Bengals Work Over Vikings

At halftime of the Coeur d’Alene-Lewiston boys basketball game Saturday, 20 elementary-school-age boys and girls, who call themselves “Players in Progress”, put on a ballhandling demonstration.

The kids’ moniker aptly describes the Vikings - players in progress.

The learning process continued as Lewiston, the team picked to finish first among Idaho teams in the Border League, handled the Vikings 56-40 in a conference game at Viking Gym.

CdA lost its third straight league game since a non-league, season-opening victory over Lakeland, which is more of a work-in-progress than the Viks.

Lewiston, playing essentially its fourth game without standout wing Jason Eck (knee injury), got solid contributions from several players.

But the player who’s stepped up the most since the loss of Eck has been 6-foot-4 sophomore post Dan Haines.

Haines worked inside for a game-high 17 points. Although Haines is understandably rough around the edges - he struggled at the freethrow line (3 of 10) and has much to learn defensively - he has helped make the transition without Eck smoother.

“I don’t know where we’d be without him,” Lewiston coach Dick Richel said.

Eck suffered his eighth kneecap dislocation 59 seconds into the Bengals’ second game. It’s the most severe dislocation he’s had, and Richel said the earliest he’ll return is the second week of January.

“Initially it was as big a blow emotionally as it was physically,” Richel said of losing Eck. “But we’ve got to go with these guys. We’d certainly love to have him back.”

Even if Eck returns, his knees are susceptible to more dislocations because of a genetic defect, Richel said.

Life without Eck may not be as enjoyable, but the Bengals should still be more than enough for many league teams to handle.

CdA had no answer Saturday.

The Viks caught Lewiston’s attention early when Jeff Rupp buried back-to-back 3-pointers to open the game.

Rupp made a free throw with 3:46 left in the first quarter to account for CdA’s seventh and final point of the period. Lewiston promptly went on a 14-0 run for a 20-7 lead by quarter’s end.

Lewiston allowed CdA to hang around because the athletic Bengals seem to know just one speed - quick, with no brakes.

The result was 20 turnovers.

CdA post Robert Findley got a putback to open the second half, pulling the Viks within 31-25.

That’s as close as CdA would get. The Viks had opportunities to cut into the lead in the fourth quarter, but they went 3:23 without scoring.

“We weren’t flashy; we were just steady,” Richel said.

CdA, which had been perimeter conscious in its first three games, tried to attack inside. Sophomore post Bryan Sather scored seven points off the bench.

“We had some mismatches, but we didn’t take advantage of them,” CdA coach Larry Bieber said.

That’s probably because the Viks are, by and large, players in progress.

Lewiston 56, Coeur d’Alene 40

Lewiston 20 11 10 15 - 56

Coeur d’Alene 7 16 9 8 - 40

Lewiston (3-2, 2-1) - Holder 1 0-0 2, Raykovich 0 3-4 3, Winterbottom 0 0-0 0, Holmes 3 0-0 6, Johnson 0 2-2 2, Martin 0 0-0 0, Cone 2 0-1 4, Rogers 2 1-1 6, Wolf 2 0-0 4, Klamper 5 2-2 12, Haines 7 3-10 17, Bruce 0 0-0 0. Totals 22 11-20 56.

Coeur d’Alene (1-3, 0-3) - Goodwin 0 0-0 0, Chambers 0 2-2 2, Ja. Rupp 5 0-0 12, Je. Rupp 3 3-5 11, Keil 0 0-0 0, Sather 2 3-4 7, Schmidt 0 0-0 0, Gittel 0 0-0 0, Alderman 1 0-0 2, Findley 3 0-0 6, Duplessis 0 0-0 0. Totals 14 8-11 40.

3-point goals - Je. Rupp 2, Ja. Rupp 2, Rogers 1. Total fouls - L 10, C 17. Fouled out - None.

West Valley 70, Moscow 58

Brad Groh scored 22, including a 6-for-6 effort at the free-throw line, as the visiting Eagles defeated the Bears.

WV outscored Moscow by 14 points at the line, hitting 21 of 33 attempts.

The Eagles finished with 22 rebounds, 19 on the defensive end. Moscow had a 10-point lead in the first quarter.

