Skidmore Carries Lakeland

Prep basketball

Lakeland forward Taylor Skidmore knows he has a temporary lease on a starting position. But he played like he owned it Thursday night.

Skidmore started in place of Jared Mudge, whose fractured ankle from a football injury has taken longer than expected to heal. So Mudge and Skidmore swapped roles.

“It’s still his spot,” Skidmore said after scoring a team-high 13 points to lead Lakeland to a 55-50 victory over Post Falls in a non-league boys basketball game.

The left-handed junior made his first four shots, three in the first quarter, as the Hawks trailed just once in the first half.

Mudge, playing with a noticeable limp, complemented Skidmore with all seven of his points in the second half.

“He did a heckuva job,” Lakeland coach Trent Derrick said of Skidmore. “We made a commitment today not to play (Mudge) much because of the injury. It might be a good thing for us because now we see Taylor coming in there and playing (well).”

Lakeland (2-1) did a fine job of withstanding a run in each half by the Trojans (1-2).

The Hawks built an 18-11 lead just moments into the second quarter. But the Trojans rallied, scoring 10 straight. The final three points of the run came on a 3-pointer by Nick Meeks that gave Post Falls what would be a short-lived 21-18 advantage with 4:10 left before halftime.

Lakeland answered with an 8-0 spurt to close out the half.

Post Falls’ Josh Miller made a 3-pointer to pull the Trojans within 33-31 at the 3:54 mark of the third quarter. Lakeland earned a standoff in the period to take a 40-35 lead into the fourth.

And the Hawks appeared to have things under control when Mike Moore drained a 3-pointer to extend the lead to 48-37 with 5:58 left.

The Trojans were cold from the floor most of the game, and their 4-of-16 effort in the final quarter didn’t help. Still, Post Falls managed one final surge.

Post Falls scored 10 straight points in a 3-minute span to pull within 48-47. Chad Quesnell, showing no effects of an irregular heartbeat problem that forced him to leave the Trojans’ game Saturday in the first quarter, scored two layups and a 3-pointer in the run. He finished with a game-high 19.

Lakeland’s Kurt Reese scored an easy basket inside and put in a short shot off a missed foul shot in the final 1:27 as the Hawks fended off the Trojans.

“I was really pleased that we handled their pressure,” Derrick said. “We set a goal to stay under 16 (turnovers).”

Lakeland committed 17 turnovers. Post Falls finished with 19, but had 10 in the first quarter.

Post Falls coach Wade Quesnell applauded Lakeland’s effort against his team’s pressure. But he pointed out that the Trojans didn’t get as many opportunities to apply fullcourt pressure due to their poor shooting (19 of 53).

Lakeland 55, Post Falls 50

Lakeland 15 11 14 15 - 55

Post Falls 9 12 14 15 - 50

LAKELAND - Bertsch 8, Moore 5, Rasor 10, Mudge 7, Skidmore 13, Ploetzer 3, Reese 9, Lunsford 0, Hansen 0.

POST FALLS - Klaudt 2, Meeks 10, Quesnell 19, Christiansen 0, Fehling 2, Miller 7, Leary 0, McArthur 0, Thornley 10.

Pr. Rvr 58, C. Frk 49 (2OT)

Kevin Behnke tossed in 17 points and grabbed 17 rebounds to lead the Priest River Spartans to a double-overtime non-league win over the visiting Clark Fork Wampus Cats.

Luke Baker hit a pair of technical-foul free throws to spark the Spartans to a 14-5 run in the second overtime.

Nate Stutzke had 15 points to lead the Wampus Cats.

CF9 11 13 16 3 5 - 49

PR14 9 11 22 3 14 - 58

CLARK FORK - N.Stutzke 15, Klontz 6, B.Stutzke 8, Beers 4, Hasten 2, Chanqala 4.

PRIEST RIVER - Baker 6, Ackley 7, Behnke 17, Kershaw 5, Zmuda 4, Bryson 17. Totals 25-45

Girls

LC Sophs 36, Cl. Fork 35

Tiffani Frei scored a game-high 21 points to lead the visiting Lake City sophomore team to a non-league win over the Wampus Cats.

Jill Miller’s nine points topped Clark Fork.

Alexis Domebo scored 10 for the Timberwolves.

LC Sophs 12 1 18 5 - 36

Clark Fork 6 8 10 11 - 35

LAKE CITY SOPHOMORES - Frei 21, Lien 0, Edington 6, Cook 1, Baldwin 0, Sande 0, Jost 0, Domebo 10, Osmun 0.

CLARK FORK - Ruen 0, Miller 9, Manderscheid 7, Scofield 2, Dugan 2, Saunders 7, Decker 0, Hess 8.

Wallace 38, Mullan 36

Lindsay Carrico’s 3-pointer with 7 seconds left to play lifted the Miners to a win over the visiting Tigers.

Renee Sleezer topped the Miners with 13 points, while Carrico finished with 10 points.

Katie Elwood paced Mullan with 12 points.

Mullan 6 13 10 7 - 36

Wallace 14 6 7 11 - 38

MULLAN - Winstead 7, Autio 8, Hegbloom 9, Elwood 12, S. Hegbloom 0, Hoven 0, Garitone 0.

WALLACE - Sleezer 13, Branstetter 4, Striker 0, Gregory 2, Pommerening 0, Glover 4, Deahn , Krulitz 5, Carrico 10, Cantamessa 0.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Photo