Hounds rule Palouse

MOSCOW - Paint the Palouse blue and slap a Greyhound logo on it - it doesn't appear that Pullman basketball plans on regressing anytime soon, at least in terms of the border rivalry with Moscow.

The Greyhound teams - both coming off memorable postseason runs a season ago - left the Bear Den with a couple of victories in the respective teams' season openers Tuesday evening.

Emily Drake accounted for all but 10 of Pullman's points in a 32-28 victory which saw the program's leading scorer the last two years tally two of her 22 points from the final minute of play that would bump the Hounds lead to four points.

On the boys' side, there couldn't have been any more separation from the foes, both of whom appeared in their respective State's championship games in the spring. Pullman never conceded its lead in a 68-43 blowout victory, flexing its muscle much the same way it did in a five-point triumph in March's 2A state championship game victory.

Pullman boys 68, Mos. 43

Despite losing his best piece, Craig Brantner must be pretty content with what he has to work with this season. He might even have more than expected.

Brantner lost Corey Langerveld, last season's 2B State Player of the Year, now a starter at Azusa Pacific in Southern California. He returns David Ungerer, Race Martin, AJ Miles and Tanner Therrien, a quartet that accounted for all of the points not scored by Langerveld in the State finale last season.

But Tuesday, in the Greyhounds 29th consecutive victory, a junior came off the bench, and out of the woodwork to drop 12 points and snatch seven rebounds in his varsity his debut.

That player was Micah Lagerquist, one of the junior varsity team's leading scorer from last season. Most promising about Lagerquist may be the countless ways he resembles Langerveld.

"He looks like Corey, doesn't he? He's not quite as tall as Corey, but you'd think they're brothers," Brantner said.

The 6-footers, utilized primarily for their services near the hoop, also share versatility that allows them to shoot from beyond the arc.

"He (Lagerquist) is not a bad three-point shooter..." Brantner said. "He took one tonight but he doesn't have the penetration skills that Corey does but we'll work on that kind of stuff."

Pullman jumped out to a hot 7-0 start and its biggest lead came at the end of the fourth quarter, when the Greyhounds found themselves up by 25 points.

Win No. 1 came at the expense of a Moscow team that may have to rebuild from the ground up. The Bears, under first-year coach Aaron Dail, lost four of the players who started in the 4A State tournament last year. The fifth, 4A Player of the Year Nick Ellison, was on the bench with a pair of crutches, watching the Greyhounds deal his Bears a loss in their opener.

Ellison is sidelined with a knee injury that will keep him off the court for the first four to six weeks of the season.

"When you talk about putting in a 6-7 guy who will compete to be the most athletic on the team, you're really going to stretch that floor, give your guards a lot better looks," Dail said.

The Pullman bigs were able to dominate the paint with Ellison's absence, propelled by Martin's 19-point outing. The Greyhounds were also able to stretch their half of the court, and Pullman connected on 10-of-20 attempts from 3-point range, led by Miles who finished with five three-pointers and 17 points.

Though Brantner hopes to cut down on the 19 turnovers Pullman committed, he believes his team is more well-rounded in the shooting department.

"Our five starters can legitimately shoot it from the three-point line with a great percentage, then we have a few guys off the bench who can hit a few," Brantner said.

Moscow was led by Jack Akey, who converted three times from 3-point range and finished with 15 points.

PULLMAN (1-0)

Tanner Therrien 3 0-0 6, Joe Kurle 1 0-0 2, Race Martin 7 1-1 19, AJ Miles 5 2-4 17, Caleb Nilsson 0 4-5 4, Lane Stevens 0 0-1 0, Micah Lagerquist 5 2-5 12, David Ungerer 2 1-2 5, Kyle Imler 1 0-0 2. Totals 24 10-18 68.

