SWX Right Now-Sports for Spokane, CdA, Tri-Cities, WAShadle girls capture district crown

Courtesy Spokesman-Review

Shadle Park took a tip from University and parlayed it into a 41-35 victory and the District 8 3A girls basketball championship Thursday evening at U-Hi.

As a result, the Highlanders stay home against the CBBN's No. 3 team for regional play and the Titans must travel to the league's No. 3 as teams begin their road to the 3A state tournament. Winners advance against each other.

Shadle coach Chad Dezellem said afterward that he believes his team and the Titans are two of the best 3A teams in state.

"It's unfortunate only one can go (to Tacoma)," he said.

With 2 minutes left in the first half and the game tied, Titans sophomore Kylie Collins deflected a hard pass. The ball went straight up in the air and dropped into the Highlanders' basket.

It may not have directly affected the outcome, but was indicative of what kind of night it would be for U-Hi.

The game proved to be one of relentless defenses resulting in a tough shooting night. No more than four points separated either team through three quarters.

"It was a low-scoring game that was a product of two good defensive teams," Dezellem said. "They were working hard to take Aleisha (Hathaway) away and in basketball you have to take what it gives you."

That was the case for Shadle Park. U-Hi (14-7) had recovered from its fluke bit of misfortune to take a 31-27 lead into the fourth quarter before the Highlanders (15-7 and winners of 12 of their last 15 games) ran off the first 11 points of the final period for a 38-31 lead that would prove to be the largest of the night.

During the run Paige Reidt made back-to-back baskets, one a 3-pointer. Hathaway capped it with a three-point play.

The Titans got as close as 38-35 with 2 minutes, 27 seconds remaining on a pair of Kaleigh Valley baskets. But a clutch rebound by Shadle's 5-foot-11 sophomore Peighton DeVon following a missed U-Hi layin was her most important of seven second half boards. She then scored at the other end with 1:10 remaining to effectively settle the game.

"It's hard to keep up with all our seniors but I was determined," she said. "I wanted the seniors to go to state and had to do my part."

University's defense did a good job of holding Hathaway to nine points.

"I've been shooting the three well and I think they were not wanting me to get my shot up," she said. "Peighton really stepped up for us when we needed it."

So did Kaycee Hert who scored a team 11 points, including a 3-pointer to start the fourth-quarter comeback.

Valley, a Titan junior, had a monster game with 22 points and a dozen rebounds, but it wasn't quite enough.

"I wouldn't be surprised if we played them again," Hathaway said.

On the Boys side of things...

When it came down to it, Shadle Park High just didn't have an answer for U-Hi's Zach Martin. Or enough big guys.

Martin, a 6-foot-5 senior forward, scored a career-high-tying 28 points Thursday night – including nine consecutive in a key fourth quarter stretch – to lead the host Titans to a 64-47 victory and the District 8 boys title.

Both U-Hi (17-4) and Shadle (13-9) advance to next week's regionals, but the Titans won't have to travel Tuesday.

"I don't like bus rides," Martin said, his piece of district-title memorabilia – the net – tucked safely behind his left ear.

Maybe that's why he scored 10 first-quarter points, helping the Titans to a quick 13-2 lead. And maybe that's why he popped in a 20-footer to open the second half, stretching U-Hi's four-point halftime edge to seven.

And maybe it's why, when the Highlanders, having trailed by as many as 11, clawed back within six with 5 minutes, 30 seconds remaining, Martin drilled back-to-back 3-pointers and then added a three-point play inside, all within 55 seconds.

But more than likely it was because the Highlanders, who start three guards, were stuck shadowing Martin with a shorter player.

"We just have too many weapons and (Martin) is a matchup problem," said U-Hi coach Garrick Phillips. "It's kind of pick your poison. Zack scored a bunch tonight – (Brett) Bailey's carried the scoring load most of the year – but Martin's really, really deadly."

With Shadle's 6-7 Brett Boese matching up with the Titans' leading scorer, the 6-5 Bailey (eight points), and 6-5 Nick Bettinson having to muscle inside with 6-5 Conner Johnson (10 points), Martin often was shooting over smaller defenders.

"We have enough scorers as it is," Martin said. "It's not one player. I just got lucky today."

But when you are 9 of 12 from the field, as Martin was, luck isn't that big a factor. He scored inside, he scored from the line (5 of 5 from there) and he scored outside, hitting 2 of 3 from beyond the arc. And, as he was quick to point out, when he was open, his teammates found him.

"We have so many dang weapons, it makes it hard to focus on anybody," Phillips said. "I've said this many times, but I wouldn't want to try to put together a plan to go against us."

When Martin was on the bench in the first half, dealing with three fouls, Shadle played some zone. But when Zane McDonald and Martin were able to bury a couple of 3-pointers after halftime, it was back to man.

That's what U-Hi played, and the Titans put together two second-half stretches – 4 scoreless minutes in the third quarter and a one-point, 3-minute stretch in the fourth – that helped them pull away.

Point guard Kionte Brown was Shadle's best weapon in this one, scoring a team-high 15 points, while Boese added 13 and Bettinson another 11.

 In the Idaho Girls State 5A Tournament, the Coeur d'Alene Vikings and the Lewiston Bengals both advance to the State Semi Finals. CDA will take on Centennial Friday, while Lewiston will battle Highland.