Lake City eliminates Lewiston
One glaring statistic stood out above all the glaring statistics following Tuesday’s 5A Region 1 girls basketball loser-out game between the Lake City Timberwolves and the Lewiston Bengals.
The Bengals just could not hold on to the basketball.
Third-seeded Lewiston committed 30 turnovers and that, combined with a quick start by the No. 2-seeded Timberwolves, made for a long evening for the visiting Bengals as they fell 56-33 in a game that might not have been that close.
Lake City’s man-to-man pressure defense proved to be too much for Lewiston, forcing 10 first-quarter turnovers, allowing the T-Wolves to jump out to an 18-2 first-quarter lead. The Bengals managed only five field-goal attempts, connecting on just one.
The Bengals never knew what hit them.
“I thought we came out hard and ready to play,” Lake City junior guard Richelle Fenenbock said. “I think the difference was that everybody was ready and prepared for anything to happen.”
With the victory, Lake City (11-10) earned the right to meet top-seeded Coeur d’Alene (15-5). The two teams will square off Friday at CdA to begin a best-of-3 series to determine the region’s berth to state. That game tips off at 7.
Lake City handed CdA two losses in their three previous meetings this season.
“It’s gonna be a battle,” Taylor said. “We’re going to be ready.”
Lewiston, which lost one of their top players, senior Lisa Cannon, to a knee injury in the second game of the season, finished its season at 8-13.
It was over early.
Fenenbock’s seven first-quarter points propelled Lake City to a 10-0 lead and the Timberwolves’ full-court pressure gave the Bengals fits.
Lake City stayed hot in the second quarter, hitting its first five field-goal attempts to stretch the lead to 29-7. The T-Wolves, who shot just less than 58 percent in the first half, finished 5 of 8 for the quarter and led 33-9 at halftime.
“That was a good first half,” LC coach Darren Taylor said. “We had one half of good basketball and then we put it in cruise control in the second half and kinda had a letdown and lost them in transition.
“But we played great defense and our rotations in our press were near perfect. They had a hard time doing anything.”
Lewiston coach Pat Teichmer could only agree.
“We just didn’t take care of the basketball,” he said. “Our girls played hard, but we just didn’t play smart. That resulted in a lot of turnovers and I couldn’t stop it.”
Freshman post Katy Baker led LC’s balanced attack with 13 points, nine of those coming in the first half. Fenenbock and sophomore Emma Hawn each added 11, and junior Brittany Bemis had 10.
Brittney Devorak was the only Bengal in double figures (10). Lewiston scored 17 of its points in the fourth quarter.
Class 4A
Inland Empire League: Sandpoint (8-12, 4-8) edged Moscow 40-34 at Moscow in the final league game of the season. The Bears (8-12, 7-5) finished in a tie with Lake City for second in league.
Class 3A
Intermountain League: Jennifer Youngworth scored 13 points, including a half-court shot at the end of the first half, and Bonners Ferry claimed a 43-30 win over visiting Timberlake. The Badgers (14-5, 8-0) held the Tigers (5-15, 1-7) to 10 first-half points. … Tabitha Clark tallied 20 points, eight rebounds and four steals to lead Priest River past St. Maries 77-62 at Priest River. Alicia Schanilec added 12 points for the Spartans (11-9, 5-3), and Mallory Lahman had 17 for the Lumberjacks (7-11, 1-7).
Class 1A
North Star League: Wallace held Mullan scoreless in the first and third quarters of a 64-13 rout at Wallace. Krista Williams led the Miners (18-1, 9-0) with 13 points, and Fawn Story topped the Tigers (1-16, 0-9) with eight.
Boys basketball
Class 1A
North Star League: David Park scored 20 points, including 4-of-9 3-point shooting, and dished out five assists to lead Post Falls Christian to a 78-39 home win over Coeur d’Alene Charter Academy. Max Munson notched 12 points and 10 rebounds for the Eagles (14-0, 9-0). Post Falls Christian remained unbeaten with the win. David Baker scored 23 points, making nine of his 12 free-throw attempts, to lead the Panthers (7-8, 3-4). … Mullan pulled down 18 offensive rebounds and Jesse James led all scorers with 20 points as the Tigers (11-4, 6-2) defeated Wallace 55-37 in Wallace. Nick Arthun scored 14 to lead the Miners (6-11, 3-6). … Tyler Broggi notched a double-double with 23 points and 14 rebounds to lead Clark Fork to a 56-34 win over visiting Kootenai. The Wampus Cats (8-9, 5-4) held Kootenai to less than 10 points in the final three quarters. Anthony Cranford scored 14 points, and Jeff Ness added in 10 for the Warriors (3-13, 1-6).
Wrestling
Inland Empire League: Lewiston needed pins in the final three matches to top Post Falls 33-31 at Lewiston. The Trojans won seven of the first nine matches and eight overall, but couldn’t overcome five pins by the Bengals.
Non-league: Lake City and St. Maries battled to a 43-43 tie at Lake City. Brett Payne recorded a 4-3 win for St. Maries at 119 pounds, and Titus Turner notched a 8-6 victory for LC at 152.