MOSCOW (0-1)

Alec Martin 0 0-0 0, Jake Verlin 0 2-2 2, Ty Ochoa 0 1-2 1, Ryan Stevens 0 0-0 0, Chad Robertson 0 0-0 0, Jack Akey 5 2-2 15, Kellen Davis 2 2-2 6, Kaleb Gorton 2 0-1 5, Colin Niehanke 0 0-2 0, Adam Gresch 3 8-11 14. Totals 12 15-22 43.

Pullman 22 33 11 12-68

Moscow 12 15 9 7-43

Three-point goals - Miles 5, Martin 4, Imler, Akey 3, Gorton. Total fouls - Pullman 23, Moscow 20. Fouled out - Kurle, Ochoa.

Pullman girls 32, Moscow 28

Juston Pollestad may have a bit of reconfiguring to do, but his Pullman girls didn't make it look that way in the fourth quarter of Greyhounds' opener. Instead it was Moscow doing the lagging.

In the Bears' seventh contest of their 2013-14 campaign, one that was reminiscent of the team's first six games, all losses.

Winless thus far, Moscow had half a grasp on its first victory and the Bears led 17-12 at halftime. Fortunately, for Pullman, the Greyhounds' standout guard knows exactly when to turn on the jets and play her best basketball.

"We know that Emily Drake's going to be tough to stop but we gave up a three to somebody else and a lot of offensive rebounds to them so we had plenty of opportunities to score and they got to the free throw line early," Moscow coach Robin Barnes said.

Drake paced the Greyhounds scoring-wise with 22 points, but Maddi Cillay, a senior, ensured her four points came at the right time. Cillay, scoreless through almost three whole quarters, put in her first bucket with 20 seconds to go in the third, tying the game at 21-21. Another field goal from Cillay three minutes later broke the deadlock.

The Greyhounds converted all six of their free throws minutes later, including a pair from Drake that erased all hope for Moscow.

"They're pretty well-seasoned, they know what they're doing and what we expect and then that pressure situation at the end, they handled the ball really well and responded the way I'd like to see them respond at the middle of the season," Pollestad said of his young group.

But it wasn't the middle of the season for Pullman, it was the first look at a team depleted by injury and inexperience at the varsity level. One who will be without the services of graduated seniors Dakota Wickard and Anna Guo, both All-Great Northern League selections from last year.

Most importantly, it was a 1-0 start for a team that went 17-7 last season, lost once in league play and fell just short of a State tournament berth last year.

And much of that success can be credited to No. 2, the junior Drake who won All-GNL most valuable player honors as an underclassman.

"She stepped up and did more than her fair share of scoring, obviously," Pollestad said.

That's certainly an understatement, as Drake was the only Greyhound to notch more than five points.

"She knows when to find her teammates, she also knows she's one of the better scorers around."

Moscow didn't have anybody in double digits, but the Bears were paced by Monica Burnette, who connected from 3-point range three times and Joelle Stephens, who chipped in eight more points.

PULLMAN (1-0)

Emily Drake 10 2-3 22, Savannah Paul 0 3-4 3, Diana Logan 0 0-0 0, Baylie Wilson 0 0-0 0, Becca Wickard 1 1-2 3, Stephanie Winchell 0 0-1 0, Maddi Cillay 2 0-0 4, Erin Keizur 0 0-0 0. Totals 13 6-10 32.

MOSCOW (0-7)

Nona Meyer 0 0-0 0, Natalie McDaniel 0 0-0 0, Ashley Enberg 1 0-0 2, Monica Burnette 3 0-0 9, Joelle Stephens 4 0-0 8, Hailey Hill 0 0-0 0, Kim Sprenger 0 0-0 0, Jada Simpson 1 0-0 3, Faith Klocke 0 0-0 0, Chloe Quinnett 3 0-0 6, Danica Davis 0 0-0 0. Totals 12 0-0 28.

Pullman 6 6 9 11-32

Moscow 8 9 4 7-28

Three-point goals - Burnette, 3, Simpson. Total fouls - Pullman 6, Moscow, 13. Fouled out - none.2