Vikings Polish Off Moscow
Basketball
The lead might as well have been one point as far as Coeur d’Alene High boys basketball coach Larry Bieber was concerned.
Even when Jason Rupp’s cherry-pick layup put the Vikings ahead by 27 points with 52 seconds left in the third quarter Bieber wasn’t comfortable.
Even though CdA’s lead never dipped below 20 points in the fourth period, Bieber couldn’t relax.
Until Wednesday, Bieber’s Viks had never dominated a team by such a margin. The fact that it happened against Moscow, the preseason pick to win the Border League, made the 58-36 victory all the more satisfying at Viking Gym.
At this point in the season, Coeur d’Alene appears to be moving north in the league standings while Moscow is in a nosedive.
“I was still nervous (in the fourth quarter) - I swear to God,” Bieber said. “Because we’ve never been in that situation. With a young team, you don’t know what they’re going to do.”
A night after bemoaning his team’s inability to finish in a 65-56 loss to league-leading West Valley, Bieber had plenty to be pleased about.
It started at the opening tip and, save for a burp or two, the Viks never lost stride.
It was CdA’s fourth win in its last five games as the Viks raised their conference record to 5-10, 7-10 overall.
Moscow (9-8, 7-8) suffered its sixth loss in its last seven games as the gap between Lake City (13-2) and the rest of the Inland Empire League teams continues to widen.
But CdA appears to be moving in the right direction. The Viks have recorded wins in the second half of league play over Lewiston, Sandpoint and Moscow. They hope to continue that improvement at Post Falls on Saturday and at home Wednesday against LC.
“This was really important because we have beaten many of the teams we’ll see in the (regional) tournament,” said Bieber, whose team fell to Moscow 68-59 in overtime in mid-December.
It was Moscow’s worst loss of the season.
And the Bears didn’t put up much of a fight after CdA opened a 13-4 lead. Three straight baskets by post Nate Alderman, capped by a layup by Rupp off a steal, gave the Viks a 19-6 advantage going into the second quarter.
CdA used a 9-0 run to close out the first half with a 35-17 lead. That run extended into the third quarter as the Viks scored 16 straight points for a 42-17 lead 2:20 into the second half.
The score easily could have been worse. Bieber played several seldom-used players in the fourth quarter, and the Viks finished with 25 turnovers.
“I can accept those kinds of turnovers when you’re trying to push the ball,” Bieber said. “I was really happy that we came out and played with intensity from the get go because we’ve come out flat a lot of times.”
CdA shot 54 percent from the floor as the Viks made 25 of 46 attempts. Rupp led with 14 points and Sam Conley and Robert Findley each had 10.
Moscow shot a frigid 22 percent (10 of 44). Post Drew Burton kept the score from getting more out of hand than it was in the fourth quarter when he scored nine of his team-high 14 points - all from the free-throw line.
Burton was responsible for most of the 14 fouls on CdA’s posts.
CdA returns to action Saturday when it visits Post Falls, which is 0-14 in league following a 58-53 loss at Sandpoint.
Moscow is off until Tuesday when it plays host to Lewiston in a key game for regional seeding.
Moscow 6 11 6 13 - 36
Coeur d’Alene 19 16 13 10 - 58
Moscow (9-8, 7-8) - Brown 0 0-0 0, Baysinger 1 0-0 2, Busch 1 3-5 5, Williams 3 2-2 8, Johnson 1 1-2 3, Matthews 0 0-0 0, Richards 2 0-0 4, Twyman 0 0-0 0, Burton 2 10-14 14. Totals 10 16-23 36.
Coeur d’Alene (7-10, 5-10) - Capaul 2 0-0 4, Simon 1 0-0 2, Rupp 6 0-0 14, Bligh 0 0-0 0, Sande 0 1-2 1, Rogers 1 0-0 2, Wilkey 1 1-1 3, Sather 2 0-1 4, Conley 4 0-0 10, Findley 4 2-2 10, Alderman 4 0-0 8. Totals 25 4-6 58.
3-point goals - Rupp 2, Conley 2. Total fouls - Moscow 9, Coeur d’Alene 21. Fouled out - Alderman. Technicals - none.
Girls A-3 District I-II
Clearwater Valley 58, Wallace 34
Kylee Coulter scored 19, hitting 7 of 9 free throws, and the Rams of Kooskia outscored the Miners 16-8 at the line during their win at Lewiston High.
Lapwai (14-5) defeated Timberline 67-16 in Wednesday’s other game. Wallace plays Timberline (1-19) in a loser-out game at 7:30 tonight, also at Lewiston.
Clearwater Valley will play Lapwai on Friday night for a berth in the championship game.
Clearw.Valley 14 22 14 8 - 58
Wallace 8 4 12 10 - 34
Clearwater Valley (15-6) - Crowell 9, Martin 4, Coulter 19, Mendenahll 2, Huthcens 0, Brown 6, Cook 0, Vahlberg 0, Lytle 8, Weeks 0, Lyons 4, Doremus 4.
Wallace (9-12) - Branstetter 0, R. Zent 4, Striker 2, Gregory 2, Deahn 6, Lavigne 2, Carrico 4, N. Zent 3, Krulitz 3, Cantamessa 4, Alexander 4.
Non-league
Selkirk 67, Kettle Falls 47
Joe Hodges hasn’t stopped scoring since mid-January.
Hodges scored 32 points to lead Selkirk over visiting Kettle Falls in a non-league Washington boys game.
Hodges has eclipsed 30 points three times in the last seven games. He is averaging 26.6 points per game during the streak.
Hodges finished 10 of 19 from the field, with two 3-pointers, and 10 of 11 from the line. Selkirk’s Cody Carlson hit 7 of 12 field goals and added 13 rebounds.
Kettle Falls 14 14 6 13 - 47
Selkirk 18 16 13 20 - 67
Kettle Falls (5-13) - Bohren 0, Mace 0, Rogalette 8, Azzarito 7, Combs 0, Fredrickson 0, Lebret 0, Jo. Payne 2, Slater 4, Boone 14, Je. Payne 12.
Selkirk (11-8) - Villegas 1, Smith 6, Huffine 2, Batch 6, Hodges 32, Carlson 14, Damron 2, Anderson 4.