West Valley Turns Up The Tempo On Cda For Easy Victory

Boys basketball

The second time around was closer to reality.

Eleven days ago, the Coeur d’Alene High boys basketball team, a mere shell of last year’s state championship squad, should have beaten talent-laden West Valley, which pulled out a 58-57 decision.

Saturday, the Eagles played like the team tabbed to win the Border League as they sped past visiting Coeur d’Alene 80-42.

Both coaches pointed to tempo as the most glaring difference between the first meeting and the rematch.

The ease in which the Eagles won was an indication to first-year coach Jamie Nilles that his team has broken out of a brief lull.

“We’ve been looking to get back to how we play,” Nilles said. “I thought we put it together tonight.”

It started with defense. WV used a three-quarter zone trap to churn up the intensity, and it worked to perfection.

A 12-2 run helped WV build a 17-7 early lead, and the Eagles took a 26-11 advantage into the second period.

It would only get worse for CdA, which is in next to last place in league.

The Eagles’ biggest first-half lead came when John Focht got a putback at 39-13 with 3:44 left before halftime.

Post Chris Sorensen made a basket and foul shot to double WV’s lead to 60-30 with 55 seconds left in the third quarter. The three-point play also bettered the Eagles’ 58-point showing at CdA.

The final 38-point margin was WV’s biggest advantage.

CdA sophomore point guard Jason Rupp, who had 18 points in the first game, got into foul trouble early. He sat out 5:58 of the first quarter before leaving after picking up his third foul with 6:11 remaining in the second quarter.

Rupp didn’t score his first basket until the fourth quarter. He finished with four points, 11 below his average.

Rupp’s senior brother, Jeff, also struggled. WV’s Brad Groh held him to eight points, nine below his team-leading average.

Bryan Sather led CdA with 13 points. It was the first time a Viking other than the Rupps led in scoring.

Groh highlighted his game-high 21 points with two slam dunks. Seven Eagles scored seven or more points.

“The thing that gets Brad going more than anything is when he’s playing defensively and he’s rebounding,” Nilles said. “Earlier in the season he was struggling in rebounding, and now he’s seeing the benefit of it because he can get out and run the break.”

Coeur d’Alene 11 9 12 10 - 42

West Valley 26 16 18 20 - 80

Coeur d’Alene (3-8, 2-8) - Goodwin 0 3-7 3, Chambers 2 0-0 5, Ja. Rupp 2 0-0 4, Je. Rupp 3 1-2 8, Keil 1 0-0 2, Sather 6 1-1 13, Gittel 1 0-0 2, Alderman 0 0-0 0, Findley 2 1-2 5. Totals 17 6-12 42.

West Valley (9-0, 7-0) - Kopp 3 0-0 7, Sly 3 5-10 11, Pecht 1 0-0 3, Deno 3 0-0 8, Groh 8 4-7 21, Focht 3 1-1 7, Gregg 1 1-2 4, Spivey 2 5-6 9, Sorensen 4 1-1 9, Fusare 0 1-2 1. Totals 28 18-29 80.

3-point goals - Chambers, Je. Rupp, Deno 2, Kopp, Pecht, Greg, Groh. Total fouls - CdA 19, WV 13. Fouled out - none.

Cheney 41, Lake City 35

Ben Woodard had 11 rebounds as the Blackhawks defeated the visiting Timberwolves to give coach Denny Humphrey his 502nd career win.

Humphrey tied Les Eathorne (Olympic, Bremerton, Camas, East Bremerton) for sixth place on the state’s all-time list. Centralia’s Ron Brown, fifth on the list, is still active.

Lake City 8 6 5 16 - 35

Cheney 15 10 6 10 - 41

Lake City (7-5, 6-4) - Barlow 2 0-0 4, Bramlet 1 0-0 2, Schuh 4 0-0 8, Reiswig 0 0-0 0, Lenz 3 0-0 8, Nipp 0 3-4 3, Stroh 0 0-0 0, Quinn 1 0-0 2, Dennis 4 0-2 8. Totals 15 3-6 35.

Cheney (4-5, 4-4) - Larsen 2 3-4 9, Volk 0 0-0 0, Stoddard 0 0-0 0, Oyolokor 3 0-2 6, Mount 4 0-0 9, Woodard 4 0-2 8, Marsh 1 1-3 3, Randall 1 4-6 6. Totals 15 8-17 41.

3-point goals - Lenz 2, Larsen 2, Mount. Total fouls - Lake City 15, Cheney 6. Fouled out - None. Technicals - None.

East Valley 64, Lewiston 44

The Knights went on a 10-2 run to get the lead to double figures early in the second quarter and broke the game open with a 9-0 run late in the third to beat the visiting Bengals.

East Valley had eight different players score in the third quarter, when a 31-22 halftime lead was boosted to 53-33.

The Bengals battled back with an 11-1 run to open the fourth quarter but EV got the final 10 points of the game in the last 3:07.

“We didn’t shoot the ball very well,” Lewiston coach Dick Richel said. “The big difference is they have guys that can stand up and shoot over you.”

Andrew Burgess led EV with 20 points, 11 coming in the second quarter.

Lewiston 4 18 15 11 - 44

East Valley 11 20 22 11 - 64

Lewiston (6-4, 5-3) - Holder 0 0-0 0, Raykovich 2 1-2 5, Winterbottom 0 0-0 0, Holmes 3 2-2 8, Cone 2 2-2 7, Rogers 0 0-0 0, Wolf 3 0-2 6, Klamper 2 5-5 9, Haines 3 3-6 9, Bruce 0 0-0 0. Totals 15 13-19 44.

East Valley (8-1, 7-0) - Brown 2 1-1 5, Henderson 3 2-4 8, Sitton 1 0-0 2, Kann 0 0-0 0, Je. Quirk 3 6-8 12, Pooley 2 0-0 4, Burgess 7 3-3 20, Storey 2 0-0 4, Horgan 3 3-4 9. Totals 23 15-20 64.

3-point goals - Cone, Burgess 3. Total fouls - Lewiston 15, East Valley 21. Fouled out - Horgan. Technicals - Horgan, Wolf.

Great Northern League

Pullman 94, Riverside 50

Brent Cummings scored 30, hitting 6 of 8 3-pointers, and Josh Bray added 22 points as the visiting Greyhounds defeated the Rams.

Cummings finished 11 of 16 from the floor. Pullman made 15 of 32 3-pointers and 37 of 84 field goals.

Pullman 33 21 29 11 - 94

Riverside 17 12 12 9 - 50

Pullman (8-0, 2-0) - Sheridan 1, Cummings 30, Paulson 2, Bray 22, Harms 12, Myers 0, Rurangirwa 2, Morscheck 8, Weeks 5, Poole 3, Petz 4, Baumgartner 5.

Riverside (4-4, 1-1) - Fleetwood 5, Lieske 6, Steiner 5, Hodgson 11, Hoffman 5, Dinning 12, Baumgarten 0, Johnson 6, Vannatter 0.

Medical Lake 64, Newport 45

Jeff Nichols had 18 rebounds and three blocked shots to guide the Cardinals over the visiting Grizzlies.

Newport 15 15 12 3 - 45

Medical Lake 17 13 16 18 - 64

Newport (3-4, 0-2) - Kiehn 0, Meade 5, Walden 0, Drum 16, Reyes 15, Balcom 6, Campbell 0, Jordan 1, Vlasman 2.

Medical Lake (5-3, 1-1) - Earley 13, Berry 2, Fuqua 0, Mitchell 8, Chappell 11, Alexander 4, Nichols 18, Bahr 8, Erks 0, Mace 0.