Waters carries No. 3 Lewiston to top CdA in OT

The way Lewiston coach Pat Teichmer and Coeur d’Alene coach Dale Poffenroth both figure, their teams could end up playing each other five times this season.

If the other four games are anything like the first one Thursday, buckle your seat belts.

In a rematch of the 2010 Idaho 5A state championship girls basketball game, third-ranked Lewiston pulled away from No. 1-ranked Coeur d’Alene 55-48 in overtime in an Inland Empire League game at Elmer Jordan Court.

Lewiston (4-0, 1-0 IEL) made 11 of 13 free throws in the 4-minute overtime to hold off CdA (4-2, 1-1).

Teichmer wasn’t sure what level his team was at after three relatively easy victories.

“We’ve played a couple of teams that aren’t near the caliber of Coeur d’Alene,” Teichmer said. “We really haven’t run a lot of offense, to be honest. Mostly we’ve (run) the teams out of the gym so far. I told Coach Poff (before the game) we were looking forward to playing them. We need to know somewhere where we’re at.”

Teichmer has to like what he discovered. Junior forward transfer Chelsea Waters was especially big for the Bengals, finishing with a game-high 19 points and five rebounds. She took advantage of a size mismatch inside, using three nice spin moves for easy baskets.

“It didn’t really shock me,” Teichmer said of Waters’ play. “A couple of her moves, they were kind of wow moments, that’s for sure. She’s a great player. (We’d) seen glimpses of it in practice.”

Waters impressed Poffenroth.

“She did some things that I have not seen her do before,” Poffenroth said.

After the teams played to a 23-all tie at halftime, Lewiston asserted control early in the third quarter, building its biggest lead at 34-26.

CdA switched from a 1-3-1 zone to man to man, and defense pulled the Vikings back into the game. Two free throws from Erin Legel gave the Vikings the lead at 37-36 with 6:03 to go in the fourth quarter.

A spin move in the key by Waters extended a Lewiston lead to 42-37 with 3:43 to go.

Heather Baughman scored off a pass from Carli Rosenthal as CdA pulled within 42-39 with 2:48 remaining. Then Kyeli Parker hit a tying 3-pointer with 1:40 remaining, and the score remained knotted at 42 going into overtime.

Lewiston had a chance to win it in regulation, but a 10-foot jumper by Tanis Fuller rolled out.

The Bengals grabbed the lead in overtime and never relinquished it.

The 6-foot-3 Rosenthal scored 12 of her 14 points in the first half to go with 14 rebounds and three steals. Lewiston’s 6-3 post, Savannah Blinn, had 13 points, eight rebounds and four blocked shots.

“I’m pleased with the effort we had,” Poffenroth said. “We’re getting better. We played really well. There’s nothing to be ashamed of.”