Last-place LC stops first-place PF

Inland Empire League boys basketball coaches expected the seven-team league to be as tight as its been in recent years.

Lake City provided the latest validation of that theory Saturday when the last-place Timberwolves rallied to knock off league-leading Post Falls 67-63 at The Arena.

Providing the difference in the game’s most critical moments was junior guard Brent Everson, who was just promoted from junior varsity the night before when LC lost starter Garrett Lambson for three weeks to a severely sprained ankle.

Everson scored all seven of his points in the fourth, including both ends of one-and-one opportunities in the final 41 seconds.

It was obvious who the Trojans were going to foul as they trailed 62-60 and LC had the ball coming out of a timeout with 53 seconds to go.

“I was hoping so, because I wanted to step up and knock down some free throws and help my team out,” Everson said.

If Everson were nervous, he didn’t show it as he swished all four foul shots, the last two extending LC’s lead to 66-62 with 15 seconds remaining.

“You’ve got to give that kid a lot of credit. He was so cool under pressure,” LC coach Kris Knowles said.

LC’s win seemed all the more improbable considering the Timberwolves may have hit a season low Friday at home in a 55-38 loss to Moscow.

Adding to the implausibility was the fact that the Trojans (10-6 overall, 7-2 league), riding a nine-game winning streak, raced to a 36-23 lead by halftime.

But the Timberwolves sent notice early in the third quarter that they weren’t going to roll over. They hit five of their first six shots to pull within 39-33.

Five minutes later, LC’s Ben Widmyer got a steal and breakaway layup to pull the team within 47-46 after three quarters.

After the teams exchanged quick baskets to open the fourth, a 3-pointer by sophomore Ty Stoddard put LC ahead 51-50 with 5:47 remaining.

LC (9-7, 3-5) led the rest of the way, but there were several frenetic moments down the stretch. A basket by Brad Bemis in transition gave the Timberwolves their biggest lead, at 60-54, at the 4:18 mark.

“Coach Knowles was avoiding sharp instruments at his house last night,” said Knowles, speaking of himself in the third person. “The bottom line is they decided they wanted to play in the second half. I didn’t think, to be real honest with you, that we would come out and fall down like we did (Friday). But I didn’t think we’d come back and play like we did either.”

LC post Jarom Taylor played one of his best games of the season, finishing with a team-high 15 points and eight rebounds.

Sandpoint 75, Coeur d’Alene 70:

The host Bulldogs built a 14-point, fourth-quarter lead and held off the Vikings. CdA came within two points in the final minute. Ben Mitchell pumped in 17 points to lead Sandpoint (9-8, 4-5). Matt Palmer’s 17 points paced Coeur d’Alene (7-9, 3-5).

Intermountain League

Spartans upset Badgers

Priest River handed Bonners Ferry its first league loss, 61-51 at BF. The Spartans hit 18 of 29 from the field and 16 of 19 from the line. Jeremy Patterson led the Spartans (9-8, 3-2), hitting 10 of 14 shots from the floor to post 25 points. The Badgers (6-11, 4-1) committed 18 turnovers, but received 14-point efforts from Bryan Cossairt and Matt Rice. … Kellogg 52, Timberlake 40: At Spirit Lake, the host Tigers (5-10, 1-4) cut the deficit to six points in the third quarter, but the Wildcats pulled away for the win. Seth Patton paced Kellogg (9-7, 4-1) with 11 points.

North Star League

Kootenai wins at Clark Fork

Tony Kraack pumped in 20 points to lead Kootenai (3-11, 3-4) to a 46-41 win at Clark Fork.. The Wampus Cats (4-7, 3-3) got 20 points from Clayton Hewitt.

Girls basketball

Spartans clinch at least tie

Priest River assured itself no worse than a tie for the Intermountain League title and clinched the No. 1 seed into the playoffs by sweeping its regular season series with Bonners Ferry, 55-52 at BF. The Spartans (10-8, 6-0) have a two-game lead over the second-place Badgers (8-8, 4-2). Each has two regular-season games remaining. Calli Turner led PR by hitting 7 of 8 from the line, to score 17 points.

Kellogg 50, Timberlake 31: At Spirit Lake, the host Tigers cut the Wildcats’ lead to eight points with 5 minutes to play, but the Kellogg press stopped the rally. Cami Wendt and Jamie Brower both scored nine points to lead Kellogg (10-9, 3-4). Lynsie Powers scored 13 of her team’s 17 first-half points and finished with a game-high 23 points for Timberlake (4-14, 0-7).

Inland Empire League

Vikings storm Sandpoint

Coeur d’Alene used a fast start to score a 60-42 win at Sandpoint. Jenna Griffitts scored 10 of her game-high 17 points in the first quarter as the Vikings jumped out to a 22-8 lead. Griffitts also pulled down seven rebounds and grabbed three steals for Coeur d’Alene (17-3, 11-1). Elle Carne had 16 points for Sandpoint (12-6, 7-5).

North Star League

Kootenai rally trips Clark Fork

Kootenai staged a fourth-quarter comeback to take a 46-44 victory at Clark Fork.. Cassie Scheffelmaier scored 18 points to lead the Warriors (8-10, 6-2) Rayna Allen scored 10 of her 17 points in third quarter to give the Wampus Cats (6-8, 4-4) the lead with 8 minutes to play.

Wrestling

Vikings top Kellogg meet

Coeur d’Alene easily won the 13-team Kellogg tournament, scoring 203 points to outdistance second-place Post Falls, which scored 155. John Hopper (112 pounds), Josh Manes (135), Cody Campbell (152) and Ryan Allen (189) each won individual titles for the Vikings.