Badgers dig out of doldrums, make state

Bonners Ferry girls basketball coach Travis Hinthorn would probably be the first to admit it. The Badgers’ 49-35 victory over the Kellogg Wildcats in the 3A District I runner-up-to-state game was certainly not a thing of beauty.

But to the Badgers, the win means a trip to the 3A state tournament beginning Thursday in Kuna. Right now, how they got there doesn’t matter.

BF (12-9) survived a slow start and a fired-up Kellogg team with a huge fourth-quarter effort to claim the win at North Idaho College’s Christianson Gym Saturday, giving the Badgers the district’s second berth to state.

Intermountain League regular-season champ Priest River earned the top berth with a 57-40 victory over Kellogg on Friday. The Wildcats ended their season at 12-11.

It won’t get any easier for the Badgers at state, as they open against defending state champion Marsh Valley (20-0). That game will start at 7 p.m.

To say the first half was sluggish would be putting it mildly. The two teams combined for a 13-of-48 shooting effort and 22 turnovers. Neither team seemed able to gain any momentum. After Kellogg took a 5-4 first-quarter lead, the teams went into halftime deadlocked at 17.

“It was pretty ugly from both ends,” Hinthorn said of the first half. “We didn’t move well on offense, and we just focused on stopping their 3-point shooters and making them go inside.”

The game remained tight throughout the third quarter. The Badgers grabbed a 22-19 lead on a three-point play by sophomore Becky Lowther, but a 7-2 run gave the Wildcats a 26-24 lead entering the final period.

Before that quarter started, someone or something lit a fire under BF.

After Jordan Budd’s free throw made it 27-24, BF went to work.

Two free throws by Kaitie Poston and a steal and a breakaway layin by Jennifer Youngwirth gave the Badgers a 28-27 lead.

Kellogg momentarily grabbed it back on a layin by freshman Marisa Bush, but from there, it was all BF.

With Poston dominating the boards, the Badgers ran off 14 unanswered points to take a 42-29 lead with 1:42 left. Kellogg was forced to foul in the game’s final moments and BF shot 13 of 19 from the line in the fourth.

Poston, in particular, played possessed in the final minutes. The sophomore post finished with 17 rebounds, many of them coming in the fourth quarter on the defensive end.

“I just didn’t want them (the Wildcats) to have the ball because they’re strong and they’re a good team,” Poston said. “Our coaches wanted us to play our hardest and we had teamwork. It could have gone either way.”

Lowther also had a big fourth quarter. The All-IML guard was held scoreless in the first half, but came on to score 15, including 10 in the final quarter.

“I was just kind of nervous in the first half,” she said. “We just talked about stepping it up and working as a team at halftime. We just really wanted it and thought we deserved it.”

5A play-in

Boise stops Lake City

Boise used its size advantage during a 57-34 win at Craigmont, ending the Timberwolves’ season at 14-10. LC was held to 11 field goals and didn’t have a player reach double figures. Boise was the top seed in its district but was upset by defending state champion Centennial on Wednesday.

4A play-in

Sandpoint falls short

Bishop Kelly qualified for state with a 51-45 win over Sandpoint (14-7) at Craigmont. Post players Elle Carne and Kendal Burt both scored 11 points to lead the Bulldogs.

1A District I

Warriors make state

Kootenai earned a state-tournament berth and the district’s No. 2 seed by stopping Lakeside-Plummer 53-32 at Lakeland High in Rathdrum. Cassie Scheffelmaier led the Warriors (11-12) with 23 points, seven rebounds and two steals. The Knights finished 12-10.

Boys basketball

Murray’s jumper lifts Tigers

Matt Murray drilled a 12-foot jumper with 18 seconds left to lift Mullan (8-9, 6-4) to a 50-49 North Star League win over visiting Clark Fork (4-10, 3-6). Murray scored eight of his 10 points in the first quarter. Jesse James paced Mullan with 16 points. CF’s Clayton Hewitt scored 24.

Non-league

Lumberjacks start fast

Cameron Michael and Ryne Eberlin combined to score 25 of St. Maries’ 31 first-half points, sparking the Lumberjacks (6-11) to a 47-34 win over visiting Kootenai (3-14). Eberlin scored a game-high 15 points and Michael scored all 12 of his points before halftime. Tony Kraack led Kootenai with 10 points.