Bad Ankle Doesn’t Slow Cheeley

Lake City forward Gabe Hern looked at teammate Chad Cheeley’s ankle before Monday night’s A-1 Region I boys basketball loser-out game and wondered whether the other half of the Timberwolves’ main offensive punch would be joining him in a must-win game to keep their season alive.

Fortunately for LC, Cheeley not only showed up, but came through with a game-high 25 points as the Timberwolves beat Sandpoint 75-49 in LC’s gym.

LC (10-11) now faces league champion Post Falls (17-3) on Wednesday at 7:45 p.m. in the first night of double-elimination play in the tournament at Post Falls High. In the first game at 6, No. 2 seed Coeur d’Alene (13-7) meets No. 3 Lewiston (9-11).

“His ankle was black and blue and swollen; I wasn’t sure he was going to play,” Hern said.

Cheeley’s gutty performance was part of a balanced LC attack that also saw Hern finish with 18 points.

Cheeley was most deadly from the free-throw line, where he made 8 of 8. Included were four straight free throws on back-to-back technical fouls against Sandpoint 5 minutes into the second half.

Sandpoint was mounting a comeback after falling behind early in the game when guard Jared Herrington was called for a technical after slamming the ball on the floor in disagreement over an official’s call. Cheeley made the shots and then two more when another technical was called on the Sandpoint bench. The Bulldogs never made a serious challenge the rest of the game.

“We did not do the job defensively tonight,” said Sandpoint coach Jack Dyck, who announced his resignation midway through the season. “Cheeley and Hern making shots is no surprise, but we didn’t even get a hand in their face.”

Behind the hot hands of the LC duo, the T-Wolves jumped out to a 23-10 first-quarter lead. Both players had 10 points in the quarter, including a buzzer-beating 3-pointer by Hern from the top of the key.

“It was nice to play good tonight because I was in a slump, and now it’s starting to come back to me,” Hern said.

LC was still cruising early in the second quarter, but suddenly went cold. Sandpoint went on a 12-1 run to pull within 33-26 at halftime.

The Bulldogs (7-14) continued to close the gap in the third quarter behind the efforts of Carson Jeffres, who finished with 11 points to share team honors with Stephan Palmer.

Sandpoint closed to 35-30, but a basket by Hern and the technical foul conversions by Cheeley put the game out of reach.

“I’m happy with both our offense and defense,” LC coach Jim Winger said. “It’s tough to beat a team three times in a year, but we did it.”

The T-Wolves made 13 of 17 2-point attempts, while Sandpoint was 9 of 22. Fifty-two fouls were called, which has been typical of the three games between the Inland Empire League teams.

Cheeley said he will be ready to play as the T-Wolves try to beat Post Falls for the first time this year.

“I knew this was a big game that we had to win so I tried to step it up,” Cheely said.

Lake City 75, Sandpoint 49

Sandpoint 10 16 11 12 - 49

Lake City 23 10 23 19 - 75

SANDPOINT Nieman 3, Jeffres 11, Eller 7, Palmer 11, Kleinert 9, Faulkner 1, Herrington 6.

LAKE CITY Camantigue 6, Cheeley 25, Barlow 10, Anderson 5, Stroh 2, Hern 18, Morris 4, Nipp 3, Everson 2.