Ridgeline girls pull away from Central Valley in league finale; Caden Andreas reaches sixth all-time GSL scoring | GSL Basketball

Friday’s showdown between the Ridgeline and Central Valley girls basketball teams meant more for CV than Ridgeline – in the standings anyway.

The Falcons – rated No. 7 in 3A in the state’s RPI system – had already locked in the top seed to the District 6 3A tournament, which starts Feb. 14, while a Bears win would lock up the second 3A seed – and a home game in the first round.

But Ridgeline coach Freddie Rehkow wanted to see his squad go into the tournament with momentum. They did just that, led by their two stars, handling a wounded CV team and cementing their status as top seed heading into the postseason.

Junior point guard Grace Sheridan scored 22 points, senior post Madi Crowley added 19 points with nine rebounds and the Falcons (16-4, 8-1) pulled away from the visiting Bears (12-8, 5-4) 63-38 in the Greater Spokane League 4A/3A regular-season finale for both teams on Friday.

Ridgeline scored eight of the last nine points in the game to widen the margin.

Central Valley was missing leading scorer Drae Domebo (14.4 ppg) who was out with an injury. The Bears were led by senior Aspen Henry with 12 points and sophomore Olivia Patshkowski with 10.

“We knew coming into the game they had players out and players hurt, but it didn’t change how we were going to play,” Sheridan said. “We still take every game as if it’s the best team we’ll ever play, and coming out with that same intensity and keeping it the whole game.”

“We knew CV was down (Domebo),” Rehkow said. “But we still had to stop (Patshkowski). And (Henry). And know where Gracie Lanphere was at all times. … We just tried to mix up the defenses a little bit to make them slow them down and not let them just take off on us. And I thought the girls did a really good job.”

Ridgeline averages nearly 63 points per game this season. Crowley and Sheridan account for 37 of that, leading a crew of seven freshmen on the varsity roster.

“I love playing with Madi,” Sheridan said. “She’s a great post to have. I feel like we just have a connection. I can always find her. She can always find me. It works out great.”

“It’s got to be team movement. Team ball,” Rehkow said. “And what they did tonight was they stayed within themselves. And I thought that, you know, they really set the tone for the whole team. Get out early and then just take care of business.”

Sheridan and Crowley scored seven points apiece in the first quarter and the Falcons led 19-12 after one. Sheridan hit from 3 and added a contested layup as Ridgeline opened a 30-17 lead early in the second. Crowley had a couple of buckets from the paint late and the Falcons led 34-20 at intermission.

A 6-0 spurt late in the third gave Ridgeline a 48-32 lead entering the fourth. Sheridan and Crowley had 10 of the Falcons’ 14 points in the period.

Crowley and Sheridan scored on back-to-back layups with under three minutes left in the fourth and the lead hit 20 before Ridgeline closed on an 8-1 run.

”I think we are still going to continue growing,” Sheridan said. “I think we’re doing great right now, but we never settle for where we’re at. We just always want to keep striving to get better.”

”I thought tonight we were in the right positions. It was just a couple passes,” Rehkow said. “If we can make a little cleaner passes, the offense would have been even crisper. So yeah, we’re not where we want to be, but we’re a heck of a lot closer today than we were even three days ago.”

Boys

Ridgeline 54, Central Valley 52: Senior Caden Andreas scored 23 points, 13 in the fourth quarter, and moved into sixth all-time in regular-season scoring in GSL history, leading the Falcons (9-11, 5-4) over the visiting Bears (14-6, 6-3).

Andreas passed Shadle Park’s Brett Weisner (990 points) and finished his career with 996 points scored in league competition.

Andreas needed 17 points at the start of the game, and had 10 entering the fourth quarter.

“I didn’t really care. The only thing I was about is getting the win,” he said. “I knew the points would naturally come to me. I just I trust my teammates, I trust myself, and we got the job done.”

CV led by as many as nine points in the third quarter. Arjun Kandola hit a contested layup with 40 seconds left and the Bears led 40-37 entering the fourth.

Andreas’ 3-pointer with three minutes left gave Ridgeline its first lead of the game – and gave him the record. He added a 2 a minute later as Ridgeline completed a 6-0 run to go up 51-45 with 1:32 left.

CV’s Orland Axton (21 points) hit a long 3 with 29.6 seconds left to get the Bears within one. Andreas made 1 of 2 at the line, then Axton was fouled with 2.7 seconds left. He missed the first free throw, then missed the second on purpose – but Ridgeline senior Matthew Ehlers came down with the rebound and the Falcons held on.

“We came together as a team,” Andreas said. “I love my team. They trust me. I trust them. We just go to work. We don’t care what our record says. We’re gonna make a run now.”