Priest River Upsets Bonners Ferry, 38-35

A-2 District I-II

Extra freethrow shooting practice vaulted Priest River into Friday’s A-2 District I-II girls basketball tournament championship game.

The third-seeded Spartans hit 18 of 26 free throws, all in the second half, to upset No. 2 seed Bonners Ferry 38-35 on Wednesday night.

In another tournament game, Moscow was slow out of the starting blocks, but the top-ranked Bears coasted to a 60-15 victory over No. 5 seed Lakeland in the late game at Trojan Gym.

Priest River (12-8) and Moscow (19-1) tangle Friday night at 7:30 with the district title and a trip to the Feb. 8-10 state tournament on the line.

The Badgers (13-7) draw the Hawks (4-15) in a loser-out game on Friday at 6. That winner will draw the loser of the championship on Saturday afternoon at 1 for the district’s second state berth.

“Moscow is not only the best team in the state, but one of the best teams in the Northwest,” Priest River coach Ron Hopkins said. “We will not go into that game scared.”

Piest River 38, Bonners Ferry 35

The Badgers shot 19 percent from the field, but just 12 percent in the first and fourth quarters.

Bonners Ferry lead at halftime 19-15 and extended the lead to nine points with 3:31 left in the third quarter following a 3-pointer by sophomore guard Sarah Walter.

Bonners Ferry led 31-26 to start the fourth quarter, but the Badgers shut down offensively and started to foul.

A technical foul on Bonners Ferry junior Becky Bateman was called subsequent to a foul on Priest River senior Sara Suchocki with 4:45 left and the Badgers went ahead 31-28.

Bateman hit her first free throw in the one-and-one, while senior April Rasmussen pulled the Spartans to within 32-30 as she hit the technical shots. But Bateman’s technical was the team’s 10th foul, and Priest River shot two free throws on each foul the rest the way.

Suchocki’s free throw with 17 seconds left gave the Spartans the lead for good.

“We shoot 50 free throws a day in practice and eventually it’s going to pay off,” Hopkins said. “Obviously I’m very pleased with that.

“Defense kept us in the game the first half,” Hopkins added.

The Spartans were outrebounded 47-31, including 25-6 on the offensive boards.

Priest River 38, Bonners Ferry 35

Priest River 5 10 11 12 - 38

Bonners Ferry 8 11 12 4 - 35

PRIEST RIVERM. Ruiz 2, Stensland 1, K. Ruiz 7, Ennis 12, Suchocki 4, Duley 2, Rasmussen 10, Vogrig 0.

BONNERS FERRYWalter 8, Bateman 3, Braniff 3, Paulson 11, Downing 0, Knott 1, Comer 0, Ripatti 9.

Moscow 60, Lakeland 15

With the exception of the first quarter, the game took on a scrimmage-like atmosphere, as the Hawks shot just 15 percent from the field.

The Bears, winners of five straight Intermountain League titles, broke an 8-6 game open with a 15-0 run in the last 5:55 of the second quarter that put Moscow ahead 25-8.

Lakeland didn’t score again until 3:41 remaining in the game when sophomore Alyssa Douglas connected on a 3-pointer. By that time, the Bears had scored 44 unanswered points and led 54-11.

“We moved as well tonight in the matchup zone as we have all year,” Moscow coach Sally Greene said.

Lakeland 4 4 0 7 - 15

Moscow 6 19 25 10 - 60

LAKELANDReed 0, Foldvik 0, Douglas 5, Jamison 6, Boone 0, Meyer 0, Dnegel 0, Hall 0, Harwood 2, DeBoer 2.

MOSCOWMeyer 0, Moslemi 16, Scholtz 4, Lemm 12, Sorbel 8, Korus 4, Gibson 3, Wilder 0, Ta. Goetz 2, Reynolds 7, To. Goetz 4.

, DataTimes