Bonners Ferry Falls In Title Game Mistakes In Third Quarter Prove Crucial In 55-48 Loss To Shelley

Bridesmaids again.

An assortment of critical third- quarter mistakes proved too costly for the Bonners Ferry Badgers as the Shelley Russets capped an undefeated season with a thrilling 55-48 victory in the State A-2 girls basketball championship game Saturday evening at Albertson Activities Center at Albertson College.

For a second straight year, the Badgers (18-8) had to settle for runners-up honors.

The Russets gave coach Newel Sargent his second state girls title, third overall and first unbeaten year (23-0) in 23 seasons as a head coach.

In the game for third place, Preston held off Sugar-Salem 39-36.

Moscow, a 41-40 loser to Shelley on the first day, finished strong to capture the consolation title with a 53-43 decision over Kuna. Moscow ends the season at 17-8.

Shelley 55, Bonners Ferry 48

The Badgers will look back at the third quarter as the deciding factor.

It was the worse stretch of ball the Badgers played all tourney. Consider:

They were 0 for 10 from the field.

They made just 2 of 9 attempts from the free-throw line in the final 1:42 when Shelley got itself into deep foul trouble.

They allowed the much taller Russets four weakside rebound baskets after holding Shelley to just two offensive rebounds and putbacks in the first half.

By third quarter’s end, Shelley, which trailed 22-20 at halftime, led 35-26.

The Badgers wouldn’t recover - though they got as close as four points early in the fourth quarter.

“Your kids are well-coached, we feel fortunate to win but we’ll still keep it (title),” Sargent told the Badgers during the postgame ceremony.

“We fell a little bit short of our goal, but these kids played their hearts out all year long,” first-year Bonners Ferry coach Jim Nash shared with the crowd as he passed out silver medals to his players. “We’ll see you guys around several more times before these kids are out of here.”

A three-point play by Lindsay Jensen with 3:08 remaining in the fourth quarter gave Shelley an 47-35 lead.

But the Badgers weren’t quitting early.

A 3-pointer by Amy Regehr and a three-point play by Jana Nearing, arguably the tournament’s most valuable player, trimmed the lead to 47-41 at the 2:35 mark.

Then Shelley made its foul shots. The Russets sank 7 of 11 to thwart Bonners Ferry’s rally hopes.

“Almost,” Regehr said, forcing a smile. “We turned the ball over, our shots weren’t falling and we weren’t blocking out (in the third quarter). I’m disappointed but I’m glad we got this far.”

Nearing had another incredible effort, finishing with a game-high 28 points, nine rebounds, seven steals and three assists. She had 29 and 13 points in the other tournament games.

The Russets, however, countered with a balanced attack, placing three players in double-figure scoring. Jensen led with 14 points, Melanie McCabe had 12 and Shauna Murray added 11. Melissa Jensen added eight points and a team-leading 11 rebounds.

Shelley bruised the Badgers on the boards, 44-33.

Nash agreed that the third quarter was pivotal.

“They got a couple of putbacks on us and when we got behind we struggled a little bit,” he said. “They were really tough especially when they’re playing inside-outside on us. Unfortunately we couldn’t get them into foul trouble earlier.”

The Badgers gave the Russets everything they could handle in the first half.

A basket in the key by Nearing and a 3-pointer from Kelli Ripatti put the Badgers ahead 22-16 with 2:39 remaining before halftime. But Bonners Ferry would go scoreless the rest of the way and momentum swung Shelley’s way when the Russets closed the score to 22-20 by intermission.

“We set a high goal this year, to be state champions, and we weren’t going to be satisfied,” Nash said. “Yeah I’m disappointed we didn’t win, but that’s going away now because of the determination and the commitment the kids made.”

Bonners Ferry 13 9 4 22 - 48

Shelley 13 7 15 20 - 55

BONNERS FERRY Knott 0, Bateman 0, Regehr 9, D.Ripatti 3, Cartwright 2, Nearing 27, K.Ripatti 5, Mulvaney 1, Walter 0.

SHELLEY Shumway 4, L. Jensen 14, L. Murray 3, McCabe 12, M. Jensen 8, S. Murray 11, Evans 3.

Moscow 53, Kuna 43

Junior post Angie Sorbel scored 20 points and junior guard Amy Lemm added 17 points and seven rebounds as the Bears defeated the Kavemen.

Moscow led Kuna 31-15 at the half and held on despite a halfcourt trapping defense that pulled the Kavemen to within 39-31 at the end of the third quarter.

Kuna (16-7) was paced by 6-foot junior Linsi Sloan with 12 points and 11 rebounds. Senior post Sara Wheeler added 10 points and 12 rebounds.

Moscow -53

Kuna -43

MOSCOW (53) - Moslemi 7, Sorbel 20, Lemm 17, Richards 4, Wenny 2, Reynolds 3.

KUNA Hutchison 2, K. Myers 6, Sloan 12, Kloepfer 6, Wheeler 10, Leavitt 7.

Halftime-Moscow 31, Kuna 15.