Moscow’s Defensive Pressure Carries Bears To Title

A-2 District I-II

A relative of a Moscow High player approached Bears coach Don Dudley with some praise.

“You coach the best man-to-man defense I’ve seen in 25 years of watching basketball,” the man told Dudley.

Few around the Intermountain League would argue.

Moscow shut down Bonners Ferry 75-57 Friday night to claim the A-2 District I-II boys tournament championship as 1,100 looked on at Lake City’s gymnasium.

“We play decent defense,” understated Dudley. “We don’t let you have a break. We keep the pressure on the whole game and we have a great bench.”

Moscow (16-3) will face Soda Springs or Preston in its State A-2 opener on Thursday at Centennial High School near Boise. The Bears took second at state last year.

Bonners Ferry (13-8) will try to earn the district’s second state berth against Kellogg (14-8), which eliminated Lakeland 66-57. Game time is 1 p.m. today at LC’s gym.

Moscow 75, Bonners Ferry 57

It was a virtual replay of Moscow’s previous two wins over Bonners Ferry. The Badgers led early, but couldn’t sustain their offense against the stingy Bears’ defense in the second half.

Adam Hiatt scored Bonners Ferry’s first nine points as the Badgers led by seven early. Hiatt picked up his second foul early in the second quarter and sat out the last 6 minutes of the half.

Moscow went to work as Chad Curtis scored eight points to boost the Bears to a 32-29 lead at half. Bonners Ferry stayed close with its leading scorer on the bench, but was stung by three misses on close-range shots in the final 2 minutes.

The Bears stretched the lead to six in the third quarter, and Adam Miller’s 3-pointer made it 57-44 with 6 minutes remaining.

Hiatt scored the last five of his 18 points to trim Moscow’s lead to 57-49. The Bears sealed the win by burying their free throws when Bonners Ferry was forced to foul.

Miller had 22 points and Curtis added 16 points and 11 rebounds.

“They do it every time,” Bonners Ferry coach Ken Robertson said. “They pick up the defensive intensity and try to take you out of what you were doing in the first half. And if you give them any room at all, they’re going to bury you.”

Bonners Ferry’s Brian Meeker had 18 points and eight rebounds.

The Badgers, playing their fourth game in five days, will try to duplicate Wednesday’s 53-40 win over Kellogg.

“We’re just going to play our hearts out,” Robertson said. “That’s all we can do.”

Moscow 11 21 15 28 - 75

Bonners Ferry 16 13 12 16 - 57

MOSCOW Brown 10, Strobel 9, Rinaldi 8, Miller 22, Kuska 2, Curtis 16, Cosgrove 0, Richards 6, Owen 2, Stewart 0.

BONNERS FERRY Hiatt 18, Meeker 18, Ashby 11, Robertson 0, Bahe 5, Staples 5, Hurst 0, Arthur 0, LaMarsh 0.

Kellogg 66, Lakeland 57

The Wildcats rode Casey Marek’s 10 fourth-quarter points and Brian Carlson’s four clutch free throws in the final 27 seconds.

Kellogg led by 14 in the third quarter before Lakeland roared back behind Ryan Banks and post Paul Kowalcyzk. Banks, a senior forward who finished with 31 points, scored to tie it at 52.

But Marek hit a putback off a missed foul shot and 30 seconds later connected on a 3-pointer putting Kellogg on top 58-52.

Lakeland 12 12 17 16 - 57

Kellogg 12 17 15 22 - 66

LAKELAND Kowalcyzk 17, Rothrock 4, Dotts 0, Banks 31, Holt 3, Rasor 0, Reese 0, Thiringer 0, Mudge 2, Bertsch 0.

KELLOGG Co. Lewis 2, Mercado 5, Corkill 13, C. Marek 24, Ch. Lewis 0, Derbyshire 0, Rice 6, Carlson 11, H. Marek 5.

Miller heads All-IML

Moscow’s Adam Miller received the most votes on the All-Intermountain League team, as voted on by IML coaches.

He was joined on the team by teammate Tony Rinaldi, Bonners Ferry’s Adam Hiatt and Allen Ashby, Lakeland’s Ryan Banks and Paul Kowalcyzk, St. Maries’ Ty Konkright and Chris Weinmann, and Kellogg’s Nathan Corkill and Mike Mercado.

, DataTimes