GSL basketball: Central Valley boys turn up defense to outlast Mead; Panthers' girls pull away from Bears

Friday’s game between Central Valley boys and visiting Mead was a battle of two of the top point guards in the league – CV’s Cameron Walls and Mead’s Karson Maze – and two teams with league title and post-season aspirations.

Both teams were coming off disappointing losses on Tuesday – Mead lost to four-win Ferris by 17, while CV was held to 39 points in its loss to Mt. Spokane, which was missing reigning GSL MVP Jaden Ghoreishi to injury.

It didn’t turn out to be anyone’s idea of a shooting clinic, but the home team was able to supply enough defense and scratch out enough offense to earn a gritty, physical win.

Walls scored 16 points, Orland Axton added 14 and the Bears outlasted the Panthers 53-47 in a Greater Spokane League 4A/3A game at Central Valley.

Trevelle Jones led Mead with 18 points and Maze finished with 15 before fouling out late in the fourth.

“I feel like we got the job done,” Walls said. “We held them to 47 and did what we’re supposed to do. … I’d say it was a tough shooting night, but also our defense was there. Got the win, now it’s off to the next one.”

“The commitment on the defensive end that we’ve gotten to is enormous, and so it keeps you in games like this and Tuesday, when we can’t, for some reason, can’t hit the broad side of a barn on offense,” Central Valley coach TJ Milless said.

It was more physical than Milless expected, with bodies on the floor on nearly every possession in the second half.

“I think the Mt. Spokane game was a great test for us, the physicality that they have,” Milless said. “Mead has a lot of offensive firepower – we usually expect a little more up and down game with them. I think we played it more in our terms, and we played a little bit of a slower pace, a little more physical that plays into our hands a little bit better with our size.”

Milless couldn’t help watching Walls and Maze going at it all night.

“Cam is always up for this game,” he said. “Cam had a down game the other night, and he was mad at himself. And he’s always up for these Mead games to go against Karson.”

Mead (8-5, 1-2) led 14-9 after one but didn’t make its first bucket in the second quarter until 3 minutes, 35 seconds left in the half. CV didn’t fare much better, and a pair of free throws by Axton with 3 minutes left tied it at 16.

The Panthers were held to just five points in the frame and CV led 25-19 at intermission.

The Bears (10-4, 3-1) scored the first six points of the third quarter, including a pair in the paint from post Emerson Lippoldt, to go up 31-19, and Mead coach Luke Jordan called timeout.

Brady Thornton’s put-back the next time down ended the mini-run, but CV’s Arjun Kandola drained a 3 at the other end to make it a 13-point game. Jones hit a 3 later in the quarter to get it back to 10 and CV led 39-29 entering the fourth.

Jones hit another to start the fourth, then Maze drove for a contested layup to make it a five-point game. But it never got closer than that, as the teams combined to make just four baskets in the last four minutes of the game.

“I’m so proud of the way we’re defending right now,” Milless said. “The boys made that commitment in the summer that that was what we wanted to really hang our hats on to get to that next level. I mean – and I keep saying it – if we defend like we did tonight, consistently, we can get to the Dome.”

Girls

Mead 54, Central Valley 34: Addison Wells Morrison scored 18 points with eight rebounds, Dylan Thielman added 10 points and the visiting Panthers (11-1, 3-0) beat the Bears (8-6, 2-2) in the early game.

CV’s Olivia Patshkowski led scorers with 26 points.

Mead’s defense held CV to single digits in each of the four quarters.

“It wasn’t so much the turnovers, but we kind of wore them down,” Mead coach Quantae Anderson said. “It was like, they’re going to start making some mistakes and they’re going to not have their legs to shoot the shot.”

The teams combined for five points over the first five minutes of the game and CV led 9-7 after one. Mead opened the second with a 13-4 run. Caroline Spink had seven points in the period and the Panthers led 30-18 at the break.

The offense dried up again at the start of the third, with Morrison’s early layup the only points of the first four minutes in the quarter. They combined for 14 points in the period and Mead led by 12 entering the fourth.

“That third quarter we ended up tied 7-7, but it took them a long time to get their first bucket,” Anderson said. “I was really happy with that. “