Wheelock rescues Lake City boys

The Lake City High boys basketball team was looking point blank at an 0-2 start in the Inland Empire League – with both defeats coming at home.

But that was before junior guard Jason Wheelock rescued the Timberwolves, who were the preseason pick to win the conference.

Wheelock hit a turnaround four-foot jumper, a shot that appeared to hang on the rim for an eternity, with two seconds to go as Lake City held off Lewiston 44-41 Thursday.

Moments earlier, athletic Lewiston junior guard Ryan Young got free under the basket for a three-footer that put the Bengals ahead 42-41 with nine seconds remaining.

After a timeout, Wheelock dribbled full court, stopping near the short corner to allow a defender to slip past him before the T-Wolf pivoted and made the gamer-winner.

Following a Lewiston turnover, LC’s Logan Frederickson banked in a 10-foot jumper at the buzzer for the final margin.

Wheelock initially thought he might have short-armed the shot.

“For a second I thought I did,” Wheelock said. “But it kissed the front of the rim and went in.”

While it was a short shot, the degree of difficulty was huge considering the circumstances.

LC improved to 7-3 overall and 1-1 in league. Lewiston dipped to 5-3 and 1-1.

It was difficult to determine whether the game was low scoring because of sound defense or poor offense. Perhaps it was a combination.

LC coach Jim Thacker didn’t understate the importance of the win – even if it was just the second league game.

“We knew we had to take care of this one,” Thacker said. “This was a huge win for us. If we have any designs of winning this thing, we had to win this game.”

LC junior post Nick Fromm scored a game-high 15 points. He also had seven rebounds, three blocked shots and two steals. Young led Lewiston with 14 points.

Lewiston coach Dave Cornelia hoped his team could steal a road victory. But he said his team would take many positives from the loss.

Girls basketball

Katie Baker scored 23 points and Jacie Estes added a career-high 19 points as Lake City (10-3, 6-2) topped Lewiston 57-37 in an Inland Empire League game in Coeur d’Alene. Tanis Fuller scored 14 points to lead the Bengals (5-8, 3-3), who trailed 31-11 at the half.

•Genesee built a big first-half lead and cruised to a 63-24 non-league victory over visiting Kootenai (3-8). Emily Frank and Haleigh Frank scored 10 points apiece to lead the Warriors. … Darbie Shelden scored 11 points to guide St. Maries (7-4) to a 44-32 win over host Troy.

Gymnastics

Mt. Spokane’s Meghan Ballou took first place in the all-around, bars, beam and floor events but University took the team title in a Greater Spokane League meet at Ferris that also included Rogers. Stacie Davis took second in the all-around and beam to lead the Titans. … Christy Grorud took the title in the all-around, beam and vault events and North Central defeated Lakeside in Nine Mile Falls. The Indians’ Katie Sweatt successfully converted a Yurchenko vault, a move rarely seen in the high school ranks.