Badgers win intense matchup
One wouldn’t call the Bonners Ferry-Kellogg boys basketball rivalry friendly. But bitter isn’t the apt description either.
More like intense and healthy.
Of the six games the teams have played the past two seasons – all of which were won by Bonners Ferry – the 3A District I championship game Tuesday was perhaps the most hotly contested as the Badgers slipped past Kellogg 52-48 in a rematch of last year’s district showdown before a vocal and equally intense crowd estimated at 700 at North Idaho College’s Christianson Gym.
The atmosphere was so thick with emotion that the referees had to eject two fans from the gym in a well-officiated, yet difficult game to call.
Bonners Ferry (16-6) advances to state, which will be held March 2-4 at Meridian High School.
Kellogg (15-7) turns around tonight and takes on Priest River (12-8) in a loser-out game at 7. Priest River eliminated St. Maries (4-19) 56-38 in the opener Tuesday.
The Kellogg-Priest River winner advances to a play-in game Saturday against the District III runner-up. The game will be played at Craigmont at 1:30.
Bonners Ferry 52, Kellogg 48: Badgers junior guard Spenser Behrens scored six of his 14 points in the final 43 seconds, four coming on free throws that tied the game and put his team ahead with 11 seconds to play.
Behrens’ layup at the buzzer following a 3-point attempt by Kellogg’s Jacob Kagarise from 30 feet out was academic but started the Badgers’ postgame celebration that included cutting down the very net Behrens’ final shot went through.
“Kellogg’s a good team and all the credit to them for a great game,” Bonners Ferry coach Gordy Allured said. “This has kind of been history for us against Kellogg to have that kind of game. Somebody had to win. Our kids got behind, but they came through.”
The Badgers had to do so without Intermountain League player of the year Matt Rice, a senior post. Rice sprained his left ankle in BF’s next-to-last regular season game at St. Maries on Feb. 11. Rice started Tuesday, his first action since the injury.
Rice scored two points in a limited appearance in the first quarter before he pulled himself. He told Allured that he thought his presence on the court would harm BF more than help it. He said he will play at state.
So 5-foot-11 junior guard Matt Simpson stepped up, scoring many of his team-high 15 points inside. He also had a game-high 11 rebounds.
Simpson twice scored tying baskets late in the fourth quarter before Behrens took over in the final seconds.
“The key was staying focused and staying with the job,” Simpson said. “We were down early, but we knew some breaks were going to come our way. We just hung in there and kept working.”
Kellogg took a 26-21 lead into halftime, but both teams were sluggish in the opening two quarters. The Badgers used an 8-0 spurt to take a 29-28 lead midway in the third period and it was as if somebody had flipped the intensity switch at that point. The final 12 minutes were full of white-knuckle moments.
Kellogg senior Joseph Sauer provided an initial spark in the first quarter when he scored nine points. After going scoreless in the second period, he again picked up the Wildcats in the second half. He finished with a game-high 24 points, 11 coming in the fourth quarter. He also had six rebounds and three steals.
“It’s a great rivalry between us and Kellogg,” Simpson said. “I know they really wanted to get us at districts. It was great for Spenser to have those last clutch (points) because I know a lot of the Kellogg student body has been hassling him for (a story written about him) early in the season.”
Priest River 56, St. Maries 38: The Spartans used an 18-0 run from the middle of the first quarter into the second to pull away from the Lumberjacks.
The Spartans built as much as a 24-point lead in the second half.
Micah Smith led the Spartans with 16 points, seven rebounds and five steals. Tucker Baker led the Lumberjacks with 13 points.
•The IML coaches named their all-league team. Joining Rice on the team were teammates Behrens and Simpson; Smith and his twin brother Cody of Priest River; Kagarise and teammates Jacob Conboy and Jeremiah Big Spring of Kellogg; Cody Jones of Timberlake; and Zech Szalasi of St. Maries.
5A Region 1
Lewiston advanced to state with a 59-37 romp of visiting Lake City (10-13), winning the best-of-3 series, 2-0. Jordan Gregg paced the Bengals (21-1) with 13 points and seven rebounds, and Shane Moser added 10 points. Lewiston, which didn’t allow a Timberwolves player to score over five points, will play in the first round of the state playoffs on March 2. Lake City will meet the fifth seed from District 3 on Saturday at Grangeville.
1A District 1
Anthony Cranford tallied 21 points to lead Kootenai to a 48-40 loser-out win over Wallace at Lakeland HS. The Warriors (7-14) forced 20 Wallace turnovers in the game. Nick Arthun scored nine points for the Miners (8-13). Kootenai will play top-seeded Post Falls Christian on Thursday at 6, while Clark Fork plays Mullan at 7:30. Both games are at Lakeland High.
Clark Fork defeated Coeur d’Alene Charter 52-34 Tuesday.