Washington Stars Win Talent, Depth Too Much To Overcome For North Idaho Stars

In the annual summer showcase of the best girls basketball players in the Inland Northwest, the Eastern Washington all-stars’ athleticism and depth proved too much for North Idaho to overcome Thursday.

Eastern Washington sprinted away from North Idaho five minutes into the second half to an impressive 93-67 victory in the fourth annual Jack Blair Memorial All-Star Classic before a crowd of 700 at Lake City High School.

North Idaho, winless in the series, stayed close for a half. But the Panhandle all-stars needed more than a slow start by the visitors to keep them in the game.

Eastern Washington didn’t score until 3-1/2 minutes had elapsed. A basket by the smallest player on the court, Central Valley’s 5-foot-5 Andrea Kallas, gave EW the lead for good at 14-13 with 8:03 left in the first half.

It took a while for both teams to warm up offensively in the first half. EW would push its lead to 10 points before a jumper by NI’s Lindsay Herbert cut the lead to 33-26 seconds before intermission.

NI pulled within three points twice in the early moments of the second half. But an 18-3 run by EW broke open the game as the Spokane-area standouts led 63-41 with 10:57 remaining.

All 12 EW players scored, and eight scored seven points or more. A handful of players could have been tabbed the team’s most valuable player. The honor went to Gonzaga Prep 6-1 post Theresa Palmer, who scored 12 points and battled NI MVP Alison Asher of Lake City.

The 6-4 Asher scored 10 points and seemingly had as many blocked shots and rebounds. She certainly altered more than a dozen shots in the key.

“I think she blocked at least six of my shots,” said Palmer. “It was fun playing against her because she’s a friend.”

Palmer said EW’s wealth of talent was the difference.

“At first we were a little nervous, but when we got going there was no stopping us,” said Palmer, who is headed to Loyola Marymount University.

Providing a big spark off the bench in the first half was Lewis & Clark guard Becki Huddle, who has yet to sign.

Huddle scored eight of her 12 points in the first half and was named the game’s most inspirational player.

“I just tried to give us a spark,” Huddle said. “I didn’t do anything great. I think most of my points were layups and those were wide open.”

Kallas scored 13 of her game-high 15 points in the second half. She was 3 for 3 from 3-point range, all of the shots coming from 24 feet or farther. The fourth EW player to reach double figures was Anna Getz of Cheney, who pitched in 10.

Post Falls’ Janelle Ruen led NI with 13 points and Herbert and LC teammate Laura Dodge added 11 each.

EW’s 93 points were the most in the series, and the margin of victory equaled the previous widest margin.

G-Prep coach Mike Artie, who co-coached EW with West Valley’s Mark Kuipers, had a simple game plan. He told all of his players to shoot early and often.

“We wanted everybody to get shots off and not to over-pass,” Artie said. “And they did a good job of doing what we wanted them to do in the second half - get the game wide open and take advantage of their athleticism.”

E. Washington 93, North Idaho 67

E. Washington (93) - Yerxa 2, Getz 10, Huddle 12, Jackson 8, Lee 7, Jolley 7, Kallas 15, Lamb 5, Palmer 12, Sauer 9, Turner 4, Williams 2.

N. Idaho (67) - Hatrock 0, Herbert 11, Dudunake 6, Lemon 4, Ruen 13, Asher 10, Dodge 11, Bloom 3, Ruiz 0, Paulson 4, Stern 5.

Halftime: EW 33, NI 26.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Photo