Defending State 4A Champion Gonzaga Prep made some unusual lumps on New Year’s weekend. The Bullpups traveled to Arizona for the Hoophall West tournament against very tough competition and came home with three losses, failing to reach 50 points in any game.
Coach Matty McIntyre hopes the experience gained from the trip — on and off the court — will pay off as he prepares his team for the rigors of the Greater Spokane League season and beyond.
The offense showed — for a moment — 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 varsity team 67-60.
Jack Pierce added 19 points, going 7 of 9 at the line, and Dylynn Groves scored 10 points.
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 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 there’s a lot of balance in the GSL, there’s no standout team,” McIntyre said. “It’s going to be a dogfight every night. It’s going to be a lot of fun to see who comes out on top.”
Carney entered the game averaging just over 11 points per game.
“He shot great,” McIntyre said. “He was a great shot from behind the line. But they looked clean. His teammates were opening him up. But he was scary.”
Carney knocked down three 3-pointers in the first quarter, Jack Pierce added a pair and G-Prep led 23-14 after one.
3s dried up for the Bullpups in the second quarter. Bell hit a pair of 3s late in the frame and the Titans trailed 37-30 at the break.
A 3 by Sama Delegarda made it a four-point game early in the period, but Carney answered with back-to-back 3s and Pierce completed a three-point play to make it 52-41.
Carney drained another 3 with two minutes left in the quarter to extend 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 close the gap, but Pierce stemmed the tide with four consecutive free throws.
Bell fouled out with 2:50 left in the game in an eight-point game. But neither team scored over the next two minutes as the Bullpups tried to take the air out of the ball. All seven of G-Prep’s points came in the fourth.
“All 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’re looking forward to getting back to work (Saturday) morning.”
Girls
Gonzaga Prep 65, University 46: Junior Charlee Peterson scored 19 points with 11 rebounds and led four in double figures as the Bullpups (11-0, 1-0) topped the Titans (8-4, 1-1) in the opener.
Laura Thompson scored 15 points, while Belle Hernandez and Aylah Cornwall added 13 points 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 it hard to guard when you have a bunch of kids that are 10 to 15 years old on average, you can’t really find one or two people.”
Hernandez had six points as G-Prep led 17-5 after one. The Bullpups went on a 12-0 run in the second to open it, but the Titans went on a 15-4 run to trail 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.
“Big credit to U-Hi. It was 31-5 at one point in the game, they could have rolled over,” Arte said. “But this is Spokane—nothing is easy in this town.
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