Vikings Capture Border Cda Holds Off Rival Lc To Win League, Tune Up For A-1 Region I Tournament

The A-1 Region I boys basketball tournament doesn’t begin until Wednesday, but hors d’oeuvres were served Friday at Viking Gym.

In a tournament teaser, Coeur d’Alene captured the Border League championship outright. But the Vikings had to hold off upset-minded Lake City 61-56 before a vociferous, standing-room-only crowd of 2,000.

It was the regular-season finale for both teams. But one would have thought it was a loser-out game with a state berth up for grabs judging by the intensity.

CdA (16-4 overall, 14-2 Border League), which will be home for the entire region tournament, will take on the winner of a loser-out game Monday pitting No. 5 seed Sandpoint at No. 4 Post Falls.

No. 3 LC (11-9, 8-8) will travel to No. 2 Lewiston in the other opener. The tournament concludes at CdA.

Although CdA built a 10-point lead midway through the fourth quarter, this game was never out of reach.

LC, which enjoyed a nine-point lead when it controlled tempo in the first half, pulled within 52-50 when sophomore point guard Jacob Lenz stepped behind a screen for a free-throw-line jumper with 1:42 remaining.

Following a CdA turnover, LC had two shots to tie. But Chad Bramlet was too far under the basket and his putback rimmed out.

Two free throws by Lukas O’Dowd extended CdA’s lead to four points. Then the defensive play of the game came when 6-foot-6 post Casey Hoorelbeke stepped out to block a 3-point attempt by LC’s Chad Cheeley.

In the ensuing scramble for the ball, the Viks pushed the ball in transition and Hoorelbeke was fouled making a layup. He completed the three-point play to make it 57-50 with 49 seconds remaining.

LC kept plugging away, and a 3-pointer by Cheeley with :08 left got the Timberwolves within 60-56 before O’Dowd made a free throw at the 3-second mark.

“Since the very first game between Lake City and Coeur d’Alene they’ve been tournament-atmosphere games,” CdA coach Larry Bieber said. “Both teams could be 0-19 and it would be intense. This is really good for us for next week.”

LC coach Jim Winger was as pleased with his team as if it had won.

“We showed what we can do,” Winger said. “The old coach’s line about teams in February get better or they get worse, very few stay the same; I think our kids are getting better. As far as being proud, I’m absolutely proud of our effort.”

Hoorelbeke led CdA with 25 points. Cheeley topped LC with 17.

LC gave up some critical second and third offensive rebounds. That was perhaps offset by CdA’s poor free-throw shooting.

Like their game against Lewiston last week, the Viks struggled at the foul line, making 18 of 34. They went to the line enough times in the final period to make up for the misses as they made 12 of 19.

LC was 20 of 30 from the foul line, 10 of 16 in the fourth period.

The T-Wolves had CdA concerned in the first half. A 13-0 run put LC ahead 15-8 late in the first quarter. Three minutes into the second quarter, LC led 24-15. CdA rallied to cut the deficit to 26-22 by halftime.

The third quarter was back and forth until a rebound basket by David Wood with 3 seconds left gave CdA a 42-39 lead going into the final quarter.

CdA won the first game 62-54 in early January.

Coeur d’Alene 61, Lake City 56

Lake City 15 11 13 17 - 56

Coeur d’Alene 10 12 20 19 - 61

LAKE CITY - Hern 16, Bramlet 0, Cheeley 17, Reiswig 0, Lenz 11, Barlow 2, Schuh 4, Nipp 3, Rod 3, Stroh 0, Everson 0, Thiringer 0.

COEUR D’ALENE - Je. Rupp 0, Chambers 6, Ji. Rupp 14, Wood 6, DeArmond 0, Hoorelbeke 25, Sigler 2, O’Dowd 8.

Border League

Lewiston 67, Post Falls 44

The Bengals (15-4, 12-3) outscored the Trojans (10-10, 7-9) 38-17 in the second half to turn a close game into a rout.

