Post Falls Beats Cold-Starting Sandpoint, 74-53
A cold first quarter came back to haunt Sandpoint down the stretch, as Post Falls battled for a 74-53 Inland Empire League boys basketball victory Friday night.
The Bulldogs sank just two of their first 11 field goals, then shot 57 percent from the floor the rest the way.
But Sandpoint could never recover from a 17-5 first-quarter deficit.
Both teams came out tight, with the Trojans hitting just one of their first seven field-goal attempts.
Sandpoint senior forward Brian Trenholm’s two-handed dunk with 3:52 left in the first quarter tied the game at 4-4, but the Bulldogs wouldn’t score again for 5 minutes.
During that Sandpoint lapse, Post Falls poured in 15 points, including seven from senior guard Tim Roberts. Senior forward Mike McLean’s driving basket 6:59 before halftime left the Trojans up 21-5.
Post Falls, however, got sloppy in the last 4:37 of that half. The Trojans turned the ball over six times.
Standout senior guard Dallas Spielman found his mark in the second quarter. After missing his first three shots, Spielman drilled seven straight.
Reserve forward Tim Pichotta gave Post Falls a boost with six second-quarter points, including a baseline basket off a feed from Darick Pope 3 seconds before halftime for a 36-22 lead.
Sandpoint continued to come at the Tro jans with Spielman and Trenholm in the second half. Those two seniors combined for 25 of the Bulldogs’ 31 second-half points.
Two minutes into the third quarter, Spiel man floated through the key for a layup and the Bulldogs trailed 38-28.
Pope answered with a 3-pointer off the top of the key, followed by baskets from Ryan Edmonds and Tim Cudmore, which stretched the Trojans’ lead to 45-28 with 5 minutes to go in the third period.
Pope closed the third quarter with an inside basket set up by Edmonds for a 56-37 Post Falls advantage.
Sandpoint opened the fourth quarter with a 10-2 run, and Trojans coach Scott Moore took a timeout at 4:25.
“I was praying,” Moore said. “We were just trying to hold our composure again, to settle down. Every time we went away from (our offense) and went one-on-one, we’d turned it over.” Post Falls responded with a 9-0 burst, capped by a putback from McLean at 2:26 for a 68-49 lead.
“We’ve got to get the offensive rebound,” Sandpoint coach Jack Dyck said. “We had the chance to cut the lead to eight or seven, both times they get a three-point play out of that. Now the lead is back up to 13.
“We had plenty of time to make the run, and we didn’t do it.”
Roberts’ 20 points led a trio of doublefigure scorers for Post Falls. Pope added 17 points and eight rebounds, with McLean at 14 points, eight rebounds and five steals.
The Trojans (2-1, 12-2) out-rebounded the Bulldogs 42-25, with a 19-5 edge on the offensive boards.
Trenholm scored a game-high 23 points and grabbed nine rebounds for Sandpoint (1-2, 5-10). Spielman finished with 22 points.
Post Falls 74, Sandpoint 53
Post Falls 17 19 20 19 - 74
Sandpoint 5 17 15 16 - 53
POST FALLS Alexander 4, Edmonds 5, Roberts 20, Hollenbeck 1, Pichotta 7, Pope 17, McLean 14, Cudmore 4, Lee 2. SANDPOINT Eller 0, Buckmaster 2, Jeffres 4, Luce 2, Spielman 22, Herrington 0, Evans 0, Trenholm 23, Smith 0.