Lc Snaps To It, Surprises Cheney

Lake City High boys basketball coach Jim Winger told himself before the season that he had to be patient with his team.

Winger was admittedly anxious going into the Timberwolves’ home opener and fourth game Friday, though. Especially after watching his team play so little defense in a overtime loss to Colville in a Border League opener Tuesday.

“I know it’s early, but this was a pivotal game,” Winger said after LC knocked off preseason favorite Cheney, 56-51. The T-Wolves extended their home winning streak to 16, a string dating back to the 1998-99 season.

“I was real worried because we had no energy in practice (Thursday). It was one of those no-excitement type of practices, real blah. This was a pretty good pick-me-up game.”

A switching man-to-man defense coupled with sharp decisions offensively were keys in LC’s win over the talent-rich Blackhawks.

LC (2-2 overall, 1-1 league) made 4 of 6 free throws in the final 42 seconds to hand Cheney its first loss (3-1, 2-1).

But as well as LC played to put itself in position for a breakthrough, it all could have come crashing down when standout 6-foot-6 wing Matt Dlouhy crash-landed jumping for a rebound with 5:06 remaining.

Dlouhy was helped off the court and didn’t return. He suffered a slightly sprained ankle and should return Tuesday when Lake City entertains West Valley.

Just 35 seconds earlier, Dlouhy had made his biggest shot of the game when he took a kick-out pass from guard Brian Longwell and hit a wide-open 3-pointer to tie the score at 43-43.

As LC 6-4 junior post Nick Pilon evaluated things, though, it was an opportunity for the T-Wolves to rally as a team.

“He’s our best player,” said Pilon, who on this night - and an argument could be made for all of LC’s games thus far - was the T-Wolves’ top player. “We stepped it up and came together as a team.”

LC’s play the final 5 minutes certainly drew praise from veteran Cheney coach Denny Humphrey.

“There’s no question that when Dlouhy went out, they really responded,” Humphrey said. “They did some nice things. I don’t know if we had a mental letdown. If we did, it was the wrong thing to do because they have enough firepower without Dlouhy to be a pretty nice team.”

Senior guard Matt Souza hit a 3-pointer to put LC ahead 46-43 with 4:29 left. A Pilon pull-up jumper at the free-throw line extended the lead to 50-43 with 2:13 remaining.

A desperation 3-pointer by Rhett Humphrey cut LC’s advantage to 55-51 with 16 seconds to go. A free throw by Adam Wilson 8 seconds later locked it up for LC.

Pilon scored a career-high 19 points and added seven rebounds. The left-handed post player made 9 of 14 attempts from various spots around and in the key.

Equally pleasing to Winger was his team’s defense in general and Pilon’s effort guarding the league’s top returning post, senior Ben Woodard.

Woodard was held to five points and one field goal before fouling out.

“I thought defensively and offensively we played with our brains,” Winger said. “That’s one of our four goals. We have to play hard and smart. Woodard is one tremendous athlete, and I thought we did a great job on him all night.”

Humphrey said Woodard must take the game as a personal challenge.

“We knew they were going to come after Ben,” Humphrey said. “Ben’s got to be much more assertive. This is the way it’s going to be every ballgame for him. I like our team, but Ben’s a notch above our kids and he’s got to play like it.”

Before leaving with an injury, Dlouhy scored 17 points.

Ryan Harris led Cheney with 14.

Lake City 56, Cheney 51

Cheney 10 15 11 15 - 51

Lake City 12 15 11 18 - 56

Cheney (3-1, 2-1) - Harris 5 2-2 14, Hegney 1 0-0 2, Humphrey 3 1-2 9, Larson 5 0-0 13, Oswald 1 0-0 2, Strampe 3 0-0 6, Woodard 1 3-4 5. Totals 19 6-8 51.

Lake City (2-2, 1-1) - Wilson 1 1-2 3, Souza 3 5-6 13, Longwell 0 0-0 0, Dlouhy 7 0-0 17, Hammons 0 0-0 0, Stern 1 0-0 2, Pilon 9 1-3 19, Jacobson 1 0-0 2, Brodin 0 0-0 0. Totals 22 7-11 56.

