. They’ll either cave in or rise to the challenge.”
Austin Ehlo, he said, took on Hoffmann’s role inside and Mike Bond moved into the starting lineup. Both accepted the challenge.
“I’ve known Austin since he was a little kid and it was probably the best game he ever played,” said Norton. “He did what he normally does and the stuff Sean usually does. Mike was awesome as well.”
Ehlo shared team scoring honors with Levi Taylor at 16 points each. They kept LC in the game, and Sage Poland won it with a buzzer-beater from 15-feet.
A key was the fact the Tigers committed just three turnovers – their bugaboo recently – in the second half.
“We’re capable of that, but we haven’t had the consistency,” said Norton. “I don’t know if Saturday was an aberration or (if) it will propel us.”
Mead cleans mat
The subject of possibly having double-dual GSL wrestling matches came up prior to last week’s contest between 2008 co-champions Central Valley and East Valley.
And while Mead activities coordinator Dick Cullen said that competing for league honors is more important than saving a date for an extra weekend’s competition by doubling up, he did agree to a triple-dual makeup last Saturday that pitted three of the league’s better teams – the Panthers, Bears and Ferris – against each other.
When Cullen posed it to coach Phil McLean he said it might have sounded crazy, but with only a month left before districts, getting caught up from numerous snowed out dates made it imperative.
Things worked out well for the Panthers (4-0), who swept the previously unbeaten Bears (4-1) and Saxons (3-3), and McLean former team, Gonzaga Prep, setting up Wednesday night’s match at University (4-0) for undisputed first place.
“It was a wild weekend, putting all those matches in one day and having not wrestled for three weeks,” said McLean.
The Bears were coming off a victory over preseason favorite EV. The tone was set in the first match, however, when Riley Oshner, normally number two for Mead at 171 pounds, nipped CV’s Cody Stratton 3-2. The Panthers then won four of five matches between 119 and 140 pounds for a comfortable 28-15 lead and prevailed 31-22.
“We could be in the (league title) mix – I wasn’t sure,” said McLean following Saturday’s three wins. “That made it interesting.”
Wednesday’s match at U-Hi will be big for a lot of reasons, not the least being it determines which team remains unbeaten and because of last year’s outcome.
“It came down to the last match that went into the fourth overtime,” said McLean. “We were up two points and if we lose, we lose the dual. We end up winning a sudden-victory tiebreaker.”
Like last year, said McLean, it will depend upon the day (and how teams match up) when CV, EV, Mead and U-Hi tangle.
Nothing small about Bs
While discussing the state of Class B boys basketball, St. George’s coach Ryan Peplinski ticked off the names of teams and players.
Several of them, he noted, have inordinate size with 6-foot-7 or 6-8 players in their lineups. Sam Howard and Ryan Presho at Springdale are two. Davenport and Curlew, he said, boast others.
But Northwest Christian (8-0), gunning for a fourth straight 2B state title, remains the class of the Bi-County and Panorama leagues. The Crusaders have beaten 2A Riverside and 1A teams Freeman, Lakeside and Chewelah (which has 6-7 Forest Trampush in its lineup). Their four Bi-County wins have been by an average of 33.5 points.
“They’re flat-out better than everybody, and a lot better,” said Peplinski. “They’ll have to beat themselves.”
Davenport is off to a 6-1 start (3-1 and tied with Colfax in league). Colfax (7-1, 4-0) leads Bi-County girls, while Almira/Coulee-Hartline boys (7-3, 2-0) and girls (10-0, 2-0) lead the 1B.
St. George’s (3-4, 2-0) is getting its team together. Grant Evans broke his collarbone in soccer and is just now joining the lineup. Jordan Dickson has averaged 23.0 per game over the team’s last four. The Dragons are tied with Selkirk (8-1, 2-0) atop the 2B Panorama League.
In 1B, Wellpinit (7-1, 5-0) and Cusick (9-1, 6-1) hold court. The Redskins’ Cody Flett last week scored 57 to set a school record and is averaging 26.5 ppg. And Kennedy Seyler averages 19.3.
The District 9 North League is loaded again. Garfield- Palouse boys, fourth in state 1B last year but now 2B, is off to a 9-1 start, 5-0 in league. Colton girls, second in State 1B behind Gar-Pal last year, and St. John Endicott are both 7-0 overall. Gar-Pal is 8-2.