West Valley 12 25 17 16 - 70

Moscow 22 14 8 14 - 58

West Valley (4-0, 2-0) - Kopp 0 0-0 0, Sly 3 4-6 10, Deno 5 5-8 16, Browning 1 1-1 3, Groh 8 6-6 22, Focht 1 0-1 2, Gregg 2 2-4 6, Spivey 4 3-7 11, Sorensen 0 0-0 0, Fusare 0 0-0 0. Totals 24 21-33 70.

Moscow (1-3, 1-2) - Garrett 1 0-0 2, Walker 1 2-2 4, Busch 3 1-2 8, Comstock 1 0-0 2, Shupe 1 3-4 5, Johnson 5 0-1 10, Williams 9 0-3 18, Lee 2 1-5 5, Burton 1 0-0 2, Keep 1 0-0 2. Totals 25 7-17 58.

3-point goals - Deno, Groh, Busch. Total fouls - West Valley 18, Moscow 24. Fouled out - Comstock, Shupe. Technicals - None.

Deer Park 74, Bonners Ferry 56

Adam Swinyard finished with 27 points and eight rebounds as the Stags defeated the visiting Badgers.

Jesse Frickey added 11 rebounds, and Jake White and Roger Henry had seven assists apiece for the Stags. DP, off to a 3-0 start, began last year 3-12.

Bonners Ferry 14 13 10 19 - 56

Deer Park 16 19 13 26 - 74

Bonners Ferry (2-3) - Blanford 1, Carey 2, Soriano 2, Carpenter 12, Bateman 12, Villeli 2, Scarlet 3, Elliston 6, Rice 9, Solum 4, Dinning 2.

Deer Park (3-0) - Swinyard 27, White 9, Henry 5, Westerman 6, Mitchell 4, Frickey 10, Zimmerer 5, Morse 0, Thompson 8, Epler 0.

Girls

Priest River 53, Lakeland 42

At Priest River, Angie Turner led the Spartans past the Hawks, scoring a team-high 13 points. Turner combined with teammate Nikki Yount for 25 rebounds in the contest.

Megan Egbert put in 12 points and grabbed seven boards for the Hawks.

Lakeland 5 12 15 10 - 42

Priest River 16 16 10 11 - 53

Lakeland (1-1, 4-2) - Douglas 0, Jamison 2, Smith 6, Desmarais 14, Austad 2, Kirkpatrick 0, Waller 4, Egbert 12, Duvall 2, Berger 0.

Priest River (3-0, 7-1) - Troudt 8, Oscarson 7, Duley 0, Washburn 2, Yount 7, Turner 13, Lemm 7, Cork 2, Guthrie 7.

Newport 50, Post Falls 42

Carey Sauer totaled 19 points and 18 rebounds and the Grizzlies scored eight consecutive points in the third quarter to rally past the visiting Trojans.

Post Falls led by seven in the third quarter before Newport rallied.

Post Falls 10 14 9 9 - 42

Newport 13 8 20 9 - 50

Post Falls (4-3) - Billetz 10, Clutter 2, Brown 0, McLean 0, Roberge 6, Wagner 0, Olson 11, Ruen 13, Foster 0.

Newport (2-0) - Haptonstall 6, Lindburg 11, Olsen 0, C. Sauer 19, R. Sauer 8, Schulz 0, Almond 6, Dahlin 0.

Deer Park 57, Bonners Ferry 49

Leslie Anderson scored 19 of her 21 in the second half as the Stags rallied past the visiting Badgers.

Kerry Ann Hardie of the Stags had eight assists.

Bonners Ferry 12 13 9 15 - 49

Deer Park 6 16 15 20 - 57

Bonners Ferry (2-4) - Robertson 0, Day 2, A. Ashby 9, Howlett 2, Larson 14, Cady 5, Bateman 3, Robertson 6.

Deer Park (3-0) - Michaels 4, Anderson 21, Hardie 0, Allen 4, Hill 0, Watts 6, Pierce 12, Plummer 2, Ebel 8.

Replay

A player in the photo of the Coeur d’Alene-Lake City boys basketball game in Saturday’s newspaper was misidentified. It is Nate Alderman.