Timberwolves Trip Lewiston To Advance

There is little middle ground for the Lake City High boys basketball team.

The Timberwolves are either soaring or slumping. On Thursday night they did both, but the good far outweighed the bad in a 63-49 win over sluggish Lewiston in the A-1 Region I Tournament.

“It seems like we’re at level 10 or level one,” Lake City coach Jim Winger said. “When we play at a high level, we do some nice things.”

Nearly all of those nice things came in the second half as the No. 2-seeded T-Wolves (13-8) erased a five-point deficit to earn a date at Trojan Gym with No. 1 Post Falls (18-3) for the tournament title. The winner of Saturday’s 8 p.m. game will qualify for state.

No. 4 Sandpoint (7-15), an 83-61 loser to Post Falls on Thursday, meets No. 3 Lewiston (13-8) in Saturday’s 5:30 p.m. loser-out game in Post Falls.

The T-Wolves appeared headed for the loser-out game before snapping to attention just before halftime.

Lewiston led 22-18 but its turnover on a 2-on-1 fastbreak gave Lake City possession with six seconds left. Guard Bryan Kelly’s 3-pointer just before the buzzer pulled Lake City within one point, 22-21.

“That was a giant shot emotionally,” said Lewiston coach Dick Richel, whose evening was ruined on two fronts. The loss was his first in seven Region I openers and it left him stuck on 199 career victories.

Kelly’s shot, however, couldn’t cleanse an otherwise poor first half from Winger’s memory.

“It was an absolute re-run of last Friday’s game down there,” said Winger, recalling Lewiston’s 48-43 home win over the T-Wolves.

“Fired up isn’t the word for it,” LC senior forward Brian Russell said of Winger’s halftime demeanor. “I would say extremely upset.”

Winger’s mood brightened immediately when Lake City opened the third quarter in full-court man pressure. It didn’t produce a windfall of turnovers, but it boosted Lake City’s aggressiveness and intensity.

“We started hustling and things came our way,” Russell said.

Said Winger: “When it came time to perform, we stepped up our play.”

Russell and reserve guard Jerid Keefer sandwiched 3-pointers around a 17-4 run that staked Lake City to a 42-34 lead. Keefer’s trey came with two seconds left in the third quarter.

Junior forward Scott Hoover had five points and an assist in the T-Wolves’ spurt and junior point guard Mike Thompson chipped in two assists and forced a turnover.

Russell scored 14 of his 19 points in the second half. Hoover had 10 of his 16 in the third quarter. The duo also combined for 18 rebounds.

“We have nobody to stop him,” Richel said of the gangly 6-foot-2 Hoover, who scored on jumpers or slashing drives. “He did whatever he wanted.”

The T-Wolves protected their lead in the fourth quarter in textbook fashion, hitting 15 of 17 free throws and milking the clock against the slower-footed Bengals.

Lewiston’s Ryan Baerlocher, whose 18.1 scoring average was second to Russell’s 18.6 during the Inland Empire League regular season, had only three field goals and 11 points.

“We could have had a 10- or 12-point lead at half but we couldn’t make a free throw (2 of 4) and we couldn’t make a two-footer,” Richel said. “It was really weird in our locker room (before the game). Nobody said a word. I didn’t know if we were ready, if we were scared or nervous or what.”