Plenty of points at All-State

Basketball players bound for Spokane area colleges put their games front and center at the WIBC All-State Basketball games in the steamy Kennel at Gonzaga University.

If coaches from Eastern Washington University were present they had to be pleased with what they saw from recruits Jacob Beitinger, Nick Livi and Rodney Stucky in the 135-127 4A track meet that concluded the five-game day.

It was one of four victories by State teams against their City all-star counterparts on a hot day inside the humid gymnasium.

“It was like a sauna in here,” said North Central graduate Antwan Conway, whose 27 points in the game proved he belonged with the big boys.

Earlier, Gonzaga University recruits Josh Heytvelt from Clarkston and David Pendergraft from Brewster were on display in their respective 3A and 1A games and Heytvelt, in particular, put on a show.

Heytvelt’s State team nipped the City 97-94. He had with 25 points and 15 rebounds.

4A–State 135, City 127: Eastlake guard Rivi put on a show, scoring 37 points with uncanny shooting and speed to outlast Stuckey’s City team. Beitinger, of state runner-up South Kitsap, added 32 points, largely inside and had 15 rebounds.

Four Spokane athletes played well, including Conway, who unlike the Eastern trio, is not targeted for a college. But he certainly proved his worth in this game.

“I knew I could play with them, there was no doubt in my mind,” he said.

The teams put 131 points on the board in each half, the State taking control in the final six minutes.

3A–State 97, City 94: Heytvelt spent as much time on the floor scrambling after loose balls as he did looking for points, which all came from the field. He had 15 rebounds, five dunks, three assists and a couple of blocks.

“I always want to win every game I play,” he said.

For a while it looked like 3-pointers might do the State in with the City team making five in a row for an 84-72 lead.

But Heytvelt, one of three team members with more than 20 points, and his supporting cast rallied in the final 9 minutes of the game.

2A–State 88, City 82: The State team built a nine-point lead late in the first half, but found themselves behind for much of the second half before going on a seven-point run in the game’s final minute to pull out the victory.

Great Northern League athletes had a big hand in the successes on both sides, Medical Lake’s Dur Till shared the State’s scoring lead with 19 points and directing traffic, often finding Chewelah’s Clint Hagen, who finished with a dozen.

Pullman’s Ben Haynes ignited the City second-half comeback, the team leading 77-72 with under 4 minutes remaining, and finished with a team-high 20 points.

1A–City 89, State 70: Steve Vandenburg’s Northwest Christian Crusaders finished second to Brewster in the the state finals, but he gained his revenge, scoring 19 points to beat the Bears’ state player of the year Pendergraft in the City’s only win against the State in the five-game series.

B–State 108, City 102: Davenport’s Andy Semprimoznik and Wilbur-Creston’s Gavin Mann each scored 14 second-half points to keep the City team, which had seven double-figures scorers, at bay.