DISTRICT 8 4A
By Greg Lee, NWPrepsNow.com
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If the Gonzaga Prep girls basketball team defends its State 4A championship, it will look back on two games with Central Valley as providing significant challenges.
Visiting Central Valley pushed the Bullpups to the extreme before Gonzaga Prep survived a state tournament-type game, 57-54, in the District 8 final Friday.
The next step for the teams is the subregional. For G-Prep and CV to earn state berths, they’ll have to do it on the road.
The Bullpups (22-0), winners of 45 straight, travel to the Mid-Columbia Conference No. 1 seed next Friday in a game that will decide a berth to the regional round of state. CV (18-4) most likely will trek to the MCC No. 2 seed, also Friday. It could be a home game for CV if Lewis and Clark, a subregional qualifier with a 67-57 win over Mead in a loser-out game Friday, beats the MCC No. 2 team in a loser-out game Tuesday.
The MCC seeds will be determined tonight when league champion Walla Walla plays host to Chiawana.
Gonzaga Prep 57, Central Valley 54: The Bullpups held off the Bears 53-51 in the second league matchup last month.
Bullpups coach Mike Arte expected another hard-fought game.
And when four starters picked up two fouls each in the first half, G-Prep had to limit the damages and get to the second half.
A 3-pointer by Lacie Hull and two free throws by her freshman twin sister, Lexie, highlighted a 7-0 CV surge early in the second quarter when the Bears built their biggest lead at 19-13.
But G-Prep, behind strong play from role players Tayler Drynan, Lauren Weir and Molly McDermott, finished the first half on a 14-6 run to take a 27-25 lead into intermission.
Then the run CV coach Freddie Rehkow feared most happened. G-Prep clicked off nine consecutive points for a 42-31 lead with 2:26 to go in the third quarter.
“The third quarter hurt. That and all the missed bunnies (short shots),” Rehkow said. “(G-Prep) did a great job and made great adjustments.”
G-Prep extended the lead to 49-35 in the first minute of the fourth, thanks to a free throw and a basket from Laura Stockton.
CV didn’t go away. The Bears kept chipping away until running out of time, as Madison Hovren provided the final margin, completing a three-point play with five seconds remaining.
“Give them credit. They did a nice job there at the end trying to whittle that down,” Arte said. “We need to execute a little better. We haven’t faced a lot of that. It was a good championship game, well played. It had a lot of momentum swings. They’re a legitimate contender to go to state. I hope we get two Spokane schools there.”
Stockton, playing with savvy and postseason poise, finished with a game-high 23 points, seven rebounds, five assists and four steals. Otiona Gildon, who got into early foul trouble, added 20 points and 14 rebounds.
Lexie Hull led CV with 21 points and nine rebounds and Hovren finished with 18 points and 12 rebounds.
“Everybody has star players, but tonight our role players carried us,” Arte said. “They may not have scored the points but they helped us win that game.”
Lewis and Clark 67, Mead 57: The Tigers (16-6) rallied from a nine-point halftime deficit to knock off the visiting Panthers (14-9). LC outscored Mead 45-26 in the final two quarters. Riley Lupfer led LC with 20 points, eight rebounds and five assists; Michaela Kay, who hit six free throws late, added 13 points; and Lyndzi Rich had 10 points and nine rebounds. Sue Winger led Mead with 22 points.