Defense Makes The Difference As Lakeside Finds Way To State

Preps

Lakeside girls basketball coach Ron Miller had the Clark Fork Wampus Cats figured out Thursday in the A-4 District I championship game.

Miller, who had seen his team split two games with Clark Fork during the regular season, threw a man-to-man defense at the Wampus Cats. And that, he said, was the difference.

The Knights pulled out to a substantial lead midway through the game and withstood a Clark Fork rally to defeat the Wampus Cats 30-26 before about 400 fans at Lakeland High School.

The win gives Lakeside (12-10) the district’s lone berth to the A-4 state tournament, Feb. 9-11 at Borah High School in Boise.

“We adjusted defensively for tonight’s game,” Miller said. “We’ve been hurt by their three guards and they (Clark Fork) didn’t really adjust to it (the man defense) at all in the first half.”

That enabled Lakeside to grab a 16-10 halftime lead. Clark Fork’s guards had eight of those 10 (junior Hailey Scofield had six), but the Wampus Cats shot just 20 percent before halftime.

Clark Fork coach Mark Stevens agreed that Lakeside’s defense was the difference.

“They ran man-to-man on us and we struggled against man-to-man all year,” he said. “Defensively they played us tough and it kinda took us out of our game plan.”

The Knights received a big lift in the first half from Margeret SiJohn.

SiJohn, Lakeside’s leading scorer during the season, was held to just four points in a victory over Mullan on Wednesday.

But the sophomore, who credited some advice from a teammate, hit her first four shots of the half while the rest of the Knights shot just 25 percent.

“I had to get my arm up higher. I was shooting too flat,” SiJohn said. “I just talked to Jennifer (Niebuhr). She encouraged me and helped me out a lot.”

Clark Fork continued to struggle in the third quarter and the Knights stretched their lead, thanks to Niebuhr. The junior got loose inside for two buckets and converted a free throw with 1:43 to go in the third quarter for a 23-12 lead.

But Clark Fork scored the last five points of the quarter on a 3-pointer by Scofield and two free throws by Rachel Royster to begin its comeback.

The Wampus Cats stayed close the rest of the way and found themselves down by just three with 8 seconds to go when Scofield converted a steal into a layin.

But a free throw by Lakeside junior Ruth Brand gave the Knights a four-point lead with 4 seconds left, and Clark Fork saw its state tournament hopes end.

The win was especially gratifying for Miller, whose team struggled last year playing as an independent A-3 team.

“It’s rewarding to be able to play in a league that is more our caliber,” he said. “To come back in our first year (in A-4) and go back to state - it’s really satisfying.”

The Wampus Cats finished their season 11-11.

SiJohn finished with 11 points and 14 rebounds to lead Lakeside, while Niebuhr added eight points.

Clark Fork got 14 points from Scofield and seven from senior Rachel Royster.

Lakeside 30, Clark Fork 26

Clark Fork 8 2 7 9 26 Lakeside 6 10 7 7 30

CLARK FORK Royster 7, Longstreet 1, Storaasli 2, Scofield 14, McAllister 2, Worcester 0.

LAKESIDE Paulson 4, Nelson 0, McFadden 0, Ward 0, Niebuhr 8, Brand 3, Hammons 4, SiJohn 11.

Wrestling

Lakeland 37, Bonners Ferry 31 Brad Haney (103), Chad Haney (119) and Erik Martin (152) each had pins to lead the visiting Hawks past the Badgers.

The feature match of the night pitted Bonners Ferry’s Justin Pluid, the thirdplace wrestler at this year’s Tri-State match, against second-place finisher John Neff.

Pluid earned a 9-8 decision.

103 - B.Haney (L) p. Braden :54. 112 - D.Barnhart (B) p. Wunicshie 5:12. 119 - C.Haney (L) p. Ja.Pluid 1:45. 125 - Elliston (B) md. Hill 14-2. 130 - Liermann (B) p. S.Barnhart 1:10. 135 - Pennock (B) p. Moors 3:46. 140 - J.Corsi p. Mulvaney 2:54. 145 - Bauck (L) won by forfeit. 152 - Martin (L) p. K.Corsi 3:10. 160 - Clauson (L) d. Johnson 9-3. 171 - Ju.Pluid (B) d. Neff 9-8. 189 - Robin (L) md. Fairchild 12-4. 275 - Watts (B) won by forfeit.