Cda Big Men Put Lake City On The Sidelines

A-1 Region I boys

Coeur d’Alene High won this one by a couple of inches.

The inches that allowed 6-foot-6 senior Lukas O’Dowd and 6-5 junior Casey Hoorelbeke to tower over Lake City defenders on Saturday night.

The twin posts amassed 41 points as the Vikings whipped LC 68-52 in the boys’ A-1 Region I Tournament loser-out contest viewed by 1,200 at Viking Gym.

“We knew where we had the advantage,” said O’Dowd, who scored 23. “Casey and I worked really well together.”

Hoorelbeke added 18 and guard Eddie Gibbs 11 for the second-seeded Vikings (15-8), whose reward - if that’s the right word - is a fourth shot against top-seeded Post Falls on Tuesday at 7 p.m. in Post Falls.

The Vikings, 0-3 against the 19-3 Trojans this season, must defeat Post Falls twice to claim the title and a berth to state. Post Falls pounded CdA 89-59 on Friday.

The region’s second-place finisher faces a play-in game to qualify for state.

Fourth-seeded Lake City ended the year 11-13 and out of breath.

“They just killed us underneath,” Timberwolves coach Jim Winger said. “I’m not making excuses - Coeur d’Alene played really well - but we were playing our fourth game of the week. We gave it our all, but we weren’t as energized on the press.”

O’Dowd established residency on the low block and Hoorelbeke at the high post in the first quarter. Each hit 3 of 3 shots. But the T-Wolves were in an offensive groove, too, and trailed only 17-16.

Reserve wing Ben Davis scored five points and had a nice assist as CdA hiked its lead to 28-24 at half.

The T-Wolves stayed close behind junior Chad Cheeley’s 11 points. He cooled slightly in the second half, but finished with 18, particularly impressive considering his ankle was black and blue from a recent sprain.

“Cheeley has hurt us every time we played them,” Vikings coach Larry Bieber said. “We kind of figured out that we can’t let the kid go to his left, and Benny did a good job taking that away.”

CdA led just 38-37 when it closed the third quarter on a 10-3 run, capped by two Gibbs’ baskets.

Hoorelbeke connected on two mid-range jumpers and O’Dowd chipped in five points as the Vikings pulled away in the fourth quarter.

“With Casey playing so well, they can no longer double down on Luke or Casey will score at will,” Bieber said. “You can’t double ‘em both.”

True, but Winger felt LC’s defense could have played better. “We were guarding too tight and I couldn’t get our kids to sag off,” he said.

Bieber has assembled a special game plan for Post Falls. For obvious reasons, he wouldn’t reveal the content.

“I’m not giving away any secrets,” he said, breaking into a smile.

Winger’s team has a bright future. LC loses three seniors, none of whom started. “Cheeley went from sixth or seventh man on the sophomore team last year to the leading scorer in the IEL this year,” Winger said. “That’s pretty good.”

Coeur d’Alene 68, Lake City 52

Lake City 16 8 16 12 - 52

Coeur d’Alene 17 11 20 20 - 68

LAKE CITY Camantigue 9, Cheeley 18, Stroh 2, Hern 7, Nipp 0, Morris 9, R.J. Reiswig 0, Barlow 2, Anderson 0, Bramlet 5.

COEUR d’ALENE Kovatch 0, Gibbs 11, Wood 7, Hoorelbeke 18, O’Dowd 23, Sigler 0, Davis 9.

, DataTimes