Vikings’ Bench Comes Front And Center Cda Overcomes Loss Of O’Dowd With 67-48 Rout Of Nampa

Lukas O’Dowd? Who needs him?

The Coeur d’Alene High boys basketball team wants him and will need the 6-foot-7 senior forward, but if Saturday is any indication, the Vikings should survive while their star recovers from emergency hernia surgery.

And the Vikings could be better at the end of the season by playing without O’Dowd for the next three to four weeks.

Coeur d’Alene had plenty of contributions as the Viks smothered Nampa in the fourth quarter for a 67-48 decision at North Idaho College’s Christianson Gym.

“I’ll get to play some kids that maybe wouldn’t have seen some time,” CdA coach Larry Bieber said. “It’s going to help us develop our bench. That’s the thing I was most concerned about going into the season. So far I’ve been happy with the kids who’ve come off the bench.”

The Viks (1-1) switched to a matchup 2-3 zone in the final period and the Bulldogs (0-2) never adjusted. CdA didn’t allow a field goal in the fourth quarter as Nampa missed all 12 shots.

“We play man-to-man all the time so when we get into the zone the kids go with the man-to-man principles,” Bieber said. “So we’re still denying on the wings and we’re doing all the things in our man-to-man. We wanted to see if they could shoot from the outside with a hand in their face.”

And Nampa couldn’t. Seven Viks, meanwhile, scored in the decisive quarter.

Nampa’s last field goal, a 3-pointer, put the Bulldogs ahead at 44-43 with 2:53 left in the third quarter.

But Nampa would score just four more points - all free throws. The Bulldogs’ two foul shots in the fourth quarter came with 3:02 left and the game already decided.

CdA threatened to blow open the game in the first half when senior point guard Jim Rupp scored 17 of his game-high 22 points.

A 3-pointer by David Wood gave CdA its biggest lead in the second quarter at 28-19. But Nampa regrouped over the final 5:41 to pull within 35-32 at halftime.

Senior post Kevin DeArmond stepped up big in the first half when the Viks’ other post, Casey Hoorelbeke, picked up his second foul early. Hoorelbeke had to sit out 13:32 of the first half.

DeArmond supported Rupp with 12 points and a team-high eight rebounds. Wood added 10 points and five assists.

In the second half, Hoorelbeke and DeArmond teamed up inside to cause Nampa fits. They combined for 14 points, and DeArmond was perfect on four attempts in the low post.

Coeur d’Alene 67, Nampa 48

Nampa 19 13 14 2 - 48

Coeur d’Alene 20 15 16 16 - 67

NAMPA - Moss 21, Latter 7, Durflinger 0, Paul 8, Ward 2, Sullivan 0, Harris 0, Johansen 4, Fouret 0, Fuson 6, Delapaz 0.

COEUR d’ALENE - Fetzer 2, Je. Rupp 7, Witten 2, Ji. Rupp 22, Wood 10, DeArmond 12, Hoorelbeke 6, Sigler 4, Chambers 0.

, DataTimes