Post Falls 13 14 9 8 - 44

Lewiston 17 12 19 19 - 67

POST FALLS - Klaudt 0, Meeks 0, Quesnell 13, Christiansen 4, Fehling 2, Therrian 0, Miller 7, Leary 10, McArthur 0, Thornley 8.

LEWISTON - Egland 10, Pierce 8, Holmes 5, Maurer 5, Couch 10, Eck 12, Klamper 2, Reineke 3, Johnson 11, Holder 0, Wolf 1.

Cheney 73, East Valley 43

James Kiger grabbed 14 rebounds and Tim Donnelly dished out six assists to lead the Blackhawks past the visiting Knights.

Cheney heads to Tuesday’s district tournament at EWU as the No. 1 seed. The Blackhawks will play the loser of tonight’s East Valley-Clarkston contest. West Valley, the No. 2 seed, will play the winner, also on Tuesday.

East Valley 9 9 8 17 - 43

Cheney 15 28 15 15 - 73

EAST VALLEY - Henderson 6, Smith 2, Sitton 0, Quirk 5, Burgess 8, Shogren 7, Sterling 3, Storey 4, Pooley 1, Horgan 7.

CHENEY - Stiffler 12, Eggart 3, Oyolokor 6, Goetz 6, Donnelly 2, Ervin 6, Stoddard 2, Caskey 2, Malisani 6, Kiger 12, Bond 16.

W. Valley 70, Clarkston 51

Chris Gregg snagged 17 rebounds, including 10 off the offensive glass, and hit four 3-pointers to power the visiting Eagles (11-9, 9-7) over the Bantams (5-14, 3-12).

West Valley 16 21 19 14 - 70

Clarkston 9 15 13 14 - 51

WEST VALLEY - Kopp 0, Sly 3, Allen 3, Deno 17, Browning 4, Groh 4, Brosvik 2, Focht 6, Gregg 19, Spivey 12, Lybarger 0, Hilsabeck 0.

CLARKSTON - Nielson 10, Olson 17, Norland 0, Tucker 5, Smith 2, Blankinship 1, Fuchs 2, Harrington 6, Cummings 2, Cridlebaugh 5.

Intermountain League

Moscow 78, St. Maries 61

The Bears (14-3, 8-0) clinched at least a tie for the league title by pulling away from the visiting Lumberjacks (12-5, 6-2) in the second half.

Moscow plays third-place Kellogg and fourth-place Lakeland to complete its league play. St. Maries has the same teams left on its schedule.

Mark Raebel, one of St. Maries’ top players, missed much of the game with foul trouble. The Lumberjacks’ Derick Driggs scored 22, hitting 7 of 11 from the field.

St. Maries 17 15 14 15 - 61

Moscow 17 20 19 22 - 78

ST. MARIES - Krebs 6, Duffey 6, Willard 7, D.J. Eberlin 0, P. Eberlin 0, Stevenson 0, Driggs 22, Ware 0, Holdahl 2, Raebel 18.

MOSCOW - Brown 8, Rinaldi 9, Reynolds 3, Comstock 14, Nielsen 3, Busch 1, Cosgrove 11, Walker 0, Gilmore 4, Shupe 17, Westberg 8.

Non-league

Lakeside 70, Priest River 47

Ken Pluff hit 7 of 13 from the field, including three 3-pointers, and the A-4 third-ranked Knights (14-4) defeated the visiting Spartans (5-13) of the IML.

Lakeside, of the North Star League, jumped ahead with a 17-0 run. The Knights’ Ben GaJowski had eight rebounds. PR’s Kevin Behnke scored 23.

Priest River 8 16 8 15 - 47

Lakeside 17 21 9 23 - 70

PRIEST RIVER - Bodecker 8, Baker 5, Ackley 4, Meek 0, Behnke 23, Kershaw 7, Zmuda 0, Pound 0.

