Rubber Chicken: Full-strength Ferris girls withstand late charge, hold off Lewis and Clark 66-64; Saxons boys outlast LC
The Ferris girls basketball team started 3-0 but lost starting sophomore point guard Juju Lewis to an injury in a loss to Central Valley and dropped four straight.
But Lewis made her return Thursday at the Numerica Veterans Arena, helping spark a 66-64 win over Lewis and Clark in the early game of the “Rubber Chicken” spirit week nonleague contests between Greater Spokane League foes.
The boys game and annual spirit competition finished after publication.
Senior Brooke Chisholm scored 19 points, Lewis and senior Mateia Eschenbacher had 17 points apiece and the Saxons withstood a 26-point fourth quarter by LC to pull out the win.
Senior Olivia Baird led LC with 21 points – including three 3-pointers in the fourth quarter. Fellow senior Ruby Shaw had 16 and junior Rhiannon Kilgore added 10.
“We’ve got a young group, but we’ve got a few seniors that really stepped it up and took on that leadership role for us tonight,” Ferris coach Courtney Gray said. “That helped us get the young ones kind of into it and get them going as well.”
“Chicken’s always really exciting,” Eschenbacher said. “But when we go out and we have all this energy, and the crowd is blaring and the lights are blinding, it’s just 10 times more exciting. And then, especially when we get the win, everything just gets so amazing.”
“It really was a team effort,” Chisholm said. “I feel like we were playing off each other really well. We were getting the ball moving. And we were feeding off each other’s energy really great. I think that played a big part of it.”
Lewis did not start in her first game back from injury but was the first sub off the bench and provided an immediate stabilizing force at point. Fellow sophomore Ellie Robinson, a key contributor off the bench, was also injured against CV and returned Thursday.
“Being short some guards and having to move some people around, it made it a little difficult the last few games,” Gray said. “But to have them back and for them to come out with that energy and help make crucial plays at crucial times made a huge difference.”
“(Lewis) just came in and she was ready to go with amazing passes, and she gelled our team even more,” Eschenbacher said.
Chisholm’s 3 to start the fourth quarter gave Ferris (4-4) a double-digit lead, but Baird hit a couple of 3s to make it a five-point game with four minutes to go.
“I try to have a lot of versatility at every spot, so that I can, in those moments, be able to take that shot for our team,” Chisholm said.
“She’s one of our senior leaders,” Gray said of Chisholm, “and I know I can always trust on her to take a good shot and hit those big-time shots when we need them.”
LC got it to three points with Eschenbacher on the bench after her fourth foul. But Scarlett Stevens scored on a fastbreak layup, then Eschenbacher scored in the paint with 1:44 to go to make it 58-51.
Kilgore hit a corner 3 with 26.8 seconds left to get LC (3-4) within four, then Baird hit a hurried 3 with six seconds left to get LC within three at 64-61.
But Chisholm made a pair of free throws to ice it.
“They just kept coming back,” Eschenbacher said. “And it was waves of just us competing against each other.”
The two teams play in-league on Feb. 3 at LC, and it could decide which team gets a chance at district play out of the 4As.
“Playing those rivalry games, it’s going to be a fight no matter what game it is, no matter if it’s nonleague or League, it still matters for us,” Gray said. “And I mean, it’s just getting us prepared for league and ready to go out there and take them on again and beat them again.”
Eschenbacher banked a 3-pointer, Lewis hit 4 of 6 from the line and Ferris led 14-10 after one.
Shaw drained a 3 early in the second to complete a 9-5 run and tie it 19-19. Lewis replied with a couple of left-handed runners in the lane, but Shaw popped another 3 to tie it again. Robinson came off the bench for a late 3 and Ferris led 31-29 at the half.
Lewis scored on a fast break then Chisholm drained a 3 and Ferris opened a seven-point lead early on the third. Eschenbacher had seven points in the period, and the Saxons led 45-38 entering the fourth.
“I always look forward to Rubber Chicken. It’s like early Christmas,” Chisholm said. “It’s so much fun. And the energy is so great to play in.”
Boys
Ferris 50, Lewis and Clark 45: Sophomore Cole Floyd scored 21 points with 10 rebounds and the Saxons (3-4) edged the Tigers (4-4) in the late game.
“It’s never pretty,” Ferris coach Sean Mallon said. “I mean, we told our guys beforehand, ‘It’s always physical, it’s low scoring. We’re gonna have to play as hard or harder than them,’ and that’s just gotta be how these things go.”
“Our goal is to get one game after another with hard work, just basically make it a scrum out there,” Ferris senior Balien Robinson said. “We showed all four quarters, put our effort in.”
Ferris held a four- to six-point lead most of the game, but Brady Dowling’s runner with 2:40 pulled LC within two points at 47-45. Ferris guard Boston Hess made 1 of 2 at the line with 46.6 seconds to go to make it a three-point game.
LC missed a long 3-point attempt, and Floyd made 1 of 2 at the other end for a two-possession game. Ferris got a stop then junior Bijon Edwards-Kays added a free throw to supply the final score.
Ferris won the spirit competition; LC had won four of last five. Ferris leads the all-time series 22-20.
“LC has had ‘Chuck’ for like three years,” Robinson said. “It feels good to find break the cycle to bring Chuck back home for my senior year.”