Young duo boost Lake City girls over Coeur d’Alene

There is a youth movement of sorts in the Coeur d’Alene area’s two girls basketball teams.

A quick glance down the rosters of Lake City and Coeur d’Alene appears to support that theory. The two teams feature just three seniors combined, and four freshmen see action for the Vikings.

In the first matchup between the crosstown rivals this season, it was a freshman and a sophomore who carried the Timberwolves to a 41-36 Inland Empire League victory at Lake City’s Arena on Thursday.

Lake City freshman post Katy Baker led all scorers with 16 points, including five in a 9-2 run in the fourth quarter that turned a 31-31 tie turn into a 40-33 Timberwolves lead. And sophomore Emma Hawn, who chipped in three critical free throws in the final 28 seconds, gave the Vikings fits with her perimeter defense.

Lake City coach Darren Taylor couldn’t say enough about Baker and Hawn.

“I thought (Baker) stood her ground against their two experienced posts tonight,” he said. “She won the battle.

“And Emma’s defense on (Vikings point guard) Jackie Lenz made it hard for them to run any kind of offense. I thought we really took them out of their offense on the perimeter.”

Lake City (4-6 overall, 2-3 IEL) dominated the game’s final minutes. With the score tied 33-33 with just more than 6 minutes left, the Timberwolves’ pressure forced the Vikings into one of five costly, fourth-quarter turnovers. Junior guard Richelle Fenebock got loose for a lay-in and a 35-33 lead.

The two teams went almost 3 minutes without scoring. That drought ended when Baker hit the front end of a one-and-one and seconds later took a nice back-door feed from Brittany Bemis.

That made it 38-33, and Hawn’s free throws offset a 3-pointer by Coeur d’Alene freshman guard Kama Griffitts.

“We didn’t play the best we could play, but (the Timberwolves) did what they needed to do and scored more points than us,” Vikings coach Dale Poffenroth said. “They made it happen. They did a good job, especially in the end down there.”

The teams showed their inexperience in the first half, combining for 28 turnovers – 16 by the Vikings and 12 by Lake City. Turnovers and cold shooting kept the game close. Lake City led 20-17 at halftime.

Coeur d’Alene (6-3, 4-1) suffered through a disastrous second quarter, shooting 1 of 7 from the floor and scoring only four points.

“In the first half, I think we had more turnovers than points, I think,” Poffenroth said.

Taylor was happy with his team’s effort and thinks his team can build on the win.

“This was the first time we really got after it this season. We’ve been banged up a little and have had some illness,” he said. “Whenever we play each other, it’s who is going to wear down the other team. I thought our press wore them down a little.”

Fenebock joined Baker in double figures for Lake City with 10 points. Sophomore post Deanna Dotts, who benefited from some nice passing from guards Lindsay Stark and Jenna DeLong, got some open looks inside and was the lone Viking in double figures, finishing with 12.