CV edges G-Prep in thriller; Ferris cruises
KENNEWICK – They call it Bruin Lob – a sideline out-of-bounds play.
The Central Valley Bears ran it with 10 seconds left Friday night in their ConAgra Foods/Lamb Weston Eastern Regional basketball semifinal with Gonzaga Prep. And they ran it to perfection.
Luke Clift gathered in Brad Johnson’s pass, laid the ball on the rim and CV was headed to the State 4A tournament next week in Tacoma, courtesy of a 66-65 win.
The Bullpups, who have to win twice today to join the Bears in Tacoma, had the ball last. But after two timeouts, G-Prep still didn’t get a last shot on their sideline play, turning the ball over to start a wild Bear celebration.
“We practice that play every day in practice,” Johnson said. “We ran it earlier this year against Rogers and it worked. It worked tonight. (Kevin) Cameron set a great pick and Luke was wide open.”
Now the Bears (20-5) will meet Ferris, an easy 66-35 semifinal winner over Mt. Spokane, in the regional championship game tonight at 5. The Bullpups (19-5) and the Wildcats (14-11) will start their road through the consolation bracket at 1, when G-Prep meets Southridge (19-6) and Mt. Spokane faces Davis (15-11). Only one can earn a state berth.
Central Valley 66, Gonzaga Prep 65: Pick a cliché – back and forth, up and down, give and take – they all work to describe this one. G-Prep led by six in the second quarter. CV goes on a 16-1 run to lead by nine. G-Prep claws back and, on Beau Azadganian’s 5-footer with 3:39 left, take a 57-57 lead.
From there no one had a bigger lead than G-Prep’s three. That came with 1:58 left on Michael Johnson’s 3-pointer, the last of his 14 points. A basket on one end was answered with one on the other – until the final seconds.
Now the Bears are headed to state for the first time since 2003, thanks in large part to Clift’s defense on Johnson (“He always gets the toughest defensive assignment,” CV coach Rick Sloan said) and balanced scoring (Cameron had 14, Clift and Johnson 13 apiece and Matt Morgan 11 off the bench).
The Bullpups were paced by Ian Parry with 15, many coming off passes from Houston Stockton, who had a game-high six assists.
Ferris 66, Mt. Spokane 35: The Saxons (22-3) started hot, building a 12-point lead late in the first quarter. They kept that margin through much of the half, before ensuring their state berth with a 13-0 run late third-quarter run to build a 26-point lead.
Jon Clift did his best Adam Morrison impression in the opening half. Not only did the 5-foot-10 senior guard have 16 points at intermission, he did a lot of his damage with a cotton plug in his nose, courtesy of a first-quarter three-point play. He finished with 18 points (along with a team-high five rebounds) – and without the plug.
“We had a bump last week,” Clift said of two District 8 losses, “but it made us realize we aren’t going to just show up and win. We had to come ready to play and play well if we want to win.”
Shawn Stockton, who wore a new jersey most of the game because of a blood stain, played the Errol Knight role, doing his best to slow down the GSL’s leading scorer Matt Dorr. The 6-5 Dorr led the Wildcats, but his 15 points was four less than his season average. Stockton chipped in on the offensive end as well with 13 points, the same as senior Jace Mattinson.
The Saxons are headed to state for the second consecutive year and the eighth time in the past decade.