Jayden Stevens leads Gonzaga Prep boys to District 8 4A title game; Bullpups’ girls fall in semifinal

Earning the title of Greater Spokane League 4A champion means a bye past a first-round game and the opportunity to host a key semifinal game which, if won, means a team has punched its ticket to the regional round of state regardless of the outcome of the district title game.

On Tuesday, the GSL champion Gonzaga Prep girls and boys had the opportunity to host opponents from the Mid-Columbia Conference in District 8 tournament semifinals.

Boys

Gonzaga Prep 64, Richland 49: Jayden Stevens scored 22 points, Henry Sandberg added 13 and the Bullpups (14-7) beat the visiting Bombers (18-4) in the late game.

G-Prep will play Kamiakin at 8:30 p.m. Friday at the Arena for the district title.

Josh Woodard scored 13 points and 6-foot-9 post Lucas Westerfield added 11 for Richland, which entered play No. 9 in the state RPI.

Early season nonleague losses might have some overlooking the No. 19-rated Bullpups in the postseason.

“I prefer it,” Stevens said. “I mean, I like that underdog narrative, especially because we got ranked so high early in the season and things didn’t go our way.”

“All that stuff was just to make us better, which it did,” Gonzaga Prep coach Matty McIntyre said. “I mean, I know it wasn’t pretty early on, but I wouldn’t change it and it’s postseason season – throw the records out. Let’s just play and see what happens.”

With Richland cutting into its deficit in the fourth quarter, Stevens demanded the ball despite a double-team. He muscled his way to a bucket, then after a turnover he got loose for a two-handed jam that sealed it.

“The main thing that coach McIntyre talked about in practice was they really only had (Westerfield), that was really the only big guy in the middle,” The 6-7 Stevens said. “So we really wanted to punch them down low and get down to the block, get to my spot and get easy buckets.”

“(Stevens) made incredible plays every time that (Richland) made a run,” McIntyre said. “He stepped up with a big rebound, the and-one play. So he kind of kept us at a safe distance.”

Trailing 54-34 entering the fourth quarter, the Bombers scored the first nine points, with Westerfield using his left hand off the glass twice.

Stevens finally got the ball inside for a basket, then the big slam put the lead back to 62-45 with 90 seconds left. McIntyre called timeout to clear his bench.

After a slow start for both teams, G-Prep led 11-10 after one quarter. Carter Collins’ second 3-pointer of the second quarter extended the lead and the Bullpups went up 32-20 at halftime.

Early in the third quarter, Stevens picked up a loose ball and threw it down with two hands, prompting Richland coach Earl Streufert to ask for time with his Bombers down 42-24. Stevens’ 3 from the wing pushed the lead to 21.

Girls

Chiawana 49, Gonzaga Prep 48: Aniyah Heavens scored 14 of her 20 points in the fourth quarter, including the go-ahead free throw with 1 second left, and the Riverhawks (17-5) edged the Bullpups (17-4) in the early game.

Gonzaga Prep will host Lewis and Clark (10-10) in a loser-out on Thursday. The Bullpups were led by Taliah Lee with 19 points and Sitara Byrd with 14.

Chiawana plays Richland on Friday at 7 p.m. at the Arena in the District 8 title game.

Gonzaga Prep led by 14 at halftime. The Bullpups were held to 13 second-half points as Chiawana guard Mattlee Woolf hounded G-Prep point guard Lucy Lynn every time she had the ball.

“It’s just hard to maintain continuity sometimes with us,” Gonzaga Prep coach Mike Arte said. “That’s kind of been us all year. And that’s exactly what happened to us the second half , plus we missed some easy shots. So you got to make those shots in a game like that.”

Heavens tied the game at 48, hitting 1 of 2 at the line with 47.6 seconds left. G-Prep missed a free throw and Chiawana called time with 6 seconds left.

Heavens missed a layup but was fouled on the rebound with 1 second left. She hit the first and time expired when the second missed.

“We’ve been in the shadows all year. No one even knows about us,” Arte said. “There’s teams in our league that people know about, that are better than us. … And we’ve been in the shadows all year and look what we did. We just took one of the best teams in the state to the wire.”

Chiawana 6-foot-2 post Malia Ruud added 19 points, 13 before the break.

G-Prep led 35-21 at halftime, but Chiawana went on a seven-point run and the Bullpups led by nine after three quarters.

Heavens went on a personal 8-0 run. Two free throws from Ruud made it a one-point game with 1:15 left, then Heavens tied it up at the line.

“They’ll bounce back,” Arte said of his team. “They’re a good group of kids. They got great leadership, and they’ll bounce back.”