Menzies bounces back to lead CdA Charter to win

CALDWELL, Idaho – Josiah Menzies was humbled and hurt in the District I boys basketball tournament last week.

Coeur d’Alene Charter Academy’s leading scorer was held to three points in two games. He also sprained a knee in the Panthers’ state-berth clinching win in the district final Friday.

Menzies stayed off the knee until Wednesday. Despite feeling some soreness, Menzies scored 24 points as Coeur d’Alene Charter, making its first trip to the State 1A tournament in its fourth year fielding a team, topped Murtaugh 72-65 at Caldwell High School.

“What a competitor. He’s basically playing on one leg,” CCA coach Brian Childs said. “He hasn’t done any shooting or anything. But, boy, he delivered tonight. He’s got some fluid on there and it swelled pretty bad (Friday), but he’s been on ibuprofen and ice. We got the swelling down. I don’t know what to expect tomorrow.”

District I runner-up Clark Fork, meanwhile, played well at times but couldn’t keep up with speedy Sho-Ban as the Chiefs pulled away 58-46 at Vallivue High School.

CCA (20-3) will meet Council (18-6) in the quarterfinals tonight at 7. Clark Fork (15-8) will take on Carey (20-5) in a loser-out game at 12:15.

In other openers, Cascade (22-4) thumped defending champ Lapwai (14-12) 60-38; Greenleaf Friends (18-5) downed Richfield (20-6) 64-51; Notus (20-3) was too much for Mackay (15-6) 52-39; No. 1-ranked Genesee (23-1) sprinted past Carey 61-38; Troy (18-6) fell to Council 58-56; and Hagerman (20-5) defeated Tri-Valley 63-58 (13-10).

CCA 72, Murtaugh 65: Childs expected some early jitters.

True enough, the Panthers turned the ball over on five of their first six possessions and found themselves trailing 6-0. But neither the coach nor his players showed any sign of panic.

Like flipping a switch, the Panthers shook off the early nerves and immediately went on an 11-0 run. They followed moments later with a 7-0 spurt, capped by a jumper from Michael Gleixner, that gave CCA 20-10 lead with 1:05 left in the quarter.

The Red Devils (13-10) fought back in the second period, taking the lead at 31-30 when Taylor Wilson made a 3-pointer with 50 seconds to go before halftime.

Menzies ended the half with a 3-pointer, putting the Panthers ahead 33-31.

The game was on. The two-point lead remained through the third quarter (47-45). But in the fourth, the Panthers’ full-court zone pressure caught up with Murtaugh.

The Red Devils committed 11 turnovers in the final period, and the Panthers parlayed the extra opportunities into a 68-55 lead with 1:45 to go. But a season-long problem for CCA – free-throw shooting – allowed the Red Devils to hang around longer than Childs desired.

CCA made just 6 of 16 foul shots in the fourth quarter, 13 of 26 overall (50 percent, about the season average).

That’s about the only thing with which the Panthers struggled.

Menzies made six 3-pointers. David Baker scored a game-high 25 points, hitting 10 of 16 shots from the field. He also had seven rebounds, four steals and two assists. Post Austin Folnagy had a team-high 10 rebounds.

“In the fourth quarter our seniors really stepped up,” Childs said. “(Folnagy) wasn’t giving us a lot offensively, (but) boy, he was just grabbing every rebound. We hung with the press and they started turning it over in the fourth quarter. I don’t know if we wore them down, but that’s just the way we play.”

Baker said he was concerned about the start.

“We had those jitters,” Baker said. “But we settled down and it was good. We wanted it in the end (fourth quarter).”

As the game progressed, the Panthers looked like state veterans, not state rookies.

“I know a lot of the teams in the North thought, ‘Oh, they got lucky and made state one year, they’re just going to go down and have some fun and come back,’ Baker said. “But we’re here to win and make some noise.”

Menzies injured his knee near the end of the first quarter in the district final, but he finished the game.

“I kind of twisted it and heard it pop,” Menzies said. “It started to swell. But since then the swelling’s gone down.”

Menzies said he wasn’t about to miss the school’s first state game.

“The adrenaline here was way more than at district,” Menzies said. “I just let it fly. This is extremely special.”

Sho-Ban 58, Clark Fork 46: The Chiefs’ quickness eventually took a toll on the Wampus Cats.

Clark Fork committed 26 turnovers. Sho-Ban (15-5) held a 24-4 advantage in points off turnovers.

“We did a fair job of handling the pressure at times,” CF coach Brian Powell said. “But their constant pressure and them just running at us … we didn’t get back a couple of times.”

Bobby Bear scored a game-high 25 points for Sho-Ban. Most of his points came in transition.

CF hit one of its offensive lulls in the fourth quarter, scoring just two points in the final 5:34.

Despite the loss, Powell thought his team gave a good account of itself.

“I thought we played better today than we did last week at districts,” Powell said. “It wasn’t good enough to win, but at least we scored fairly consistently. Our kids played hard.”

Cameron Jeffres led CF with 18 points and Jared Broggi added 17.