Lc Cuts Down Highland Fast Start Propels Timberwolves Into Semifinals Of A-1 Tourney

Highland High School girls basketball coach Randy Rehrer’s worst nightmare was painfully played out in front of him Thursday afternoon.

For Lake City coach Dave Fealko, his Timberwolves had an opening first half in the State A-1 Tournament that coaches and players dream about.

Reality visited both teams in the second half. By then, however, Lake City’s 37-13 halftime lead more than stood the test as the T-Wolves held off the Rams 57-41 at Albertson Activities Center at Albertson College.

Top-ranked and tournament favorite Lake City (22-1 overall) meets Blackfoot (18-6) in the semifinals tonight at 5:45 PST. Blackfoot pulled a mild upset over Borah, 53-47.

In the other semifinal, Pocatello (22-2), a 51-50 overtime winner over Nampa (17-8), meets Centennial (22-2), a 72-45 victor over Madison (12-14).

In loser-out games today, Highland (20-6) plays Borah (18-6), while Nampa meets Madison.

Lake City 57, Highland 41: In many ways this opener was a case of deja vu.

Rehrer’s team met Fealko’s final Coeur d’Alene team in the state final last year.

And the first half and the final score were eerily similar. CdA raced to a big first-half margin last year before holding off the physical Rams 59-44.

“All the fears that you go into a state tournament with - about starting off slow with a quality team like Lake City - came true,” Rehrer said. “Basically we played terrible and they got out to a good start, and the rest of the game we’re playing catch-up.”

Lake City came into the game having been off 11 days - the longest break going into state of all qualifiers.

The Timberwolves, though, looked anything but sluggish in the opening 16 minutes - at least after missing their first six shots.

Three baskets in transition by junior Natalie Telford and a 3-pointer by 6-foot senior post Shannon Riggs put LC ahead 10-3 midway through the quarter.

A basket in the key by Riggs on a nice feed from freshman Lindsay Herbert extended LC’s widest first- quarter margin to 18-5.

“That was important for us to get a good start,” said Fealko, who knew his team would need much of its lead to hold off the emotionally charged Rams in the second half.

The fatal blow came in the second quarter when LC outscored Highland 19-0 to open the period. Wing Nicole Nipp drove into the key and made a soft jumper to give the T-Wolves their biggest lead at 37-8 with 2:03 remaining before halftime.

Highland finally scored in the quarter, running off the final five points as LC went scoreless after its run.

All five LC starters contributed during the first-half onslaught. Riggs led with nine of her 11 points, Dodge had eight of her game-high 18, and Nipp, Telford and point guard guard Jennifer Kerns had six each.

A telling statistic was Highland’s turnovers. The Rams committed 34, 21 in the first half. At least 20 of the turnovers can be directly attributed to LC’s in-your-back-pocket pressure, and the greater balance of the others were committed as a result of fatigue caused by the pressure.

“I thought we did a good job in our pressure forcing them to make the passes from half court,” Fealko said. “I was a little surprised that the pressure bothered them that much.”

LC’s offense, in transition and half court, was fluid in the first half. The T-Wolves made the extra pass, often finding teammates wide open on the backside of Highland’s defense.

Dodge, who at 6-feet anchors the back of LC’s full-court pressure, played superbly. She had a teamleading six steals, five blocked shots, five assists and nine rebounds.

Kerns had praise for Dodge and Telford.

“In the first half we saw all the holes; we passed well and shot well,” said Kerns, who dished out six assists, including a couple of nolook feeds. “Natalie (Telford) got us out to a (good) run.”

“They didn’t surprise us with anything they did and that’s probably the thing that’s most upsetting to me,” Rehrer said. “We did not do the things we’d worked on. To our girls’ credit they didn’t give up, and I felt we outplayed them in the second half.”

The Rams outscored LC 28-20 in the second half.

Lake City 57, Highland 41

Lake City 18 19 11 9 - 57 Highland 8 5 15 13 - 41

LAKE CITY Hatrock 2, Telford 7, Kerns 6, Herbert 7, Riggs 11, Dodge 18, Nipp 6.

HIGHLAND Proctor 3, Parker 5, Bartu 4, DesFosses 2, K. Hayes 10, Bannister 2, Hoge 2, A. Hayes 6, Swallow 7.

LAKE CITY Hatrock 2, Telford 7, Kerns 6, Herbert 7, Riggs 11, Dodge 18, Nipp 6.

HIGHLAND Proctor 3, Parker 5, Bartu 4, DesFosses 2, K. Hayes 10, Bannister 2, Hoge 2, A. Hayes 6, Swallow 7.

Pocatello 51, Nampa 50 (OT)

Junior guard Amy Humble supplied 20 points and senior guard Ann Radmall 14 to help the Indians past the Bulldogs.

Nampa led Pocatello by 10 points with 2:30 left in the game, but Radmall hit three 3-pointers to tie the score at 40 in regulation.

Nampa guard Tonna Woolery brought the Bulldogs to within two points with a 3-point lob, and they followed up with a free throw but Pocatello held on to its advantage. The Indians outrebounded Nampa 26-17.

Blackfoot 53, Borah 47

Sophomore Ginger Giest scored 16 points and junior Stefany Layton added 13 as the Broncos beat the Lions.

After a see-saw first half that had Blackfoot leading just 23-22 at the break - and Borah ahead at times in the third quarter - the Broncos went up by eight points on Layton’s 3-point field goal early in the fourth quarter.

The Lions were led by sophomore guard Sumer Davis with 18 points and sophomore post Alysson Pincock with nine.

Centennial 72, Madison 45

Senior forward Lynne Overly was high-point player with 20 as the Patriots crushed the Bobcats.

Centennial started putting up points early in the game and had a commanding 41-17 edge by the half. Madison still held its ground under the boards, gathering up 31 rebounds to Centennial’s 34.

Senior forward Nikki Anderson supplied 13 points for the Bobcats, and junior guard Shandi Fujimoto came up with 10.