Viks stifle T-Wolves
By the way the Coeur d’Alene High girls basketball team played Friday, one would think it was defending a state title, not Lake City.
Truth be known, the Timberwolves possess what the Vikings have fallen short of the past two years as back-to-back state runners-up.
The visiting No. 1-ranked Vikings put on a defensive clinic, clamping down on the reigning state champion Timberwolves 59-32 in the second Inland Empire League game between the rivals in three weeks.
CdA edged LC 46-38 in late November.
LC (6-3 overall, 3-2 league) never reached double digits in a quarter Friday, but the T-Wolves only trailed 25-18 at halftime.
The second half, though, belonged to the Vikings (8-0, 4-0).
“It just takes time to get your defense going,” CdA coach Dale Poffenroth said. “The first time we played them we really hadn’t gotten everything down defensively that we wanted to get down. The second half (Friday) was really good and the first half wasn’t too bad. That’s a goal to play that kind of defense and make that kind of thing happen. We work at it a lot. The stuff we do is designed around that. If we play defense we’re OK.”
LC coach Darren Taylor also thought CdA was better defensively in the rematch.
“They played better defense tonight than they did last time,” Taylor said. “It was a good game plan. They did everything right. Obviously we’ve got a lot of work to do.”
CdA senior point guard Ali Johnson said the Viks were determined from the tipoff.
“We really wanted to come out strong and play hard,” Johnson said. “We’ve been really working hard on team defense. We felt like we accomplished that really well tonight.”
CdA had an opportunity to blow the game open late in the second quarter. Junior wing Whitney Heleker made a short bank shot to give CdA a 21-11 lead with 2:19 to go before halftime. But a 3-pointer and a breakaway layup in the waning seconds by freshman guard Sydney Butler sandwiched around a tough inside shot by junior post Katie Baker allowed LC to pull within 25-18 going into intermission.
Poffenroth thought LC stole some of the Viks’ momentum at that point.
Senior point guard Emma Hawn got LC within four points when she hit a 3-pointer to open the third quarter. But that’s when CdA’s defense took over.
CdA used an 11-0 run, capped by a 3-pointer from junior guard Sadie Simon, to open a 36-21 lead with 1:53 to go in the third quarter. Moments later, Heleker hit a jumper and Johnson made a driving bucket to give CdA a 43-25 lead going into the fourth period.
The frustration continued for LC in the fourth quarter. CdA doubled up its lead at 58-29 with 1:26 to go.
“When we executed we got good shots,” Taylor said. “That’s what they do with that pressure – they throw you out of a rhythm and then you’re not into your offense as much as you should be.”
Taylor was reminded that his team lost both league games to CdA last year, but finished with wins over the Viks in the Fight for the Fish spirit game and in the state final.
“Yeah, but we didn’t lose by 30 points,” Taylor said. “We’ve got a lot of work to do. We’ve got some young people that still have the deer-in-the-head-light look. We’ve got a bunch of stuff we need to fix.”
Freshman post Carli Rosenthal led CdA with 14 points and five rebounds. Johnson added 10 points. Baker led LC with 13 points, six rebounds and two assists and Butler had 11 points.