Mt. Spokane boys overcome difficult circumstances; top University 72-57 in 3A championship game| District 6 basketball

This has not been an easy season for the Mt. Spokane boys basketball team.

Just days before the Wildcats started the season, junior guard Brody Three Stars was injured in an automobile accident. Then in December, last year’s Greater Spokane League MVP Jaden Ghoreishi was diagnosed with blood clots in his lungs, keeping him from playing a single league contest. Then junior forward Cade Strocsher missed several league games due to the flu.

It was such a rough deal, but the Wildcats continued to win through it all – earning David Wagenblast the GSL coach of the year, awarded by his peers.

The Wildcats’ latest challenge: the seventh-seeded University Titans, on their Cinderella run to state. U-Hi upset second-seeded Kennewick – the Mid-Columbia Conference 3A champion – then school district rival Central Valley to reach Friday’s District 6 3A championship game.

Both teams had already qualified for state, but a win in the district title game comes with momentum and better seeding when state starts next week.

Again, Mt. Spokane took care of business.

Senior Jaceten Reijonen and sophomore Tysen Lewis scored 16 points apiece and the top-seeded Wildcats (17-6) handled the visiting seventh-seeded Titans (14-9) 72-57, adding district champions to their resume.

Senior point guard Rock Franklin had 13 points and sophomore Kelan Moore added 11.

“We’ve had so much adversity this year,” Strocsher said. “It started with Brody – what an awful thing to happen. But we were able to come together and grow even stronger. We built our team behind him. … It just shows how far we’ve come, how strong this team is and how ready for state we are.”

“As the season was starting, the biggest worry in the world was in regards to one of our own who had been in a car accident,” Wagenblast said. “To see (Three Stars) fight and struggle, he’s been a source of inspiration for us the entire season on how you fight and what it looks like to never give up.

Ghoreishi has started practicing and Wagenblast is hopeful that his 6-9 post – who is headed to Colorado State in the fall – will be available in Tacoma.

“Jaden is a McDonald’s All-American candidate. It’s hard to lose a player of that caliber, Wagenblast said. “For our kids to rally together as a team – that’s what I’m really proud of. We didn’t fill up the first-team all-league, but we’ll take district champs.”

The 6-foot-6 Lewis started the game completing an alley-oop and added a two-handed jam and had two more loud dunks as the game went on. He also gathers 10 rebounds.

“Tysen has really grown his sophomore year,” Wagenblast said. “If you think about where he was back in December to where he is now. And that’s often the case with young kids when they get a chance to go through a whole season of practice. He’s blossoming right at the right time.”

U-Hi’s Sam Delegard (15 points) hit a couple of late 3s in the first quarter and the Titans led 21-19 after one.

Franklin hit a pair of 3s as part of a 9-0 run that gave the Wildcats at 28-21 lead. But U-Hi countered with a 7-0 spurt, including a 3 by Brady Bell (12 points). Mt. Spokane made the last two buckets of the quarter and led 34-30 at the half.

Neither team made a basket in the first 2 minutes, 40 seconds of the third quarter. Franklin broke the drought with a dribble-drive, Reijonen and Moore hit 3s later in the period and Mt. Spo limited U-Hi to eight points in the quarter.

“In the locker room, nobody had any doubts. It was all strategic talk,” Strocsher said. “We knew what we had to do. We’ve had a habit of digging ourselves a hole in the first half, but halftime is when we turn it around. We were able to come together, bounce back and hit them in the mouth in the third quarter.”

“(U-Hi) is an exceptional team. They are so hard to guard,” Wagenblast said. “They have a bunch of guys that can really play ball. We were fortunate to go on a good run and put some things together defensively in the third and that was the big difference.”

The Wildcats opened the fourth with a 7-2 run. Sophomore Mason Dietzen nailed a 3 with 4:51 left to push the lead to 20 and Mt. Spokane cruised to the win from there.

Strocsher said anyone taking the Wildcats lightly this time of year because of their struggles this season will be in for a surprise.

“We lost our best player, sure. But we’re still Mt. Spokane. We still represent,” he said. “They know what it is when they play us.”