Knights Keep String Going With Win

A-4 District 1 girls

Lakeside standout guard Margaret SiJohn looked relieved following the Knights’ 50-44 victory over Kootenai to claim the A-4 District I girls basketball championship Friday night at Lakeland High School.

SiJohn, who finished with a game-high 20 points, had never lost a regional tournament in her four years as a starter, and this one was close. Kootenai pulled within six points on a pair of free throws by Jamie Bornitz, who finished with a team-high 16 points, with 1:35 left in the game.

SiJohn then put the game away when she took the inbounds pass and dribbled the length of the floor before throwing a bounce pass to Alecia Hoffman under the basket that led to Lakeside’s final score.

Lakeside next heads to state and will open Wednesday night at Middleton High School against the District III runner-up.

“I feel great; I’m so happy for my team because they held together when we were getting in foul trouble early in the game,” SiJohn said.

Lakeside (15-6 overall) found itself in foul trouble throughout the second half as most of the Knights’ frontcourt had three fouls at halftime.

SiJohn was almost unstoppable in the first half as she scored 16 points. She also collected six rebounds before intermission, and Kootenai couldn’t come up with a defensive answer.

“I put my best defensive player on SiJohn, but she’s tougher than snot to defend,” Warriors coach Scott Shafer said.

The Knights came out tentative in the third quarter, and shot just 2 of 15 in the period to allow Kootenai to close the gap. The Warriors’ Annie Goodson was stellar in the second half, scoring seven points and playing tough defense to keep Kootenai close.

“Annie Goodson played us tough tonight and did some good things to keep them in it,” Lakeside coach Ron Miller said.

SiJohn was the story, though, as she also collected a team-high four assists and four steals.

“We didn’t play great, but we got enough out of Margaret and the rest of the girls to win so we’re the champs again and going to state as a No. 1 seed which was our goal all along,” Miller said.

Kootenai (8-10) can still make it to state if it beats Falls Christian today at 1 p.m. in the consolation game at Lakeland High School.

Lakeside 50, Kootenai 44

Lakeside 17 16 4 13 - 50

Kootenai 10 13 7 14 - 44

Lakeside - Flint 11, SiJohn 20, Mindy Middleton 7, Kolar 6, Mullen 1, Hammons 3, Hoffman 2..

Kootenai - S. Kraack 1, Reinhardt 1, Anderson 1, Bornitz 16, Hunter 6, Goodson 15, Damiano 4.

Falls Christian 47, Clark Fork 37

In a loser-out game before the championship, Falls Christian advanced to the consolation final against Kootenai by pulling away late in the game to keep its season alive.

The Eagles got a pair of 14-point efforts from Carmi Eberlee and Emilee Jackson to put Clark Fork out of the tournament.

“We’re ready for a shot at state, and I think we have a chance if we play as well as tonight,” Eagles coach Mike Teall said.

Clark Fork (7-14 overall) was paced by Cindy Worcester’s 12 points. Falls Christian (9-10) got 11 rebounds from Kara Moate.

Falls Christian 6 15 10 16 - 47

Clark Fork 4 13 15 5 - 37

Falls Christian - Johnson 4, Eberlee 14, Williams 4, Jackson 14, Moate 6, M. Jenkins 1, J. Jenkins 4.

Clark Fork - Culcasi 2, Miller 3, Manderscheid 2, Derr 10, Hager 8, Worcester 12.