Unbeaten Bears stifle Saxons

A.J. Knudsen isn’t so much making up for lost time as he’s making the most of his time.

The Central Valley junior guard missed four games with a concussion. He returned during the holidays and has been an added bonus to the Greater Spokane League-leading Bears.

Knudsen’s contributions Tuesday were all over the statistical sheet as Central Valley suffocated the visiting Ferris Saxons 54-34 to remain unbeaten.

Knudsen scored all nine of his points in the second half to go with four rebounds and two assists.

Initially, Knudsen had difficulty finding his legs after returning from the injury. But a few practices took care of things.

“The intensity is pretty high in practice,” Knudsen said. “Things came back quick.”

The Bears got out quick in what turned out to be a defensive-minded game. CV led 10-0 before the Saxons scored on a tough leaning bank shot from Jensen Rye at the 2:08 mark. Then the Bears finished the quarter on a 7-0 run for a 17-2 lead.

A driving basket by Adam Chamberlain to open the second period gave CV (10-0 overall, 8-0 league) its biggest lead in the first half at 19-2.

“We’ve been trying to work on getting off to quick starts and not letting up,” Knudsen said. “Sometimes we get up and let down.”

Not this night. The Saxons (7-3, 5-3) cut the lead into single digits once, that coming early in the third quarter when Jeff Hahn completed a three-point play with 6:11 to go.

CV’s Adam Rehkow quickly got the lead back to double digits when he hit a 3-pointer on the Bears’ ensuing possession. Rehkow finished with a game-high 16 points, 11 rebounds and two assists.

“We didn’t shoot real well but when you can hold the other team to under 27 percent shooting it’s going to be tough to beat us,” said Rehkow, who has received two offers in football from Eastern Washington University and Idaho and a preferred walk-on offer from Oregon.

It’s a good thing that 6-foot-9 post Jensen Rye showed up for Ferris or it would have been a more difficult game. He finished with a team-high 14 points on 7-of-8 shooting and four rebounds.

Mead 77, Mt. Spokane 72 (2 OT): This game defied description in many ways.The Panthers (8-2, 6-2) overcame 30 turnovers and the career high 42 points from Stu Stiles to knock off the visiting Wildcats (4-6, 3-5).Gunnar Kayser, who made 1 of 2 foul shots with 0.8 seconds left in the first overtime to force a second, had a career-high 30 points to go with 18 rebounds. Thomas Kautzman added 13 points and 10 rebounds. Mead outrebounded Mt. Spokane 62-25.

Gonzaga Prep 66, Rogers 50: The Bullpups (8-2, 7-1) raced to a 32-13 lead over the visiting Pirates (1-9, 0-8) by halftime. Jacob Groh led G-Prep with 16 points on 8-of-13 shooting and Brendan McClary and Ekow Nottinson added 13 and 11, respectively. Carson Murray led Rogers with 20 points and Amaujae Daniels added 18.

University 67, Lewis and Clark 46: The Titans (6-4, 5-3) opened a 36-22 lead by halftime over the visiting Tigers (4-6, 2-6) and coasted thereafter. Brett Bailey led U-Hi with 20 points, five rebounds and three assists and Joseph Carrieres had 11 points. The Titans made 9 of 18 from 3-point range. Dean Richey led the Tigers with 13 points and four assists and Brennan Schon added 10 points.

Shadle Park 54, North Central 37: The Highlanders (5-5, 4-4) jumped out to a 27-14 lead by halftime in the spirit game at the Arena. George Pilimai led Shadle with 14 points, 12 coming in the decisive first half. Ryan Hauenstein led NC (0-10, 0-8) with 13.