The Spokane Owls jumped out in front of Galena 5-0 and never looked back as they went on to cruise past the Bears 52-31 Friday night in Spokane.
A blistering first quarter saw the Birds rip the nets for 24 points to grab what proved to be an insurmountable 24-8 lead en route to picking up their seventh win of the season versus sixteen losses.
The Owls used the long ball in the period to hit five threes. Freshman Isaiah Bean dropped in three of them to lead the Spokane offensive explosion with nine points, while teammate Storm Price hit two for six.
Price continued to find his way to the bucket in the second period. The 6-foot senior dropped in three field goals and made good on five free throws for eleven points to lead the Owls to a 38-14 halftime lead.
The Bears outpointed Spokane 17-14 over the final two periods but it was too little too late. The damage had been done. With the loss the Bears fell to 8-15 on the year.
Price went on to finish his night's work with 17 points to lead all Owl scorers. Bean, with 16, also had a big night. Sophomore Jack Rigdon added 8. They hit nine of fifteen free throws for sixty per cent.
Heading the Bear's offensive effort was Caleb Hall with eight points. Coby Sartin chipped in seven while Caleb Seaman dropped in six. Galena hit twelve of seventeen free throws for 71-percent.
"Galena is a big rivalry and most of the time we bring out the best in each other," Spokane Owl coach Tom Colvin said. "They had a tough night shooting but I think our kids had a lot to do with that. Our kids played with a lot of intensity on defense tonight, they also did a great job of guarding their shooters. This was a great defensive effort by our kids tonight."
"Offensively we got some big play off our bench," Colvin said. "Mark Moran, Chase Horton and Trenton Stone all gave us some great minutes while they were on the floor."
The Bears, although losing, recognized the role the Owls level of intensity played in the outcome of the game.
"You have to give credit to the Owls and Coach Colvin for having his boys ready to go, " Galena Bear's head coach Derek Wilson said. "They hit just about everything they threw up and there just didn't seem to be anything we could do to stop them."
"As for us we just couldn't get one to fall in at all," the Bear coach went on to say. "Both teams came to play, but they hit them when they needed to and we just couldn't buy one. That's just the way it goes in this game sometimes."
With district play just around the corner both coaches said that they hoped tonight's game would have a positive effect on their team.
"Our kids have been on the verge of turning things around all year. We've dropped six of eight games that we had a legitimate chance of winning," Colvin said. "I've just been waiting for our kids to kick it up to another level- I think they did that tonight. I hope it carries over into district."
"I hope tonight's loss builds a fire under our kids," Wilson said. "We lost to this team by just one point in December, on a last second shot. Our kids are capable of competing, and winning, we just need to find a way to get the ball in the bucket more consistently."
1 2 3 4 F
Galena 8 6 7 10 31
Spokane 24 14 3 11 52
Galena: C. Hall 8, C. Sartin 7, C. Seaman 6, DeMarcus Walter 4, Dallas Besperat- Cameron Caufield- Lucas Vert 2 each.
Spokane: S. Price 17, I. Bean 16, J. Rigdon 8, Cody Terrell 4, Chase Horton 3, Austin Holt- Mark Moran 2 each.
