Clark Fork Earns Berth In A-4 State Tourney

A-4 basketball

The Clark Fork Wampus Cats let everyone know in the first few minutes who would be going to state when they took a 7-0 lead in a loser-out game against Kootenai on Friday night in the boys A-4 District I basketball tournament.

The fourth-seeded Warriors made a run in the third quarter, closing to within two points, but were never able to take the lead.

“The pressure, I think, wore them out in the fourth quarter,” said Wampus Cats coach Brian Powell after defeating the Warriors 65-45 at Post Falls High.

”(Kootenai) played a real good game and they’ve improved this year, but I think the pressure is what did it for them in the end.”

Kootenai (12-10, 2-6) was able to stay within five points of Clark Fork (14-5, 5-3) until freshman Brent Stutzke came out and nailed two 3-pointers early in the fourth to help the Wampus Cats move out to a 20-point lead.

Stutzke and Brent Stevens combined for 12 of 19 from the line in the fourth quarter. Stutzke finished with 16 points, while Steven led with 19.

The Warriors outscored the Wampus Cats 12-9 in the second quarter, but 6-0 Clark Fork junior George Klontz responded in the third by scoring eight of his 17 points and grabbing four steals.

“George is a real fast guy and he’s always up there pressuring the ball,” said Powell.

Kootenai’s 6-foot-6 leading scorer Brad Brede was held to eight points and was shut out in the third quarter. Teammate Randy Reinhofer led his team in scoring with 12 points.

Due to the flu, Kootenai was without three starters until its first-round game Thursday night.

“I think we showed good strides from the start, though,” said Kootenai coach Mike Howland. “The last couple weeks were real tough, but we finished up strong. The score doesn’t really indicate much of the game.

“There were some shots that could have dropped in for us early in the game, but that’s the way it goes. CF’s a really good team and I wouldn’t take anything away from them.”

Clark Fork will match up today against league champion Lakeside (16-4, 8-0), which has had the week off. The game will start at 1 p.m. at Post Falls High, followed by an awards ceremony. The winner will take the district championship and be the first seed to the state tournament.

Lakeside was last year’s state champion. Clark Fork hasn’t been to state since 1995.

“It’ll be three games in a row, and, hopefully, the guys on the team won’t be worn out,” said Powell. “But we’re going to give it a good shot, and, hopefully, Lakeside’s a little rusty from having the whole week off. We’re happy to be going and we’re going to go out and give them a good game and we’ll play hard and just see what happens.”

Clark Fork 65, Kootenai 45

Kootenai 8 12 12 13 - 45

Clark Fork 13 9 14 29 - 65

KOOTENAI - B.Brede 8, Schorzman 4, J.Brede 0, Passow 8, Reinhofer 12, Johns 4, Prickett 1, Ausman 0, Shanks 2, Finney 6, Smith 0, Parson 0.

CLARK FORK - Changala 0, Haston 0, B.Stutzke 16, Stevens 19, Beers 2, Rounsville 0, N.Stutzke 11, Higgins 0, Klontz 17, Vogal 0.

, DataTimes