Coeur d’Alene, Lewiston fall in openers at State 5A tourney

NAMPA, Idaho – Rust, nerves or difficulty finding the range from long distance in an open-ended arena against an inviting 2-3 zone?

Coeur d’Alene High boys basketball coach Kent Leiss couldn’t put a definite finger on the struggles his team trudged through Thursday in the opening round of the State 5A tournament at the Idaho Center. Perhaps it was a combination of the three.

In the end, Timberline took advantage of a poor start and finish by the Vikings as the Wolves of Boise prevailed 72-63 in overtime.

“We really played in good spurts and bad spurts,” Leiss said. “I don’t know what to attribute that to. We played a lot better than that the last month and a half of the season. I don’t know what else to say. We just played kind of sluggish. We just weren’t very consistent. We had big gaps for a few minutes where we didn’t play well and then we would play well and then we wouldn’t and then we would.”

CdA, which had been off 12 days before Thursday, brought a 10-game winning streak to state. In that span the Viks beat opponents by an average of 17 points.

The Viks (18-5) hope to avoid doing something they haven’t done all season this afternoon – lose back-to-back games – when they face Highland (12-13) in an elimination game at 2 PST.

In other openers, No. 1-ranked Mountain View held off Lewiston 81-73 in an offensive-laced game; second-ranked Madison pulled away from Vallivue 70-55; and Borah was too much for Highland 64-54.

Lewiston (17-6) takes on Vallivue (17-5) in the other loser-out game today at 12:15.

In the semifinals, Mountain View (21-2) goes against Madison (22-2) in what many believe will decide the state title and Timberline (18-7) meets Borah (14-10).

Timberline 72, CdA 63: The Viks didn’t look like their usual selves from the opening tip.

They certainly didn’t play themselves out of the game by any means considering the game would ultimately be decided in overtime. But they were definitely out of sync.

Still, CdA would have one-point leads late in the first two quarters. The Wolves used a 7-0 spurt to take a 32-24 lead into halftime.

CdA cut away at the margin in the third quarter, and a step back 16-foot by Nate Bligh with 4 seconds left gave the Viks a 43-42 lead going into the fourth.

Aiding CdA’s comeback was the fact that Timberline’s 6-foot-4 post, B.J. Shearry, had to go to the bench with four fouls at the 5:21 mark of the third.

Jake Gross got the lead back for Timberline at 47-45 with a leaning jumper and a 3-pointer to open the final quarter. Bligh answered for CdA with two baskets inside with Shearry trying to avoid a fifth foul. Nate Clinton hit a 3-pointer and Calvin Peterson made two free throws as CdA opened its biggest lead at 54-48 with 2:54 to go.

But the Viks couldn’t complete the job. CdA had three key turnovers in the final 2 minutes.

Timberline pulled even at 56-56 when guard Cory Clements completed a three-point play with 1:41 to go. Shearry made a free throw to put the Wolves ahead 57-56 with :53 showing on the clock.

Bligh, who finished with a game-high 25 points, was fouled while making a 4-footer in the key. He added the free throw to put the Viks ahead 59-57 with 42 seconds to go.

Shearry, who was nearly unstoppable when he got the ball deep in the post, tied it eight seconds later.

CdA had a final chance. After setting up a play, the ball was stripped from Bligh, and the Viks were mildly pleading for a foul call. A desperation heave from 50 feet by Shearry was well off the mark as the horn sounded.

“We were very fortunate that they had trouble handling the ball – and it was physical at that point,” Timberline coach David Roberts said. “I wouldn’t have been shocked at that point to see a foul called, but that’s how that game was played. I don’t think that was inconsistent with how the game was called.”

The Viks, who have thrived by the 3-pointer, died by it in overtime as they made just 1 of 8 attempts. Clinton hit the one trey with :35 to go, but the Wolves made their final free throws.

Timberline played a 2-3 zone throughout, daring the Vikings to fire away. And they did, making just 10 of 33.

“We didn’t get enough quality 3-point shooting,” Leiss said.

Shearry was a man among boys, ripping down 19 rebounds to give the Wolves a huge advantage. They outrebounded CdA 50-29. Shearry also had 14 points.

Timberline’s starting guards, Gross and Clements, scored 25 and 20 points ,respectively.

Bligh was disappointed with both the team’s start and his beginning.

“I think it was the worst first quarter we’ve played all year,” Bligh said. “We came out flat – I came out flat. I know for a fact that was my worst first quarter all year. I take a lot of the credit for that loss.”

The Viks’ goal all season was to qualify for state and take home a trophy.

“They’ve got a choice to make at how serious they want to take these last two games,” Leiss said. “It’s probably one of the last challenges for the seniors. They haven’t lost (back-to-back) games all year. The challenge is to be mature and get back to the motel and get some rest. We’ll see what kind of character we have.”

MV 81, Lewiston 73: A frantic rally by the Bengals came up short.

Two free throws by 7-foot Santa Clara-bound center Scott Thompson put the Mavericks ahead 54-34 with 3:15 to go in the third quarter. The Mavs led 60-41 going into the final period.

Lewiston fought back within five points, but the Bengals couldn’t get any closer.

Thompson led five players in double figures with 20 points. He also had 10 rebounds, six blocked shots and three assists.

Shane Moser led the Bengals with 27 points, six assists and five rebounds.