Vikings lose state opener
NAMPA, Idaho – Taller teams have given the shorter Coeur d’Alene High girls basketball team fits this season.
While Twin Falls’ size inside certainly made things difficult for Coeur d’Alene in its State 5A tournament opener Thursday, it was a taller guard that the Vikings couldn’t defend in the end.
Senior Jamie Edwards, who at 5-foot-8 was 4 inches taller than the Viks’ guards, scored 11 of her team-high 17 points in the final 3 minutes of regulation and the 4-minute overtime as the Bruins slipped past CdA 53-50 at the Idaho Center.
The Viks (19-4) move into the consolation side of the bracket and can still earn the fourth-place trophy. CdA takes on Mountain View (13-13) of nearby Meridian this afternoon at 12:15 PST in a loser-out game.
In other openers, favored Borah ran away from Mountain View 64-41, Boise defeated Highland 48-37, and defending champ Centennial edged Timberline 48-41.
In semifinal matchups, Twin Falls will face Borah and Boise will take on Centennial. Highland and Timberline will meet in the other consolation semifinal.
The Viks started Thursday’s game like they have all season, using full-court pressure to compensate for their glaring deficiency – height.
They parlayed the quick start into an 8-0 lead 3:42 into the game. Any concerns about CdA’s other potential stumbling block – youth, with just one senior – was put to rest early.
By the second half, however, when the game came down to a possession-by-possession sequence, Twin Falls had weathered most of its turnover problems. And the Bruins were making a measurably higher percentage of shots.
Still, CdA had opportunities to hold off the Bruins in regulation.
The Viks led 41-39 when senior Jenna Griffitts’ turnaround jumper just inside the free-throw line bounced in and out. Moments later, the Viks lost track of Heidi Reitsma underneath, and the Bruin tied it at 41 with 1:02 remaining off a nice pass from Edwards.
CdA sophomore guard Lindsey Stark drove the baseline but had no room underneath. But she found 6-0 freshman Deanna Dotts, who nearly fumbled the ball but regained it in time to bank a soft 6-footer off the glass, her lone basket of the game, to put the Viks ahead 43-41 with :31 to go.
After a timeout, Edwards backed inside the foul line and put up an off-balanced shot that somehow bounced in with 7 seconds remaining. CdA couldn’t get off a final shot.
Twin Falls made all four of its shots from the field in overtime – two by Edwards, her second coming on a drive against a shorter guard, and two shots from 6-0 senior Hannah Heidenreich, who was playing in her first game after spraining an ankle nine days earlier.
Edwards’ driving basket gave Twin Falls the lead for good at 49-47 with 1:58 left in overtime. She added two free throws with 55 seconds to go that put the Bruins out of reach at 53-47.
Stark, who matched Edwards’ 17 points, hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer.
“Edwards had an absolutely great game,” CdA coach Dale Poffenroth said of the guard who more than doubled her season average. “She came and said ‘We’re not going to lose’ and she was going to make it happen.”
Heidenreich agreed.
“Jamie Edwards really stepped it up,” Heidenreich said. “She took it in and hit some really key shots in the end.”
Twin Falls coach Joe Shepard said Edwards was the difference – especially when the Bruins’ leading scorer, Amy Bratvold, fouled out with just under 4 minutes left in the fourth quarter. Edwards also had six rebounds and six assists.
The Bruins had CdA well-scouted. They knew where Griffitts, CdA’s leading scorer, was at all times. And they rarely allowed the Viks’ tiny guards an open lane in which to penetrate. And if they somehow scooted through, Twin Falls usually had a player nearby to either block a shot or alter the attempt.
Griffitts finished with nine points, four below her average. She added nine rebounds and five steals.
“They doubled up on her when she was inside. To get her open we had to bring her outside,” Poffenroth said. “They did a good job of finding her and coming after her.”
Said Griffitts: “They were denying me the ball wherever I went.”
Shepard admitted that CdA’s pressure was effective. But he thought his team eventually overcame it.
“They forced a lot of turnovers throughout the game, but overall we handled the ball pretty well against it and once we got into our offense we shot well,” Sheperd said.
Twin Falls made 23 of 45 shots from the field, 13 of 23 in the second half. CdA made just 8 of 24 in the second half and finished 15 of 47.
“We couldn’t generate (half-court) offense,” Poffenroth said. “We were a little tentative. I don’t know. Maybe it’s youth and maybe it was because they played well. Their big kids didn’t get any shorter as the game went along.”
Poffenroth said he challenged his team afterward.
“I told the kids it’s a matter of what we want to do,” he said. “Do we want to play one more and go home or do we want to come and pick up that trophy on Saturday. We’ve got to go play hard. It’s not going to be a cakewalk.”
Shepard was impressed with CdA.
“We knew they were a very good team and we had to play well to beat them,” Shepard said. “Like somebody said, they didn’t act like they were a young team.”