Saxons Tame the Wildcats

The visiting Saxons had a dominant first half performance to boost themselves over Mt. Spokane

The slippery slope continues for Mt. Spokane. After this loss to Ferris, the Wildcats are now 1-11 overall, and winless in league play at 0-6. But it is much better news for the Saxons, who are on the other end of the spectrum, now that they have extended their winning streak to five games with this victory. In Friday’s game at Mt. Spokane, Ferris was the sovereign ruler of the court, even though it was an away game. They were stout on defense and scored easily on offense, and had four scorers in double digits. The final score in this contest was a lopsided 75-55. However, though it is still a 20-point difference, Ferris had leads of around 30 points in the fourth quarter.  With less than a minute remaining, however, a number of Wildcat players caught fire from beyond the arc, and made a total of 4 threes to draw the game to its final score. Aside from the fourth quarter, however, the game belonged entirely to the Scarlet and Silver.

The first quarter was somewhat eventless. Ferris outscored the home team Wildcats 19-13, but seemed to be in control of the game. In some of the first quarter and most of the second quarter, the Saxons employed a combination of full-court press and half-court traps, which was very successful. They forced numerous turnovers and converted those turnovers into points. There defensive pressure may be the leading cause of their massive lead by halftime. The stout Saxon defense allowed just 6 points in the second quarter, and scored 22 of their own. This means that in the second quarter alone, Ferris had outscored Mt. Spokane’s point total through the entire first half. The score going into intermission was a whopping 41-19 in favor of the visiting Saxons. The third quarter was much of the same. Ferris outscored its opponent 20-11 and had a 31 point lead going into the final period of the game, the score at 61-30. With a few minutes left in the fourth and final quarter, Ferris coach Don Van Lierop subbed in a number of Saxon players that don’t always see the floor very much. These players included sophomores Bennett Burkhart, who has made a few appearances for Ferris in previous games, and Joe Arguinchona, as well as 6’8” senior Morgan Maxey (by popular demand from the Ferris student section). Arguinchona came in and within a few possessions pulled up and nailed a three-pointer, contributing to Ferris’ 14 fourth-quarter points. The last-minute run by Mt. Spokane reduced the deficit to 20 points, and the final score was 75-55.

The Saxons looked very sharp in Friday’s game, though Mt. Spokane may not be the mightiest of opponents thus far for Ferris. Regardless, Ferris took care of business in style, and showed off a very effective defensive press. The Saxons were led offensively by Chris Wilson and Riley Stockton, both with 15 points. Nine of Wilson’s came from long-range, as he drained three three-pointers (as is typical of Chris). Ferris’ Connor Halliday and Taylor Kamitomo weren’t far behind, with 11 and 10 points respectively. The Wildcats sunk 8 three-point shots as a team, though four of them came when the game was winding down.

Ferris now improves to 5-2 in league, and 7-5 overall. With this win they move to fourth place in the GSL, behind Shadle Park, Mead, and Gonzaga Prep. Next, Ferris will face off with Central Valley. The Saxons won by thirteen in the last meeting between these two teams. Go get ‘em Saxons!