Double delight
NAMPA, Idaho – A new champion will be crowned in the State 5A girls basketball tournament, and it could be a North Idaho team.
Coeur d’Alene and Lake City knocked out Boise’s top two teams Thursday. The No. 1-ranked CdA Vikings pulled away from defending state champ Centennial 58-49 while LC’s Timberwolves stopped District III champ Borah 55-51 in overtime in openers at the Idaho Center.
The wins by the Panhandle teams make an all-North Idaho final a distinct possibility. Fifth-ranked LC (21-4) takes on No. 4 Twin Falls (21-3) at 5:15 p.m. PST and CdA (21-2) goes against 2006 4A state champ Vallivue of Caldwell (18-6) at 7. Both games can be heard on KVNI (1080-AM). The games also are being Webcast on idahosports.com.
In the other openers, Twin Falls rallied from an 18-6 deficit to top Boise 58-50 and Vallivue remained District III’s lone hope for a big trophy when it handled Skyline of Idaho Falls 71-49.
CdA 58, Centennial 49: The Vikings played one of their best games of the season. They had to because they couldn’t shake the Patriots until late.
Centennial, coming off a 47-28 shellacking by Borah in the District III title game six days ago, couldn’t be put away until the Vikings scored the game’s final eight points.
Sophomore guard Sadie Simon got a steal and breakaway layup to give CdA a 50-43 lead with 3:19 remaining.
But Centennial converted two quick steals out of a full-court press into easy baskets and a driving shot by Betsy Conklin pulled the Pats within 50-49 with 2:45 to go. In a matter of 34 seconds CdA’s seemingly comfortable lead had dwindled to one.
CdA coach Dale Poffenroth said his team gave up the lead because of bad coaching.
“I should have taken a second timeout,” Poffenroth said. “I took the one. I thought they knew what they were supposed to do. … We just did some bad things. Part of it was my fault.”
“That was our opportunity there,” Centennial coach Emery Roy said. “We had them kind of on their heels. Then they came down and scored and (that) kind of got them back in the flow again. We did have a chance there.”
Three of the key contributors took over in the final minutes. Sophomore wing Kama Griffitts made two free throws to finish with a game-high 23 points; 6-foot junior post Deanna Dotts, who had to sit out 11 minutes, 17 seconds in the first half in foul trouble, sealed off 6-3 Centennial post Jade McNorton for a basket deep in the key; and senior point guard Lindsey Stark made four free throws in the final 39 seconds as the Vikings avenged a 58-45 loss to the Pats in last year’s state final.
Things got a little dicey for CdA early in the third quarter. Griffitts picked up a quick foul, her third, 47 seconds into the period and Poffenroth immediately took her out.
The Pats took advantage, going on an 11-2 run to build their biggest lead at 35-29 with 4:27 to go in the quarter. Poffenroth knew he couldn’t keep Griffitts on the bench any longer.
“She went in and made a spark,” Poffenroth said. “I think it was seven points we were down (actually six), and that’s when I said to Jamie (Thacker, assistant coach), ‘I’ve got to play her.’ We had to get back in the game. She came in and all of sudden it just turned around.”
“I was so anxious to get back in,” Griffitts said. “So when Coach Thacker told me to get back in the game, I was ready to play.”
Griffitts scored seven points in the final 3:20 as CdA pulled ahead 41-39 going into the final quarter.
“It didn’t seem like she had 23 (points),” Roy said. “She’s tough. She picks up a lot of stuff and she’s tough to guard. She can go inside or out.”
Stark, who has averaged six points, felt good during warm-ups and came out firing. She scored 11 of her 15 points in the first half, including three 3-pointers – two of which were beyond the 3-point arc used for CBA games at the Idaho Center.
“I always seem to shoot better in this gym,” Stark said of the cavernous, open-ended arena. “I don’t know why. I was just feeling it so I just kept shooting and they were falling.”
LC 55, Borah 51 (OT): Before this season, the T-Wolves used to do a combination of three free-throw shooting drills in practice.
But LC coach Darren Taylor changed things, cutting back to one drill but increasing the accountability between the players.
It apparently worked. LC’s top six players averaged 75 percent or better this season.
The T-Wolves needed every free throw. LC made 12 of 12 in OT, 18 of 22 overall, and sophomore Katie Baker made all 11 of her attempts, including six in OT, to finish with a career-high 25 points.
“They shoot the front end of a 1-and-1. If they miss it their partner has to run two sprints,” Taylor said, explaining the drill. “If they miss the back end, then one sprint (for the partner). If they make them both, then they just switch and the other one shoots. That’s the only drill we did all year. The pressure was on their buddy. You don’t want your buddy running. It worked really well for us.”
Had Borah made its free throws in the final minute of regulation, LC may not have had a chance to win it in OT. The Lions missed the front end of a 1-and-1 with 43 seconds left and the back end of a 1-and-1 with 18 seconds to go. In between, the 6-foot-1 Baker made a difficult runner from 11 feet that gave the T-Wolves a 42-41 lead with 28 seconds to play.
Baker had the ball at the high post and started a crossover move while being guarded tightly. The ball bounced twice on the back rim before falling.
“That wasn’t an easy shot,” Taylor said. “It was a little runner with one hand that goes in.”
Abby Borman made the front end of a 1-and-1 seconds later, but missed the second.
LC had a final possession, but a turnaround jumper by Richelle Fenenbock came off her hand flat and didn’t have a chance as time expired.
The T-Wolves opened a 51-44 lead in OT, but Borah fought back and had a chance to tie it when Borman grabbed a rebound off a missed free throw with 9 seconds to go. But Borman’s off-balanced shot was short.
“We had lots of chances to definitely win,” Borah coach Alyson Pincock said. “You can’t miss layups and you can’t miss free throws and you can’t get outrebounded and turn the ball over more than the other team.”
For Baker, it was a game of redemption of sorts. She had been in an offensive slump the last two weeks.
“The district tournament was a huge slump for me,” Baker said. “It was mostly pressure. I was scoring a lot (and) I had good games before the district tournament. You feel like you have to play to your best for every single game. I think that I took that too seriously. I felt the pressure.”
LC got untracked in the third quarter, frequently beating the athletic Lions in transition. A layup by Fenenbock gave the T-Wolves a 36-28 lead with 1:05 left in the quarter.
But as has been a habit this season, LC went into an offensive funk, and Borah sensed an opportunity. The Lions used an 11-0 run to take a 39-36 lead with 5:39 to go in the fourth quarter.
“I’ve come to the realization that that’s part of our game,” Taylor said of the offensive lapses. “We just live with it.”
Baker, who scored LC’s seven points in the fourth quarter, completed a big three-point play to stop the drought and tie the score at 39 when she grabbed a nice lob pass from Fenenbock and made a basket while being fouled.
After Kassie Law hit a 3-pointer to break the tie, Baker made a jumper to pull LC within 42-41.
LC didn’t get anything out of its next five straight possessions before Baker’s final basket put the T-Wolves ahead 42-41.