Lake City Picks Up Win, Some Experience

One of the main goals of Lake City boys basketball coach Jim Winger as his team heads towards postseason tournament action is giving his reserves some playing time and along with it, some valuable experience.

That mission was accomplished in Tuesday’s 70-35 Border League blowout of Post Falls in front of about 500 fans at Lake City.

All 14 T-Wolves played, 12 scored, and Lake City’s bench provided 20 points while gaining some valuable playing time.

The win kept the T-Wolves (13-2 league, 15-2) in contention for a league title (LC and Cheney are both one game behind West Valley) and extended their winning streak to 12 games.

Lake City has already locked up the No. 1 seed in the Region I tournament.

“We need everybody on our bench,” Winger said. “We need to get them some minutes and give them some confidence. That was my No. 1 goal tonight.”

The starters did their part, too. The T-Wolves were led early by the scoring of seniors Kevin Quinn and Daryl Wilder.

The two combined for 17 first-quarter points as Lake City jumped out to a 19-12 lead.

Lake City outscored Post Falls 23-7 in the third quarter to go up 56-27. The Trojans shot just 25 percent in that period (and just under 15 percent for the second half) but more importantly, committed seven turnovers.

The guy who led that charge was point guard Jacob Lenz. Lenz’s pressure defense resulted in a couple of key steals resulting in lay-ins and he added a 3-pointer for good measure.

“Winger came up to me (at halftime) and asked me to get my game going,” Lenz explained. “I thought if I could pick up the defense, then the offense would follow.”

Winger emptied the bench in the final period, and the reserves provided some entertaining moments. The highlight of the second half was a 3-point bomb by junior Adam Wilson that made it 62-29.

Post Falls (0-13, 2-13) certainly didn’t help itself any, shooting just under 24 percent for the game and committing 19 turnovers. The Trojans were also just 8 of 21 from the free-throw line.

Lake City 70, Post Falls 35

Post Falls 12 8 7 8 - 35

Lake City 19 14 23 14 - 70

Post Falls (2-13, 0-13) - Smith 0 0-2 0, Fetters 2 0-1 3, McKinnon 2 3-6 8, Garrett 0 2-4 2, Hutchison 3 0-4 6, Sinclair 0 0-0 0, Ward 2 0-0 4, Da. Adams 2 2-2 8, De. Adams 0 1-2 1, Haas 0 0-0 0. Totals 11 8-21 35.

Lake City (15-2, 13-2) - Longwell 0 1-4 1, Souza 0 0-0 0, Quinn 6 0-0 15, Dlouhy 3 4-5 11, Lenz 3 0-0 7, Stern 1 0-0 2, Hammons 0 0-0 0, Wilson 1 0-0 3, Chisholm 1 0-0 3, Wilder 4 1-1 11, Anderson 2 0-0 4, Pilon 2 1-2 5, Carper 1 0-0 2, Dennis 3 0-0 6. Totals 25 7-12 70.

3-point goals - Fetters 2, McKinnon, Da. Adams 2, Quinn 3, Dloughy, Lenz, Wilson, Chisholm, Wilder 2. Total fouls - Post Falls 17, Lake City 19. Fouled out - Longwell. Technicals - Dloughy.

Intermountain League

Lakeland 80, Priest River 68

Ryan Hansen scored 29, hitting 21 of 24 free throws, and the visiting Hawks rallied past the Spartans.

Lakeland 12 21 21 26 - 80

Priest River 18 16 12 22 - 68

Lakeland (10-4, 5-1) - Kiefer 11, Gorton 0, Finley 13, Sandford 6, Ploetzner 10, Hansen 29, M. Banks 0, S. Banks 11, Eachon 0.

Priest River (11-6, 3-4) - Bodecker 3, Troumbley 0, Zmuda 15, Smith 7, Warren 6, Kucherry 12, R. White 6, Brennan 8, S. White 3, Cash 8.

Central Idaho League

Wallace 85, Lakeside 67

Keith Benz scored 21 and added six steals to help the Miners defeat the visiting Knights.

Lakeside 16 18 19 14 - 67

Wallace 32 21 17 15 - 85

Lakeside (5-14, 2-8) - Hodgson 6, Schultz 0, Hendricx 9, Matt 2, Montague 10, Cottrell 5, Johnson 3, Pluff 3, Sifford 13, Hoffman 16, Hutchins 0.

Wallace (9-7, 4-3) - Benz 21, D. Lee 5, Zanetti 12, Stein 2, Christensen 1, Fleming 18, Miller 5, Jones 0, Carver 15, J. Lee 6.