Vikings prevail

The Coeur d’Alene girls basketball team didn’t take its first lead until overtime Saturday.

Mead’s quickness caused the Vikings problems, but Coeur d’Alene played with more patience in the second half before overcoming the visiting Panthers 52-51 in overtime in a non-league game.

The big difference for the Vikings in the second half was the all-around play of junior 6-foot-3 post Carli Rosenthal. The smaller Panthers, whose tallest player is 5-10, didn’t have so much trouble defending her in the key, but keeping her off the boards. Rosenthal finished with 14 rebounds to go with seven assists and 15 points. Teammates Kendalyn Brainard and Dayna Drager had 13 and 12, points respectively.

CdA, which finished with 26 turnovers, had 16 in the first half. The Vikings (7-0) found themselves trailing 25-16 at halftime.

“We had at least that many,” CdA coach Dale Poffenroth said of the final total. “They made a run when Carli was out (foul trouble) and that really hurt us, and we didn’t pass well. We were forcing every pass and even when Carli was in there we forced passes instead of waiting. In the second half we were much more patient. We dug a big hole against a good team.”

The Vikings, who extended their winning streak to 36, didn’t take their first lead until overtime. To get there, sophomore reserve Kyeli Parker hit a big basket, a 12-foot jumper with 31 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter, to tie it at 43.

“She could have pouted because she didn’t play very much in the first half, but she was big down the stretch,” Poffenroth said. “It’s all eight players playing together. Some play at the beginning and some play at the end. She did a wonderful job being on the bench and not playing and coming in and hitting the big shots.”

Parker completed a three-point play in overtime with 36 seconds to go that gave the Vikings their biggest lead at 50-45.

Mead (2-1) pulled within 50-49. CdA’s Amanda Buttrey made it 52-49 with two free throws before Chenise Pakootas hit a runner in the key with 4 seconds to go. The clock expired with the Vikings not having to inbound the ball.

“It had a playoff feel, that’s for sure,” Mead coach Regan Drew said. “For only our third game of the season I thought our girls did some great things. We got a lot to take out of this to get better. That’s why we’re playing this game.”

Jazmine Redmon led Mead with 13 points and six steals and Taylor Ingebritsen had 13 points.

Playing sound defense on taller post players will be an emphasis for the Panthers all season.

“We’re trying to be active and we’re trying to get deflections,” Drew said. “She (Rosenthal) is a tough matchup for us. I was extremely proud of our team effort on her. We played more physical which we need to do. I thought we played her pretty well. We’re a lot of long and lean kids, but they’re pretty scrappy.”

Rosenthal said taking care of the basketball will definitely be an emphasis in practice Monday.

“We were nervous at times,” she said.