Patriots overpower Vikings
To have a chance to win games this season, the Coeur d’Alene High boys basketball team will have to play defense like it did Friday.
And whatever amount of offense the Vikings can squeeze out will be a bonus, too. The problem in their season opener is Coeur d’Alene ran into a much better team as the Centennial Patriots held off the scrappy Viks 49-43 at Elmer Jordan Court.
“They don’t have any choice,” CdA coach Kent Leiss said when complimented about his team’s tenacious play defensively. “They’re going to work hard. I was proud of us defensively. We gave up 49 points. That’s what we gave up in the league last year, and I didn’t know if we could be that good defensively without the size we had last year in Peter Wroe. I think we’re going to be able to defend.”
And Leiss thinks the offense will come over time.
Still, the never-quit Viks had no right to be on the same court with the much taller Patriots – much less have a chance to win late. Centennial featured 6-foot-8, 6-6 and 6-5 players inside. The Pats also had more players who could create offense.
Centennial coach Tom Aipperspach was relieved to get the win in the opener.
“We kept them in the game,” Aipperspach said. “We made mistakes – that was a lot of first-game stuff. Hopefully we can clean it up and move on and get a little better.
The Pats led by as many as 13 points in the first half and 15 early in the third quarter. But CdA fought back in both situations.
A basket inside by Austin Legg put the Pats ahead 25-12 with 4:30 left in the second quarter. But CdA pulled within 28-20 by halftime.
The Viks committed three turnovers to open the third period and Centennial made them pay with three straight baskets, including a 3-pointer from 6-6 Harrison Williams as the Pats opened a 35-20 lead. But the Viks fought back within 42-31 by quarter’s end.
CdA used a 9-2 run to slice the Pats’ lead to 44-40 with 1:18 to go. But Centennial had enough poise to hold off the Viks thereafter.
Williams and 6-8 Craig McGee each scored 17 points. Williams also had eight rebounds to go with two blocked shots.
CdA had no answer for the Pats’ size, however. The Viks’ tallest starter is 6-2.
“That was the deciding factor. They were just a little bit too big for us,” Leiss said.
The Wolfe brothers – the dogged leaders on defense who take it to the basket in one-on-one situations with no fear – combined for 22 points. Jake had a team-high 14
Trailing 17-12 after the first quarter, CdA switched to an active 2-3 zone. And that bottled the Pats up at times.
“I thought the zone really helped neutralize their size,” Leiss said. “We played it better than I thought we would this early in the season. We just don’t have enough offensive threats. We have to eliminate our turnovers and make our layups to have a chance to win. We didn’t quite do that enough.”