Vikings See The Sunlight In Dark Of 30-Point Loss

Her team had just lost by 30 points to Borah, the top-ranked team in the A-1 preseason girls basketball poll, and Sheila Sharp was all smiles.

She had good reason. The Coeur d’Alene High coach got a glimpse in the season opener at the future - and it is nothing short of bright.

Fans, though, will have to be patient if Borah’s 62-32 win is any indication. There will be some long nights for the Vikings this season.

But if the young Viks put forth the same effort the final 19 games as they did Friday - all-out hustle from opening tip to final horn - that’s all Sharp can ask.

A couple of times in each half, Sharp had three freshmen and one sophomore on the court with a senior.

With the game well decided in the fourth quarter, those freshmen and sophomore Kellie Stern at least kept the fans’ attention with their dive-all-over-the-court effort.

Stern and the freshmen combined for 14 of CdA’s 16 points in the final period - that 16 doubling their total through three quarters.

Borah coach Jim Pankratz pulled outstanding senior post Alyson Pincock with 6:32 remaining. But the substitutes he had going against Sharp’s youngsters weren’t slouches.

A dominant player in Borah’s undefeated regular-season run last season, Pincock scored a game-high 24 points, 13 in the first half and nine in the third quarter when the Lions outscored the Viks 20-3 for a 51-16 lead.

Senior guard Amber Orr led the Viks with nine points, but the solidly built 5-foot-10 Stern, the lone Vik to play all 32 minutes, added seven, 11 rebounds, four steals and four assists.

The Viks’ biggest problem was shooting. It took a 7-of-16 effort from the floor in the fourth quarter to lift CdA’s 14-percent shooting through three periods (5 of 36) to 23 percent.

Borah made just 3 of 13 in the fourth quarter, its worst period of the game. The Lions were shooting 50 percent through three quarters before settling for 22 of 51 (43 percent).

“The shooting we can fix. But you can’t teach this,” Sharp said, pointing to her heart. “I think we had a lot of that tonight. Those freshmen came in a did a lot better than they did in the jamboree. We asked a lot out of (Stern). She played her guts out. She’s made some great strides from last year.”

Complementing Pincock’s play inside was wing Cicille Bates, who added 14 points.

Borah made the trip without its best player, 5-9 senior guard Summer Davis. Pankratz left her behind because she broke team rules.

“It was a little ragged, but we’ll take it (for an opener),” Pankratz said. “We’re still experimenting with some players who haven’t had any varsity experience. We can play better. Coeur d’Alene is a scrappy bunch. I give them credit for playing hard. What it boiled down to was we just had a few better athletes than they did.”

Borah will meet second-ranked Lake City at noon today in what many believe could be a preview of the state championship game.

CdA takes on Boise at 2:30.

Borah 62, Coeur d’Alene 32

Borah 17 14 20 11 - 62

Coeur d’Alene 4 9 3 16 - 32

Borah - C. Bates 14, Pincock 24, Bell 4, Phillips 6, E. Bates 8, Bronson 1, Forrey 1, Orchard 0, Wood 2, Chase 2.

Coeur d’Alene - Orr 9, Stern 7, Cultra 2, Davis 7, Vig 2, Stranger 5, Tatum 0, Bradbury 0.

, DataTimes