No. 1 Kellogg Whistles Past Coeur D’Alene, 61-56

Now that two free throws are awarded for each personal foul after 10, fouls have taken on a new meaning in high school basketball.

The rule change helped Kellogg, ranked No. 1 among state A-2 teams, to a 61-56 victory over Coeur d’Alene in a non-league game Tuesday night at Viking Gym.

“It really hurt us tonight,” Vikings coach Larry Bieber lamented, comparing the 32 fouls called against Coeur d’Alene to 14 for the visitors.

“We had (the Wildcats) way out of whack (offensively), but we couldn’t get any calls,” Bieber added. “They were pressing the entire game; they’re reaching just as much as we are, but we’re not getting any calls. We breathe on their kid going to other way and we’re in trouble.”

Kellogg coach Tony Kerfoot agreed the rule played a factor in the game.

The Wildcats sank 20 of 39 free throws, including 12 of 21 in the fourth quarter. The Vikings were 10 of 15 at the line, including 3 of 5 in the second half.

“It does hurt,” Kerfoot said of 10 fouls. “It teaches you’ve got to back off. Good defense is designed to keep the other team from running their offense.”

Offensively, Coeur d’Alene took Kellogg out of its game plan in the second half.

And that’s why Kerfoot had the Wildcats spread the court for the last 6:45 of the game.

“We didn’t execute hardly at all in the second half,” Kerfoot said. “We can shoot our free throws a lot better than we did tonight.

“We couldn’t get into (our offense). We had to try and space it and make them come after us.”

Coeur d’Alene sophomore post Luke O’Dowd was one of three Vikings who fouled out. O’Dowd fell into immediate foul trouble, drawing his second personal with 5:52 left in the first quarter.

Senior forward Jesse Hoorelbeke, nursing a sore ankle, came off the Vikings bench to lift Coeur d’Alene late in the first quarter. His rebound conversion at 2:08 gave the Vikings a 12-11 lead and another inside basket at 19 seconds made it 16-11.

But Kellogg rallied in the last 4:47 of the first half, outscoring Coeur d’Alene 17-3, with 12 of those points coming thanks to six turnovers by the Vikings.

The last miscue gave Kellogg possession 2 seconds before halftime. The Wildcats inbounded the ball to standout senior center Casey Fisher, who banked a 20-foot baseline shot high off the glass for a 33-25 lead.

Fisher scored 15 of his game-high 20 points in the first half. He also grabbed 13 rebounds and blocked three shots as Kellogg outrebounded Coeur d’Alene 41-37.

“We try to hustle and scrap and create every opportunity for ourselves that we can,” Kerfoot said.

The Vikings chipped away at the lead in the second half and managed to tie the game at 45-45 off a fastbreak layup by Ryan Corbeill.

But a three-point play by guard Jeremy Behm gave Kellogg the lead for keeps with 5:37 left.

Kellogg, which plays host to Wallace on Thursday, improved to 4-1. Coeur d’Alene (3-4) are idle until Dec. 27-28 when Sugar-Salem and Colville visit for the Christmas Classic.

Kellogg 61, Coeur d’Alene 56

Kellogg 11 22 12 16 - 61

Coeur d’Alene 16 9 16 15 - 56

KELLOGGMercado 5, Corkill 2, Behm 17, Hansen 2, Kohal 6, Fisher 20, Rice 2, Carlson 6, Little 1.

COEUR d’ALENEJ. Davis 9, Milionis 0, Lowry 0, Corbeill 16, Lee 6, B. Davis 1, Hermstad 4, Kovatch 0, Peebles 2, O’Dowd 12, Hoorelbeke 6.

Pullman 71, Lewiston 58

Jeremiah Donati scored 17 of his 27 in the second quarter and made 10 of 14 from the floor as the Greyhounds (5-2) beat the visiting Bengals (3-4).

Tim Wang of Pullman scored nine in the third quarter and joined teammate Matt Wilde with six rebounds. Lewiston’s Ben Feider scored 12 of his 20 points in the third quarter and had seven rebounds.

Lewiston 10 14 18 16 - 58

Pullman 8 21 26 16 - 71

LEWISTON Charlo 2, Perez 0, Frei 0, Farris 7, Steele 9, Frasier 2, Albright 3, Williams 8, Egland 2, Lorentz 5, Feider 20, Johnson 0.

PULLMAN Svingen 0, Holmes 0, Schotzko 2, Berry 4, Wang 11, Donati 27, Wilde 3, Mirkovich 16, Shinall 0, Cummings 0, Marong 0, Watters 8.

Wrestling

Pins by Dennis Liermann (140), Travis Liermann (145) and Ken Corsi (152) launched Bonners Ferry to a 49-21 non-league win over Libby, Mont.

Libby led 21-6 before the Badgers rallied.