LAKESIDE - Kolar 2, Neber 0, Lozeau 8, McFadden 16, Browse 0, Allen 6, Pluff 19, Montague 5, Tsawklia 0, GaJowski 1, T.Morris 9, Johnson 3, B.Morris 1.

Wallace 76, Mullan 37

Tim Fleming finished with 10 rebounds as the independent Miners (6-10) defeated the visiting Tigers (3-14) of the North Star League.

Mullan’s Steve Greenfield totaled 12 rebounds.

Mullan 3 4 19 11 - 37

Wallace 16 20 14 26 - 76

MULLAN - Sala 0, Smith 0, Valley 2, Gonzales 2, Stanley 6, Morris 5, Hegbloom 5, Greenfield 17.

WALLACE - Grattic 13, D.Lee 11, K.Lee 4, Meek 6, Fleming 16, Sprute 14, Pluid 10, Blanchard 0, J.Lee 2.

Girls

Cheney 62, East Valley 41

Tanya Birchler grabbed 12 rebounds to spark the Blackhawks (15-5, 13-3) to a 46-27 advantage on the boards en route to a win over the visiting Knights (7-12, 6-9).

The win gives Cheney the No. 1 seed into the district tournament beginning Tuesday at EWU. The Blackhawks will play Clarkston, while the Knights will take on West Valley.

East Valley 10 11 7 13 - 41

Cheney 18 10 19 15 - 62

EAST VALLEY - Conard 6, Schumacher 2, LeGrant 0, Werner 0, Birdsbill 0, Tomblin 13, Neal 8, Tonani 0, Schultz 3, Triplett 0, Shogren 9.

CHENEY - Conrath 1, Weitman 16, Getz 18, Urdahl 4, Birchler 7, Van Matre 8, Boline 4, Krogh 4.

W. Valley 66, Clarkston 49

Gabby McClintock tossed in a game-high 25 points to lead the Eagles (10-10, 8-8) over the host Bantams (2-17, 0-15). West Valley broke the game open with a 17-3 fourth quarter.

West Valley 13 14 22 17 - 66

Clarkston 11 18 17 3 - 49

WEST VALLEY - Hilsabeck 3, Groh 3, Morris 0, McClintock 25, Huffman 17, Holstrom 3, Pedey 2, Parvey 13, Vermeers 0.

CLARKSTON - Blankinship 0, Jones 12, Tucker 11, Murray 2, Blake 0, Johnson 16, Rodgers 4, Haight 4, Pavey 0.

Bi-County

The West was best Friday as double-elimination play began at the Bi-County League tournament in Reardan.

Odessa defeated Liberty 61-35 and Almira/Coulee-Hartline topped Davenport 56-48 as West Division teams sent East Division teams into the loser-out bracket.

The tourney continues today with ACH (13-8) playing sixth-ranked and top-seeded Valley Christian (17-2) and Odessa (14-6) renewing its year-long rivalry with second-seeded Wilbur-Creston (13-6), the West champion. Both games are at 7:30 in Reardan.

Davenport and Liberty play winner-to-district, loser-out games on Tuesday.

Odessa 61, Liberty 35

Michael Jeske hit 8 of 13 field goals to help the Tigers over the Lancers (7-15).

Liberty missed 10 of 17 free-throw attempts.

Liberty 9 9 7 10 - 35

Odessa 14 13 11 23 - 61

LIBERTY - Wiman 0, K.Engle 4, J.Engle 6, Cousins 4, J.Holling 9, Johnson 0, Pottratz 4, Phipps 0, C.Holling 4, Schmitz 0, Mortimer 0, Horlacher 4.

ODESSA - Kramer 13, G.Schafer 10, Dart 0, Floch 8, Hardung 0, Jeske 17, Pitts 0, Z.Schafer 2, Walter 0, Praetorius 11, Luiten 0.

ACH 56, Davenport 48

The balanced Warriors pulled steadily away from the Gorillas (8-15).

, DataTimes