Clarkston girls secure co-league champ with 67-43 win over West Valley; Eagles boys fend off Bantams | GSL basketball
The Clarkston and Deer Park girls basketball teams have been neck-and-neck all season. Not only in the race for Greater Spokane League 2A title, but at the top of the state’s RPI system.
Entering play on Friday, they both had one loss in league – to each other. Clarkston was ranked No. 3 in the state and Deer Park No. 4.
Deer Park concluded its regular season on Thursday with a 66-13 win over Rogers – which actually hurt its RPI. So, if Clarkston beat West Valley on the road on Friday it would claim a share of the league title, and in doing so would earn the top seed to district play, which starts Tuesday, on the tiebreaker.
The Bantams shut down, if not shut out, the Eagles in the first half and cruised into the top spot in district play with a 67-43 win.
Preslee Dempsey scored 18 points, Jaelyn McCormack-Marks added 14 and the Bantams (19-2, 11-1) gave up just six points in the first half in beating the Eagles (13-6, 7-5).
Laney Augir added 11 points for the Bantams, which hit 13 3-pointers as a team. Senior Cassie Brooks led West Valley with 22 points. Fellow senior Brynlee Ordinario had nine points and 15 rebounds. West Valley is the third seed to districts.
“I’m just proud to be a part of it,” Clarkston first-year coach Kellie Kromrei said of the co-championship season. “We have a really good group of girls and such good community support in this. So, I’m just grateful to be a part of it.”
Kromrei is a Clarkston alum and played collegiately at Universities of Nebraska and Washington. She knows it’s likely the Bantams will see the Stags against in districts – and perhaps even at state.
“We’re looking forward to playing them again,” she said. “One of our main goals is doing well at state. Deer Park is a great team to prepare us for that. Whether we win or lose, we walk away a better team just because they’re such good competition for us. So, if we do play them, we’re looking forward to our growth, no matter the outcome.”
Clarkston scored the game’s first six points, keeping the Eagles off the scoreboard until 31/2 minutes left in the quarter, and the Bantams led 11-2 after one. They scored the first 10 points of the second quarter quickly, with Preslee Dempsey and Aneysa Judy dropping 3s, to make it 21-2.
Dempsey and Aneysa Judy both had eight in the quarter and Clarkston led 31-6 at intermission.
“Defense has been our main focus this year, and we see it pay off in games like this,” Kromrei said.
West Valley found its offense in the third quarter, scoring 20 points, but the Bantams matched that and led 51-26 entering the fourth. Dempsey hit a pair of 3s early in the fourth and the Bantams quashed any chance at an Eagles comeback.
“We have a young group of girls. We have a good returning group of seniors as well,” Kromrei said. “(State) has been a goal for us since day one, and so to see that, you know, potentially come to pass, we’re grateful for it.”
Pullman 54, East Valley 39: River Sykes scored 16 points, Faith Perry-Dyer added 11 and the visiting Greyhounds (12-9, 7-5) defeated the Knights (3-17, 1-11) in the final GSL 2A regular season game on Friday. Weather Salinas-Taylor hit five 3-pointers and led East Valley with 23 points.
Pullman is the fourth seed to districts; East Valley is the sixth.
Boys
West Valley 54, Clarkston 42: Nathan Zettle scored 20 points and the Eagles (14-6, 9-3) pulled away from the Bantams (8-13, 3-9) in the late game.
West Valley is the No. 2 seed to districts; Clarkston is the fourth seed. The Eagles led by four at halftime and limited Clarkston to 20 points in the second half.
“We just had to have long possessions and try to keep the ball away from them as much as we could and keep control and get good shots,” Zettle said. “And that’s what we did. You know, we wind the shot clock down every single possession in the fourth quarter, and it came to our advantage.”
West Valley scored the first nine points of the second half to open up a double-digit lead, but Clarkston scored the next 11 points and the Eagles led 41-34 entering the fourth.
Zettle scored the first two buckets in the fourth and a 13-6 run through the first five minutes salted the win away for West Valley.
“We didn’t feel like we played that good in the first half,” Zettle said. “At halftime, Coach (Mike Hamilton) had a really good talk to us, got us back on our game, and we came out with more energy in the second half.”
Pullman 86, East Valley 58: Cade Rogers scored 18 points, Gavyn Dealy added 15 the Greyhounds (18-3, 11-1) beat the Knights (4-16, 3-9). Wallace Frates led East Valley with 18 points. Pullman earned the top seed to districts; East Valley is the sixth.