3-point goals-Larson 3, Harris 2, Humphrey 2, Dlouhy 3, Souza 2. Total fouls-Cheney 19, Lake City 13. Fouled out-Woodard, Harris. Technicals-none.

West Valley 61, Moscow 48

Lance Pecht scored 25 of his 28 points in the first half and finished 6 of 12 on 3-pointers to guide the visiting Eagles over the Bears.

Pecht added seven rebounds. Drew Burton scored 20 for the Bears.

West Valley 18 20 11 12 - 61

Moscow 13 15 9 11 - 48

West Valley (3-0, 2-0) - Allen 2 0-0 4, Deshazer 1 1-2 3, Gazaway 2 3-3 8, Gerrells 0 0-0 0, Gordon 2 4-4 8, Hamilton 0 0-0 0, Harris 1 0-0 2, Ingram 0 0-0 0, McIntyre 4 0-0 8, Ohman 0 0-0 0, Pecht 10 2-2 28, Rouse 0 0-0 0. Totals 22 10-11 61.

Moscow (0-3, 0-2) - Helbling 1 0-0 2, Dail 0 0-0 0, S. Sumner 2 0-0 5, J. Sumner 0 0-0 0, Williams 4 1-3 9, Penoncello 1 0-0 2, Harkins 1 2-4 4, Davis 0 0-0 0, Richards 3 0-2 6, Burton 8 4-4 20. Totals 20 7-13 48.

3-point goals-Gazaway, Pecht 6, S. Sumner. Total fouls-West Valley 19, Moscow 16. Fouled out-None. Technicals-None.

Colville 63, Sandpoint 48

The visiting Indians hit 9 of 20 3-pointers to defeat the Bulldogs.

Stephen Goble added six assists and Dane Bassett seven rebounds for Colville.

Colville 14 18 18 13 - 63

Sandpoint 11 12 12 13 - 48

Colville (3-0, 3-0) - Banich 5 1-2 13, Bassett 4 0-0 8, Cornwell 0 0-0 0, Ferguson 3 3-4 9, Goble 4 0-1 10, Johnson 1 4-4 6, May 0 0-0 0, Salina 2 0-0 6, Sprangers 0 0-0 0, Trudgeon 3 2-2 11. Totals 22 10-13 63.

Sandpoint (1-3, 0-3) - Aumick 2 5-5 9, DaVault 2 4-6 9, Dyck 1 0-0 2, Fitchett 0 0-0 0, Holland 0 0-0 0, Kingsland 1 1-1 3, Lissy 0 0-0 0, Lopshire 2 0-2 4, Malone 4 1-3 10, Mire 3 1-3 8, Oliver 1 0-0 3, Zentner 0 0-0 0. Totals 16 12-20 48.

3-point goals-Banich 2, Goble 2, Salina 2, Trudgeon 3, DaVault, Malone, Mire, Oliver. Total fouls-Colville 18, Sandpoint 14. Fouled out-none. Technicals-none.

Clarkston 68, Post Falls 42

Justin Fraser hit four 3-pointers and the visiting Bantams defeated the Trojans.

Clarkston 20 19 19 10 - 68

Post Falls 17 10 7 8 - 42 Clarkston (3-0, 3-0) - Pfeifer 2 0-0 5, Hally 4 0-0 11, Fraser 7 0-0 18, Shelden 7 0-0 15, Howell 2 1-2 6, Detray 1 0-0 2, Fuchs 0 0-0 0, Burke 3 0-2 6, Entel 1 1-1 3, Gillig 1 0-0 2. Totals 28 2-5 68.

Post Falls (0-4, 0-4) - Barnhardt 2 0-0 4, Fetters 3 0-0 8, Haas 1 1-2 3, Hutchison 1 0-1 2, Jackson 1 0-1 2, Lacy 0 0-0 0, Lent 0 0-0 0, Myers 0 0-0 0, Noble 0 2-2 2, Quesnell 2 0-0 5, Ward 6 4-4 16. Totals 16 7-10 42.

3-point goals-Pfeifer, Hally 3, Fraser 4, Shelden, Howell, Fetters 2, Quesnell. Total fouls-Clarkston 12, Post Falls 9. Fouled out-None. Technicals-None.