PHOTO GALLERY: Bears start fast, win playoff opener

Like one of the songs played on the public address system during Wednesday night’s first round playoff game in Mount Shasta, the host Bears came out rolling “Great Balls of Fire.”
The Shasta Cascade League co-champions scored the game’s first 13 points and led 20-5 at the end of the first quarter. That 15-point lead didn’t change by more than a few points in either direction the rest of the night.
With their 64-46 victory over Anderson in the books, the No. 6 seeded Bears (17-8) now have their sights set on Friday night’s Division IV quarterfinal game at No. 3 Central (15-9), scheduled to begin at 7 p.m.
Senior Shane Freeman scored a career-high 14 points against Anderson (8-19). “What a great night it was for Shane," said Mount Shasta coach Kirk Andrus. "In what was most likely his last home game as a Bear, he had his best game. He played tough inside and put to work a lot of the things he’s been working on.”
Guards Tim Jaegel and Jake Padula added 12 points each, both scoring inside and outside. Padula made 3 three-pointers; Jaegel had 5 of the Bears’ 9 steals.
Erik Thelander scored 12 points with 2 three-pointers to go with 6 rebounds and a team-leading 5 assists. “He was very unselfish,” said Andrus.
Mark Maumasi scored 6 points, led the Bears with 8 rebounds and had 3 assists. “Mark had a great game,” said Andrus. “He used his athleticism to make plays.”
Gene Kenyon and Andrew Campbell scored 4 points each.
Andrus rotated players in and out frequently. In the second quarter when three Mount Shasta players picked up their second fouls, "We played other guys, and they maintained the lead," he said. "It was great experience for them."
Andrus called the Bears’ next foe “a very good team.”
Mount Shasta lost twice to Central Valley early in the season, in overtime at CV in the season-opener and at the Yreka tournament “when we were at out worst,” Andrus said. “We’re looking forward to showing them the team we’ve become.”
Among the keys to getting past CV is “not turning the ball over against their half court trap,” Andrus said. “They’re physical and strong and athletic. We need to get good shots for each other and dictate to them what shots we’re going to take... I have every confidence we can get them, but it’s a game that’s probably going to go right down to it.”