Viks Sweep Lake City

Girls basketball

To anyone who may have doubted, the Coeur d’Alene High girls basketball team proved its first victory over Lake City wasn’t a fluke.

Now the Vikings have their own streak started.

After losing 11 straight to the Timberwolves, the Vikings knocked off their crosstown rival for a second time, 46-38, in a Border League game Saturday before an estimated 1,000 fans at LC.

CdA defeated LC 56-54 in overtime last month.

The Viks (12-4 overall, 11-3 league) remained tied with Moscow in first place, but Post Falls fell out of a three-way tie as Cheney upset the Trojans 51-46.

LC (10-6, 9-5) fell two games behind the leaders. What’s odd is CdA has lost twice to Post Falls while LC is the only league team to beat Post Falls twice.

CdA coach Bill Pratt and LC coach Dave Fealko both have different takes on the odd head-to-head battles. Pratt says it’s matchups. Fealko doesn’t agree.

“I think teams get up for us a little (more) than they do for Post Falls,” Fealko said.

Whatever the reasons, CdA has LC’s number at this point.

It was obvious the Viks were ready to fire from the outset.

CdA made its first five shots. Moments later, a three-point play by Krissi Ruiz put the Viks ahead 15-4 with 2:42 left in the first quarter.

Although LC would recover and eventually tie the score at one point, the T-Wolves, who never led in the game, fell into another hole they couldn’t climb out of.

“They were ready to go; we weren’t I guess,” Fealko said. “We can’t afford to give a lap lead when we start a game.”

Pratt was pleased his team survived without post and leading scorer Shaylia Davis in the first half. She picked up two fouls and sat down the final 10:06.

LC’s Cassie Bro, who made 3 of 3 3-pointers in the first half, tied the score at 23-all with her final 3-pointer at the 4:20 mark of the second period. She scored 12 of her game-high 18 points in the first half.

CdA took a 27-24 lead into halftime.

Pratt said the Viks were much more aware of Bro in the second half. She didn’t shoot another 3-pointer after halftime.

“We didn’t spot her up on the zone out-of-bounds plays,” Pratt said. “Defense is our strength and we stayed with it. And we did a great job (rebounding) against them.”

LC didn’t get any closer than two points after the opening seconds of the second half. CdA held a steady lead, building it to as much as nine three times.

The T-Wolves pulled within 40-35 and had a chance to cut into the lead. But CdA pulled down three key offensive rebounds. The final second chance proved lethal when Dani Bielec hit a wide-open 3-pointer off a nice kick out from point guard Patti Stranger that extended the Viks’ lead to 43-35 with 2:59 left.

CdA showed patience the final 3 minutes, taking considerable time off the clock.

Ruiz led CdA with 13 points.

Coeur d’Alene 19 8 11 8 - 46

Lake City 14 10 5 9 - 38

Coeur d’Alene (12-4, 11-3) - Lenz 1 0-0 2, Stranger 1 0-0 2, Holte 0 0-0 0, Vig 0 0-0 0, Ruiz 5 3-5 13, Douglas 4 1-4 9, Bielec 3 2-3 10, Griffitts 1 0-0 2, Davis 4 0-2 8. Totals 19 6-14 46.

Lake City (10-6, 9-5) - Chamberlin 0 0-0 0, Hayes 0 -2 1, Carpenter 0 0-0 0, Colwell 0 1-2 1, Bro 6 1-3 18, Hanson 1 0-0 2, Dodge 3 3-6 10, Stern 2 2-5 6. Totals 12 8-16 38.

3-point goals - Bielec 2, Bro 3, Dodge. Total fouls - C 17, LC 16. Fouled out - Hayes. Technicals - none.

Cheney 51, Post Falls 46

Kara Weitman scored 18 of her 24 in the second half, and Lani McLauchlin hit three 10-footers in the fourth quarter to help build a six-point lead as the Blackhawks knocked the visiting Trojans out of first place.

KDee Anderson added seven steals and five assists for Cheney, and Weitman, held scoreless in her last game, had seven rebounds. PF’s Janelle Ruen scored 21 and reportedly broke the school’s career scoring record.

Post Falls 12 11 9 14 - 46

Cheney 11 7 16 17 - 51 Post Falls (10-5, 10-4) - Billetz 2 3-4 9, Clutter 0 0-0 0, McLean 0 1-2 1, Wagner 1 0-0 2, Olson 0 3-6 3, Ruen 7 4-4 21, Johnson 1 2-3 4, Foster 2 2-2 6. Totals 13 15-21 46.

Cheney (7-5, 5-5) - Fockler 0 0-0 0, Conrath 1 2-2 4, Anderson 2 1-2 6, Weitman 7 7-8 24, McLauchlin 3 2-2 8, Birchler 0 2-2 2, Marsh 0 1-3 1, Krogh 0 2-2 2, Oyoloker 0 0-0 0, Schade 2 0-0 4. Totals 15 17-21 51.

3-point goals - Billetz 2, Ruen 3, Anderson, Weitman 3. Total fouls - Post Falls 20, Cheney 21. Fouled out - Johnson, McLauchlin, Oyoloker. Technicals - Billetz.

Sandpoint 61, West Valley 58

Chris Ross hit six 3-pointers and scored 23 as the Bulldogs defeated the visiting Eagles despite missing two starters.

Sandpoint’s Jenn Pratt moved up from junior varsity and had nine rebounds, two more than teammate Lindsey Larson.

West Valley 16 16 9 17 - 58

Sandpoint 15 11 11 24 - 61

West Valley (2-9, 1-8) - Biesen 0 0-0 0, Wieber 1 0-0 3, Groh 4 3-4 14, Knapp 0 1-2 1, Holstrom 5 4-4 14, Thomas 2 0-2 5, Parvey 5 3-3 13, Hilsabeck 2 2-4 6, Cortez 0 2-4 2, Rieger 0 0-0 0, Lawler 0 0-0 0. Totals 19 15-23 58.

Sandpoint (5-10, 3-10) - Verby 2 4-5 8, Allmaras 0 2-2 2, Larson 1 5-6 7, Gunter 2 0-0 5, Libbey 0 6-6 6, Ross 8 1-2 23, Wood 2 1-2 5,Pratt 2 1-3 5. Totals 17 20-26 61.

3-point goals - Wieber, Groh 3, Thomas, Ross 6. Total fouls - West Valley 21, Sandpoint 20. Fouled out - West Valley, Holstrom. Technicals - None.