CdA wins Game 1
Coeur d’Alene picked a great time to figure out how to run its full-court press.
The top-seed Vikings’ tenacious defense forced 24 Lake City turnovers in a 60-44 win over the visiting No. 2 Timberwolves in Friday night’s opening game of the best-of-3 5A Region I championship.
The win also earned Coeur d’Alene (16-5) another home date and a shot at an automatic state berth against Lake City (11-11) in Game 2 on Tuesday night at 7.
Junior wing Jenna DeLong, who led the way with 19 points for Coeur d’Alene, said she and backcourt teammates Jackie Lenz and Lindsay Stark had a light bulb go on over their heads after the game.
“Lindsay, Jackie and I all were standing in the locker room, and we all looked at each other and said, ‘We understand it,’ ” DeLong said. “We’ve been running it for two years now, and it’s never really clicked, but something tonight clicked with us.
“Usually I’m running around frantic, but tonight I figured out what I was supposed to do.”
The Vikings, who shot 44 percent from the field including 6 of 15 from 3-point range, went for the throat early, forcing five LC turnovers in the first three minutes en route to a 7-0 lead.
Timberwolves coach Darren Taylor called timeout to regroup. But on the ensuing play, LC lost the services of starting post Riki Moreland for the remainder of the game. Moreland injured her back when slamming into the corner of a brick wall after trying to save a ball that had bounded over the end line.
Things disintegrated from there for LC as CdA went on a 14-5 run highlighted by a DeLong steal and run out, which she followed right up with a 3-pointer.
CdA led by as many as 24 in the fourth quarter before coach Dale Poffenroth called off the dogs.
Poffenroth seemed pleased with the soundness of the victory, but stopped short of booking the trip to Boise.
“The kids did a nice job with the press tonight,” Poffenroth said. “It hasn’t worked against (LC) before, but it’s worked against other people.
“It worked tonight, but I don’t know about Tuesday – we’ll find out, I guess.”
DeLong said her team’s performance meant much more than just a “W.”
“This game really built our confidence and made us feel better about ourselves,” said DeLong, whose team beat LC in the non-league Fight for the Fish but lost both league meetings to the T-Wolves this season. “We came into the game confident, but we played with heart and teamwork.
“I don’t think confidence alone is going to carry us very far.”
Lake City assistant coach Kris Knowles, speaking on behalf of Taylor, said the T-Wolves knew what to expect, but they fell short when it came time to execute.
“We didn’t handle the press very well – leather doesn’t penetrate flesh,” Knowles said. “You can’t hold the ball like that and try to throw it through (the Vikings’ arms).
“That was one of the things that we tried to emphasize and work on during the week was get their hands up, throw it underneath, get their hands up, throw it over the top – and we didn’t do a very good job of it tonight.”
Freshman post Katy Baker had game highs with 20 points and 14 rebounds for Lake City, which hit 36 percent from the field on 14-of-38 shooting.
Moreland was tended to at courtside and, later, for precautionary reasons, taken on a stretcher to Kootenai Medical Center, where she was later released, Knowles said. Moreland is tentatively listed as day-to-day.
Boys basketball
Cody Line scored 15 points as Moscow cruised to a 53-38 victory over visiting Bonners Ferry (10-6). Paul Wimer added seven points and six rebounds for the Bears (11-6), who went on a 17-2 run in the third quarter to put the game out of reach. … Ryan Gallia scored 24 points and Lakeland outscored Timberlake 20-4 in the third quarter en route to a 56-42 victory in Spirit Lake. Phillip Viebrock added 16 for the Hawks (6-11). Cody Jones scored 12 for the Tigers (4-14).
Frank Donohoe scored 13 points, and Brandon Barnes added 10 points and seven rebounds as host Kootenai (4-13, 2-7) defeated Coeur d’Alene Charter Academy 52-35 in North Star League play at Harrison. Michael Gleixner scored 15 for the Panthers (7-9, 3-5).