Wv Finishes The Job

To finish or not to finish?

That was the question Tuesday when Border League-leading West Valley held off upset-hopeful Coeur d’Alene, 65-56, in a boys basketball game at Viking Gym that was strangely closer than the final margin.

The answer is obvious: The Eagles finished. It’s actually something they’ve accomplished often this year as they pushed their league record to 14-1 and moved to 16-1 overall.

“We’ve been fortunate to win a lot of close games. That’s a testament to our kids,” WV coach Jamie Nilles said. “We’re not blowing people out, but we’re getting the `W’ and that’s what counts.

“There’s no gimmes,” Nilles added. “You look at teams’ records - and some of the student body and our administrators thought `easy one tonight’ - but the coaches all know there’s nothing easy in this league.”

CdA, conversely, has had problems consummating games - lose or win.

“We don’t know how to finish games right now,” said CdA coach Larry Bieber, whose team slipped to 4-10 and 6-10. “Even when we win we’re not finishing the way we should. I think some of our kids were satisfied with a good half against what they consider the best team in the league. But I’m not going to let them off the hook that easy. We’ve got to learn how to finish games.”

The Viks were candidates to pull off the biggest upset in the league Tuesday.

In a game that featured just spurts of defense and a lot of uncontested offense, the Viks played the Eagles tight until the final 3 minutes.

CdA point guard Zach Simon found post Stewart Rogers loose inside for a basket that pulled the Viks within 51-50 with 4:53 remaining.

WV used a 7-0 run to extend the lead to 58-50 with 2:01 left. CdA wouldn’t get any closer than six thereafter.

The Eagles made 6 of 10 foul shots in the final 2 minutes to keep CdA at bay.

The game featured 16 lead changes. But back-to-back baskets by Lance Pecht midway in the third quarter allowed WV to build a small cushion as the Eagles wouldn’t relinquish the lead.

Pecht, the league’s leading scorer, scored 10 of his gamehigh 19 in the third period.

Bieber was actually pleased with his team’s defense in the first half as the Viks went into halftime trailing 32-29. He was particularly happy with holding Pecht to seven points and John Focht scoreless.

But Focht got loose in the fourth quarter, scoring nine of his 11 points. Two of his baskets came the way he scores many of his points - off offensive rebounds.

Both teams shot well. And they should have considering many of their shots were uncontested or came off drives to the basket.

WV made 26 of 50 shots from the floor and CdA countered with 24 of 43.

Many times CdA was its own worst enemy. The Viks committed 24 turnovers - many of which were unforced.

The Viks return to action tonight when they entertain Moscow (7-7, 9-7) in a makeup of a snowed out game.

“Our goal (tonight) is to finish the game, to play 32 minutes,” Bieber said. “It’s a very important game.”

West Valley 18 14 12 21 - 65

Coeur d’Alene 17 12 13 14 - 56

West Valley (16-1, 14-1) - Kopp 4 4-6 13, Sly 1 0-0 3, McIntyre 1 1-2 3, Pecht 9 0-0 19, Hamilton 0 0-0 0, Gordon 3 2-4 8, Focht 4 3-4 11, Hollifield 2 0-0 4, French 2 0-0 4, Bullock 0 0-0 0. Totals 26 10-16 65.

Coeur d’Alene (6-10, 4-10) - Simon 1 1-2 3, Rupp 3 2-3 10, Bligh 0 2-2 2, Sande 0 0-0 0, Rogers 6 0-0 12, Wilkey 1 0-0 2, Sather 0 0-0 0, Conley 7 0-0 15, Findley 2 0-0 4, Alderman 4 0-0 8. Totals 24 5-7 56.

3-point goals - Kopp, Sly, Pecht, Rupp 2, Conley. Total fouls - West Valley 10, Coeur d’Alene 14. Fouled out - none. Technicals - none.