Quick Start Carries Cda By Cheney

Boys basketball

The Coeur d’Alene High boys basketball team was flawless at the beginning and midpoint of Tuesday’s contest.

It’s the finish the Vikings will be working on during the final nine games of the regular season.

Coeur d’Alene pulled off a mild upset over preseason Border League favorite Cheney, building a 20-point lead before holding off a late Blackhawks rally for a 56-49 win at Viking Gym.

“We stopped the bleeding just in time,” said Coeur d’Alene coach Larry Bieber, who heaped mostly praise on his team. “I think we’re on the right road now after our Lake City win (62-54 Friday) and this one.”

Doing most of the steering for the Viks - at least in CdA’s big third quarter - was senior point guard Jim Rupp.

The streaky-shooting Rupp opened the quarter with back-to-back 3-pointers. He followed with a three-point play and a jumper to account for an 11-0 run that extended CdA’s lead to 35-16.

Teammate Lukas O’Dowd, still coming off the bench following hernia surgery, is getting closer to full strength. O’Dowd took a pass from Rupp and completed a three-point play moments later that gave the Viks their biggest lead at 42-22.

Rupp scored 11 of his career-high 25 points in the quarter, eclipsing his previous best (22).

But Rupp’s streakiness reared in the fourth quarter when he missed his first four shots. His lone basket, though, with 18 seconds left secured the win. He also made 3 of 6 free throws in the final 2:28.

Cheney (9-2 overall, 6-1 in league), which never led, could get no closer than three points after a first quarter when CdA (8-3, 6-2) opened a 15-6 lead.

The Blackhawks’ rally began after O’Dowd tipped in a missed 3-pointer by Rupp to put CdA ahead 48-34 with 5:26 left. Cheney used a 12-1 surge to trim the advantage to 49-46 at the 1:31 mark.

Cheney’s Paul Malisani hit three baskets in the run. But CdA countered by making 5 of 8 foul shots in the final 1:24.

O’Dowd finished with 16 points and a team-high eight rebounds in just over a combined two quarters.

Blackhawks coach Denny Humphrey stressed he wasn’t offering an excuse, but said that his team didn’t practice Monday because of a flu epidemic at the school. More than one-third of the students (346) were out of school Monday. Tuesday, 306 missed school.

“We played a very good team,” Humphrey said. “(The flu) had nothing to do with the game. Coeur d’Alene, gosh, is really a nice team. I was really upset with some of our starters.”

If it hadn’t been for at least one Blackhawk, though, the defeat may have been worse. James Kiger kept Cheney in the game in the first half when he scored 12 of his team’s 16 points on 5-of-10 shooting. The other Blackhawks combined for 1 of 14 field goal attempts.

Kiger finished with 18 points. Malisani scored all 15 of his points in the second half.

Coeur d’Alene 56, Cheney 49

Cheney 6 10 15 18 - 49

Coeur d’Alene 15 9 20 12 - 56

CHENEY - Stifler 3, Eggart 3, Oyolokor 0, Donnelly 0, Ervin 0, Kiger 18, Malisani 15, Bond 10.

COEUR D’ALENE - Je. Rupp 4, Ji. Rupp 25, Wood 4, Chambers 2, DeArmond 2, Sigler 3, O’Dowd 16.

Lewiston 66, Post Falls 51

Carson Egland scored 21, hitting 7 of 9 from the floor and 7 of 7 from the line, and the visiting Bengals (10-3, 7-2) roared back after the Trojans (5-5, 4-4) jumped ahead 7-0.

Lewiston finished 25 of 38 from the floor (66 percent). The Trojans’ Chad Quesnell hit 3 of 7 3-pointers on the way to 20 points.

Lewiston 15 16 21 14 - 66

Post Falls 13 8 12 18 - 51

LEWISTON - Egland 21, Pierce 8, Maurer 4, Eck 8, Clamper 3, Renke 4, Johnson 18.

POST FALLS - Klaudt 5, Meeks 13, Quesnell 20, Christiansen 0, Fehling 1, Therrian 0, Miller 8, Leary 3, McArthur 1, Thornley 0.

NON-LEAGUE

Pullman 63, Clarkston 42

Brent Cummings made 8 of 17 from the floor and Ryan Harms added eight rebounds as the Greyhounds (7-0) defeated the visiting Bantams (1-7).

Pullman shot 42 percent from the field, Clarkston 32 percent. Clarkston’s Nick Olson had 10 rebounds.

Clarkston 6 11 14 11 - 42

Pullman 21 13 5 24 - 63

CLARKSTON - Olson 9, Norland 4, Smith 2, Blankinship 5, Fuchs 0, Harrington 11, Cummings 2, Cridlebaugh 0, Hayes 3, Howell 2, Hilty 4.

PULLMAN - Brown 5, Cummings 19, Linehan 2, Camp 3, Bray 8, Harms 10, Meyers 0, Randall 9, Weeks 0, Camara 3, Poole 0, Dorvil 4.

Colfax 67, Asotin 35

The Panthers (1-9) were limited to three free-throw attempts in their road loss to the Bulldogs (7-2). Colfax finished 7 of 13 at the line.

Asotin 7 11 12 5 - 35

Colfax 20 19 16 12 - 67

ASOTIN - Neace 2, Ater 4, Ambroson 0, Appleford 0, Uptmor 10, Smith 13, Larson 6.

COLFAX - Kirkpatrick 3, Damery 4, Hall 0, Wigen 0, Curtis 9, Mayer 0, Brownell 11, Keck 14, Hand 2, VanDyke 8, VanTine 16.

Tekoa-Oakes. 51, Pomeroy 46

The visiting Nighthawks (7-4) defeated the Pirates (7-3). No details were reported.

SJE at Wilbur-Creston, ppd.

St. John-Endicott’s game at Creston was postponed because of weather conditions. W-C didn’t know if the game would be made up.

Jubilee Chr. at Chr.Heritage, cancelled

The game at Edwall between Jubilee Christian and Christian Heritage was canceled because of weather conditions.

WHITMAN COUNTY

Gar-Pal 72, Rosalia 52

Brad Bischoff scored 24, hitting 10 of 13 from the field and 4 of 5 from the line, to guide the Vikings (7-4, 2-1) over the Spartans (1-10, 1-2) at Palouse.

Aaron Flansburg added seven rebounds and Logan Coles made 8 of 8 fourth-quarter free throws for Gar-Pal.

Rosalia 10 3 16 23 - 52

Gar-Pal 13 19 18 22 - 72

ROSALIA -Bernard 9, Heinemann 0, Watkins 4, S.DeGon 3, D.DeGon 0, Peterson 4, Shindler 12, Bothman 10, Schmidt 7, Workman 3.

GARFIELD-PALOUSE - Bischoff 24, Coles 18, Flansburg 13, Cronk 4, Fox 2, Kimble 2, Johnson 2, Tharp 4, Demand 3, Kriebel 0.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Photo

MEMO: Changed from the Idaho edition.