After Dozens Of Interruptions, T-Wolves Prevail Lake City Barely Holds Off Sandpoint In Foul- And Free-Throw-Filled Game

If you weren’t one of the 350 people who attended the Lake City-Sandpoint boys basketball game Tuesday night, here’s a brief recap:

Dribble, dribble, pass, dribble, foul, free throw. Repeat.

If you were in Lake City’s gym, don’t be alarmed: Your hearing should return to normal in a few days.

After a combined sixty fouls and 83 free throws, Lake City notched a 69-63 Inland Empire League win over the Bulldogs.

“Obviously, there were a lot of fouls,” said Lake City coach Jim Winger, whose club improved to 7-6 overall, 1-1 in IEL play. “I’m not sure it needed to be called that tight. I didn’t think the game was that wild or hairy.”

Five Sandpoint players fouled out. The Bulldogs (6-7, 0-1) finished the final 4.9 seconds with four players.

“That’s the way the game was officiated,” Sandpoint coach Jack Dyck said. “I’ve kept my mouth shut for four years. I’m not about to open it now.”

Gabe Hern, who finished with 18 points, scored 12 in the first quarter to help Lake City to a 19-9 lead.

The margin stayed at or near double digits until the Bulldogs mounted a late comeback, fueled in part by LC’s silly fouls and poor free-throw shooting.

Down 61-45 with 2:20 left, Sandpoint cashed in at the foul line and with three 3-pointers to pull within four points at 67-63. A pair of Chad Bramlet free throws in the closing 10 seconds sealed LC’s win.

“We didn’t finish the game at all,” Winger said. “We’re still doing some things that are early season mistakes. I understand we have young kids, but it’s still errors we don’t need to be doing.”

The Timberwolves, though much shorter, hammered Sandpoint on the boards in the first half, particularly at their offensive end.

LC sophomore J.J. Barlow had a big second half, scoring all 18 of his points, and point guard Jack Reiswig contributed nine points and a solid floor game.

“The game had no flow, so it’s hard to evaluate it,” Winger said. “I don’t think it went more than 30 seconds without a stop.”

Sandpoint played without leading scorer Carson Jeffres, who is expected to return Friday after having knee surgery. Also, Stephen Palmer sat out the first half for disciplinary reasons.

“We knew we had to get a hand in the face of their shooters in transition, and then keep Hern and their other guys off the offensive boards,” Dyck said. “We didn’t do that.”

Caleb Bowman scored 18 points for the Bulldogs. Palmer added 12 and gave Sandpoint an inside attack after the Bulldogs settled for jump shots against LC’s 1-3-1 zone in the first half.

Lake City 69, Sandpoint 63

Sandpoint 9 10 17 27 - 63 Lake City 19 12 15 23 - 69

Sandpoint - Boren 0, Nieman 7, Bowman 18, Eller 7, Herrington 13, Palmer 12, Kleinert 6, Faulkner 0.

Lake Ciy - Camantigue 2, Cheeley 11, J. Reiswig 9, Barlow 18, Anderson 2, Bramlet 2, Stroh 1, R.J. Reiswig 0, Hern 18, Morris 5, Nipp 1.

, DataTimes