Rivals battle to split

PULLMAN - Pullman boys' basketball coach Craig Brantner needed only a single word to sum up the reason for his team's win Friday night - execution.

The Greyhounds, exiting the locker room at halftime with a four-point lead, used a late surge to pull away from visiting Moscow and claim a 71-49 nonleague victory during an interstate rivalry meeting between the two programs.

The Pullman girls were unable to pull off the sweep, falling to the Bears by a score of 60-48 in the earlier matchup.

"At the end of the game, I felt like we executed the things that gave us easy baskets," Brantner said. "I'm just happy with how we executed down the stretch and got good looks and good shots from a variety of different people."

Junior Jake Wells dominated the court in the final two quarters, scoring 22 of his 35 points during the span to spark the Greyhounds down the stretch.

"I couldn't believe how many points he put up, I thought we did an all right job defending him and challenging him at the rim," Moscow coach Josh Uhrig said. "He's just a good player who finds a way to get it done. We kept him in check on the outside, but he was beating us and getting to the lane. You've got to pick and choose your battles with that type of player."

Just like any rivalry game, both teams adopted a physical approach, but the undersized Moscow lineup had difficulty adjusting to 6-foot-5 Jared Holstad and 6-foot-4 Cole Hawes in the paint.

"We did want to post up our guys like Cole and Jared early," Brantner said. "The first two play calls we had tonight were to try to get Jared easy baskets."

The Bears (1-2) kept pace with the Greyhounds in the first half thanks to a strong shooting performance from Cooper Stephens and Gabe Quinnett, who both ended the night in double figures.

"With them, they're just scrappy," Brantner said. "They play offense long enough that they're looking for a mistake defensively and they do a good job of attacking that mistake."

Pullman (3-1) led 30-26 entering the third quarter, but the team capitalized on several mismatches down low to gain ground in the rebounding battle and snag a 14-point lead at the end of the period.

"We knew Pullman would be a physical team, we're not so much but we're trying to be," Uhrig said. "We've been preaching in practice that we've got to be stronger and more physical. Pullman killed us on the boards, I saw that physical play but I liked how our kids fought through it."

Moscow has a chance to claim revenge when Pullman travels to the Bear Den on Wednesday for a 5:30 p.m. meeting. But first, the Greyhounds will make the trip to Clarkston for the squad's Great Northern League opener on Tuesday at 7 p.m.

"Those games are always interesting, we're looking forward to that," Brantner said.

MOSCOW (1-2)

Anthony Lopez 0-0 0-0 0, Cooper Stephens 5-13 0-0 11, Peyton Broenneke 2-3 4-4 9, Danny Johnson 2-4 1-2 5, Ryan Makamson 0-3 0-0 0, Gabe Quinnett 5-13 1-3 15, Derek Rauch-Edwards 2-7 2-4 7, Ben Postell 1-2 0-0 2, Nick Pancheri 0-0 0-0 0, Benny Kitchel 0-5 0-0 0. Totals 17-37 8-12 49.

PULLMAN (3-1)

Cole Hawes 3-9 4-6 10, Jake Wells 12-29 8-13 35, Isiah Strong 1-4 0-0 2, Zane Wilson 7-8 0-1 14, Ethan Kramer 1-4 0-0 2, Jared Holstad 1-3 1-2 3, Brandon Lees 0-2 0-0 0, James Pitzer 0-2 0-0 0, Konner Kinkade 1-2 0-0 3. Totals 26-41 13-21 71.

Moscow 11 15 10 13-49

Pullman 14 16 20 21-71

Three-point goals - Kinkade, Stephens, Broenneke, Rauch-Edwards, Wells 3, Quinnett 4. Total fouls - Moscow 20, Pullman 19. Fouled out - Rauch-Edwards.

GIRLS

Moscow 60, Pullman 48

It was another tense edition of the rivalry series, even if the final score may not have reflected it.

With Moscow clinging to a 43-41 lead late in the fourth quarter and both teams facing foul trouble, it appeared as though bragging rights between the two programs might be settled at the charity stripe.

Instead, a hectic series of events produced a 15-0 scoring run that allowed the Bears to pull away for a 60-48 nonleague victory on the road.

"A great win for the program, it's always a very tightly contested game," Moscow coach Robin Barnes said. "Even though they were coming back on us there, I thought our girls showed a lot of composure and some girls made some shots. But it all started on defense and getting some rebounds, that's what made a difference."

The scoring spree began with a pair of free throws from junior Makena Rauch, which gave the Bears (2-4) some breathing room. A traveling violation for Pullman (1-3) produced a turnover which led to a pivotal 3-pointer from Hannah Broyles on the other side of the court.

With a high-intensity defense forcing a barrage of turnovers, Katie Kitchel added a pair of baskets for Moscow to help her squad pull away late in the contest.

"We got some steals at the top of the key and got the transition going," Barnes said. "I had a few conversations individually with a few players. We needed a timeout to remind them we could play better than what we were doing."

The Greyhounds had difficulty defending against Broyles, who led all scorers with 23 points in the win.

"She was very hard for us to stop," Pullman coach David Cofer said. "She had a really good shot from outside and got to the free throw line a lot."

Despite the loss, Cofer was proud of his team for battling back from a 15-point deficit and adjusting to Moscow's quick offensive pace.

"Just grit, we were tired but we found a way to push through," Cofer said. "They did a really good job of responding to some adjustments that we made and then we started forcing some turnovers."

A free throw from Rian Clear made it a two-point game in the fourth quarter, but it would be the closest the Greyhounds would come for the remainder of the contest, as the double-digit scoring spree proved too much to overcome.

"We came out kind of flat, they turned us over," Cofer said. "They did a good job of forcing us out of our rhythm and it took us a while to get back."

Pullman has a chance to bounce back Tuesday night during a 5:30 p.m. meeting with Clarkston, while Moscow travels to Coeur d'Alene on the same day for a 7 p.m. matchup.

"We put in a lot of new things with a full week of practice," Cofer said. "We hadn't ran them in a game yet, so we saw those growing pains. We'll continue to work on those and watch film in an effort to get better."

MOSCOW (2-4)

Megan Watson 2 0-0 4, Makena Rauch 1 2-3 4, Hannah Broyles 6 9-10 23, Payton Claus 0 0-0 0, Sidney Carscallen 1 0-1 3, Gracey Meyer 2 5-7 9, Rhea Anderson 0 0-0 0, Blayne Waters 0 0-0 0, Megan Jung 2 0-0 6, Katie Kitchel 5 0-2 11. Totals 19 16-23 60.

PULLMAN (2-2)

Kelsey Nestegard 5 5-5 17, Peyton Teevens 2 0-2 4, Alexus Haugen 0 0-0 0, Caitlyn Hansen 0 0-0 0, Brianna Reyes 0 0-0 0, Brenna Utzman 3 1-1 8, Tianah Sanders 2 1-3 5, Meghan McSweeny 1 0-0 2, Hallie McDougle 0 0-0 0, Hailey Talbot 0 0-0 0, Rian Clear 2 6-9 12, Addie Hawes 0 0-0 0. Totals 15 13-20 48.

Moscow 18 8 17 17-60

Pullman 8 11 14 15-48

Three-point goals - Nestegard 2, Clear 2, Utzman, Broyles 2, Kitchel, Jung 2, Carscallen. Total fouls - Moscow 19, Pullman 20. Fouled out - Haugen, Meyer.

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Joshua Grissom can be reached at jgrissom@dnews.com or on Twitter @JoshuaGNews.