Kellogg Relaxes, Uses Fast Finish To Win District Title

A-2 District I-II

Call it the calm before the comeback.

With his team trailing by nine points a minute into the fourth quarter, Kellogg High School coach David Roberts encouraged his team to not panic.

Kellogg heeded the coach’s instruction and the Wildcats outscored Bonners Ferry 23-6 in the final 6:48 Friday to capture the A-2 District I-II boys basketball championship 74-66 before an electrified crowd estimated at 2,400 at Lake City High School.

“I said `Hey guys, relax. We’ve got them in foul trouble and we’re in fine shape,”’ Roberts said. “Don’t ask me why I was calm. I don’t know. I was just confident we were going to get the job done. Just one of those gut feelings, I guess.”

The No. 1-ranked Wildcats, 19-3 overall, advance to state, which will be held Thursday through Saturday at Idaho State University’s Reed Gym in Pocatello. Kellogg will meet twotime defending state champion Sugar-Salem (15-9) in the opening round.

Bonners Ferry (17-5) and Priest River (10-12), meanwhile, will meet tonight at 7 to decide the district’s runner-up state berth.

Priest River used a late rally to trip Moscow 51-50 in a loser-out game Friday.

Moscow ends its season at 10-13.

Kellogg 74, Bonners Ferry 66

The supporting cast provided the difference, namely senior guard Derek Jennings and senior post Brant Bircher.

Jennings scored 22 points, 11 in the fourth quarter and 12 above his average, and Bircher, the Wildcats’ lone starter not named to the All-Intermountain League team, rolled a pair of 12s - points and rebounds.

“He played like an all-league player tonight,” Roberts said.

A three-point play by Gavin Glindeman put the Badgers ahead 60-51 at the 7:12 mark of the final period. But foul problems caught up with Bonners Ferry, and the Wildcats took advantage during their comeback.

The Badgers’ Jesse Holeski fouled out when he hit Jennings’ arm on an attempted 3-pointer. Jennings, an 82-percent free throw shooter, made the foul shots to pull Kellogg within one at 62-61 with 4:26 left.

A 3-pointer by senior point guard Travis Fulton (19 points) gave Kellogg the lead for good at 64-62 at the 3:27 mark.

Jennings followed 25 seconds later with the play of the quarter when he sank a 3-pointer while being fouled. He completed the fourpoint play, increasing the lead to 68-63.

A 3-pointer by Glindeman got the Badgers within two at 68-66 with 2:10 to play, but Bonners Ferry missed three treys in the final 1:30.

Jennings shared the credit.

“Travis (Fulton) set me up. He’s the point guard and he got me the ball,” Jennings said. “We’re all clutch players, all five of the starters. It takes five to win.”

It was a wonderfully played game between the league co-champions, especially in the first half.

Both teams put on a shooting clinic as the Badgers took a 39-35 lead into halftime.

Glindeman scored a game-high 28 points, 16 in the first half.

Bonners Ferry coach Dick Hollenbeck said foul trouble hampered his team.

“It was disappointing,” he said. “We had some key people in foul trouble. It took some of our continuity off the floor and we just didn’t run as well.”

Hollenbeck gave credit to Kellogg.

“They came back really strong,” Hollenbeck said. “If they shoot like that at state, they should go right through the tournament.”

Priest River 51, Moscow 50

Matt Rabe sank two free throws with 15 seconds left that ultimately decided the game. But the Spartans had to withstand two missed shots by the Bears in the final seconds before escaping victorious.

Rabe missed the front end of a one-and-one with 10 seconds remaining, allowing Moscow another chance.

It turned out to be two chances. Brandon Dudley missed a driving layup seconds later as Spartans converged in the key. However, he pulled down the miss and had one more shot, but his fadeway 8-footer bounced short off the rim as the buzzer sounded.

Rabe hit four of five free throws and scored six of his 13 points in the fourth quarter. Teammate Kyle York led with 17.

Neither team had more than a five-point lead as the margin hovered between two and three points most of the game.

The Bears couldn’t make a 50-47 lead stand up. Sophomore Adam Miller put Moscow ahead by that count when he hit both ends of a one-and-one with 38 seconds remaining.

York followed 14 seconds later with two free throws to cut the lead to one point. Dudley then missed a one-and-one with :22 on the clock before Rabe’s heroics.

All-Intermountain League

York was selected for a second straight year as the league’s most valuable player.

Joining the Spartans senior on the team were Fulton, Jennings, Chris Nielsen and Casey Fisher of Kellogg; Glindeman, Kris Gravelle and Benson LaRue of Bonners Ferry, Jim Hudson of Moscow and Bill Anderson of Lakeland.

Kellogg 74, Bonners Ferry 66 Bonners Ferry 19 20 18 9 - 66 Kellogg 20 15 14 25 - 74

BONNERS FERRY Gravelle 14, Glindeman 28, High 3, Holeski 8, Hubbard 0, LaRue 4, Ashby 0, Stewart 9.

KELLOGG Van Hoose 1, Fulton 19, Behm 5, Jennings 22, Fisher 9, Nielsen 6, Bircher 12.

Priest River 51, Moscow 50 Moscow 12 11 13 14 - 50 Priest River 11 11 14 15 - 51

MOSCOW Miller 8, Walker 3, Barnes 0, Johnson 2, Dudley 19, Colbert 4, Lathen 7, Pierce 2, Hudson 5.

PRIEST RIVER Score 6, Bradbury 5, York 17, Rabe 13, Schaefer 0, Trost 0, Mohr 6, Walters 4.