GSL basketball: Ryan Carney hits seven 3-pointers, Gonzaga Prep boys outlast University 67-60; Bullpups girls win big

Defending State 4A champion Gonzaga Prep took some uncharacteristic lumps over New Year’s weekend. The Bullpups went to Arizona for the Hoophall West tournament against some very tough competition and came home with three losses, failing to reach 50 points in any of the games.

Coach Matty McIntyre hopes the experiences gained from the trip – on and off the court – will pay dividends down the road as he prepares his team for the rigors of the Greater Spokane League season and beyond.

The offense showed up – for a while – on Friday in the Bullpups’ first league game of the season.

Senior Ryan Carney scored 27 points with seven 3-pointers and the Bullpups held off a tough visiting University squad 67-60.

Jack Pierce added 19 points, going 7 of 9 at the line, and Dylynn Groves chipped in 10.

G-Prep (8-5, 1-0) scored 23 points in each of the first and third quarters. They scored just seven in the fourth as they tried to work the clock.

“At times our offense was really clicking,” McIntyre said. “And then there’s still a lot of stuff to clean up.”

Brady Bell led U-Hi (7-5, 0-2) with 24 points. Eli Rigsby came off the bench for 14 points and Sam Delegard added 12.

“I think that there’s a lot of balance in the GSL. There’s no standout team,” McIntyre said. “It’ll be a dog fight each and every night. It’ll be a lot of fun to see who comes out of this thing.”

Carney came into the game averaging a little over 11 points per game.

“He was shooting outstanding,” McIntyre said. “He was taking great shots from behind the line. But they were clean looks. His teammates were getting him open. But he was terrific.”

Carney knocked down three 3-pointers in the first quarter, Jack Pierce added a pair, and G-Prep led 23-14 after one.

The 3s dried up for the Bullpups in the second quarter. Bell hit a couple of 3s late in the frame and the Titans trailed 37-30 at intermission.

Delegard’s 3 at the start of the third made it a four-point game, but Carney answered with back-to-back 3s, and Pierce completed a three-point play, to make it 52-41.

Carney popped another 3 with two minutes left in the quarter to stretch the lead to 14 and G-Prep led 60-47 entering the fourth.

U-Hi opened the final quarter with a 7-1 run to narrow the gap, but Pierce stemmed the tide with four consecutive free throws.

Bell fouled out with 2:50 left in an eight-point game. But neither team scored in the next two minutes as the Bullpups tried to take the air out of the ball. All of G-Prep’s seven points in the fourth came at the line.

“All of these experiences are building experiences,” McIntyre said. “So like I said, we’ve got stuff to clean up on both ends of the floor, and we look forward to getting back to work (Saturday) morning.”

Girls

Gonzaga Prep 65, University 46: Junior Charlee Peterson scored 19 points with 11 rebounds to lead four in double figures and the Bullpups (11-0, 1-0) topped the Titans (8-4, 1-1) in the early game.

Laura Thompson scored 15 points while Belle Hernandez and Aylah Cornwall added 13 apiece for G-Prep.

“That’s what we’ve been working on. We’ve got to share the basketball,” Gonzaga Prep coach Geoff Arte said. “It makes you tougher to guard when you got a bunch of kids averaging 10 to 15. You can’t really key on one or two people.”

Hernandez had six points as G-Prep ran out to a 17-5 lead after one. The Bullpups went on a 12-0 run in the second to open it up, but the Titans closed with a 15-4 run and trailed 33-19 at the half. G-Prep put up 16 in each of the third and fourth quarters to keep the Titans at arm’s length.

Junior Keely Handran led U-Hi with 23 points and her sister, senior McKenzie Handran, added 12.

“A lot of credit to U-Hi. It was 31-5 at one point in that game, they could have rolled over,” Arte said. “But that’s Spokane – there isn’t really anything easy in this town.”