Sandpoint In Perfect Position Nieman Leads Nearly Flawless Bulldogs Into A-1 Title Game

Jim Nieman, the father of the best girls basketball player in Idaho, could get his head shaved tonight because his daughter is on the threshold of fulfilling her dream.

Playing as perfect a game as possible, Sandpoint upset previously undefeated and No. 1-ranked Borah 57-47 in the State A-1 Tournament semifinals Friday at College of Southern Idaho.

Sandpoint (20-3) will meet Centennial (20-5) in the championship tonight at 7 PST. The game will be broadcast on Idaho Public Television and will be seen on cable Channel 12 in Sandpoint and 13 in the Coeur d’Alene area.

Borah (24-1) will take on Lake City (14-8) for third place this morning at 10. Centennial pulled off a similar upset in the other semifinal, 65-54, over LC.

After Sandpoint fell to LC in the Region I title game last week, Jim Nieman offered an incentive to Alli Nieman and her teammates.

Win a state championship and the Bulldogs can cut off his locks.

“We’re going to go to the store (today) and buy a razor and shaving cream,” said Alli Nieman, who was unstoppable Friday.

Not only was Nieman unstoppable, but so were the Bulldogs in general.

And they were gutty. Sandpoint coach Duane Ward made no substitutions as he played all five starters the entire game.

But Borah, despite a deeper bench, was the team with dragging tongues late in the game.

For good reason. Sandpoint’s never-relenting, man-to-man defense forced the Lions to start their offense farther from the basket than they desire and also forced Borah to work for its shots.

So credit not only Alli Nieman, but heap equal portions of credit on Tanya Allmaras, Natalie Ward, Becky Timblin and Jenna Verby.

Still, Nieman carried a huge load.

The University of Idaho-bound post finished with a game-high 33 points, grabbed 15 rebounds and blocked three shots. Her game unwrapped about the same time she took an elastic wrap off her left calf. It was restricting her mobility, she said.

She took it off during a timeout at the 1:07 mark of the first quarter with Sandpoint trailing 15-10. After that, Nieman scored 16 points in the second quarter, 22 for the half, as Sandpoint was up 32-22 at the half.

It was Nieman’s dominance inside that forced Borah coach Jim Pankritz to switch to a zone defense. And when the Bulldogs intelligently attacked Borah’s halfcourt trap, Pankratz had to go back to man-to-man. Nothing worked.

A basket by Allmaras off a nice pass from Nieman put Sandpoint ahead 38-26 with 5:02 left in the third quarter.

The margin was nine points going into the fourth quarter. Borah then began a comeback, trimming Sandpoint’s lead to 44-40 when Sumer Davis made a 3-pointer with 4:37 left.

But Sandpoint held its composure, and Borah never got any closer. The Bulldogs made 7 of 8 free throws in the final 1:44 to hold off the Lions.

“It was one of our better games, if not our best,” said Nieman, whose 15th point put her over the 2,000-point mark for her career. “I can’t even believe this (playing for the state title).”

Said Ward: “The kids kept their poise, and I can’t say enough about our guards (Timblin and Verby).”

When Pankratz was asked what the key in the game was, he summed it up with a name: Nieman.

“Of course it was,” he said. “Not only does she score a lot of points, she makes everybody else on their team so much better.”

Sandpoint 57, Borah 47

Sandpoint 10 22 10 15 - 57

Borah 15 7 11 14 - 47

SANDPOINT Timblin 4, Verby 2, Ward 6, Allmaras 12, Nieman 33. BORAH Bell 0, Davis 16, Sasser 5, Pincock 20, Sellers 4, Bates 2.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Photo