Teagan Colvin scores 22 points, Coeur d’Alene makes 25 free throws in win over Mead

It was supposed to be a matchup of two league-leading top-10 teams with state aspirations. It turned into a free-throw shooting contest.

And a lopsided one at that.

Teagan Colvin scored 22 points, going 8 of 10 at the line, and Coeur d’Alene topped visiting Mead 63-36 in a nonleague girls basketball game on Saturday.

The Vikings made 25 of 34 free-throw attempts, including 10 of 15 in the first quarter . Mead went 5 of 5 at the line for the game – all from junior guard Teryn Gardner, who finished with 12 points to lead the Panthers.

“It’s very disappointing because we want to see who the better team is – not who the better free-throw shooters are,” Gardner said. “And I think that game, we didn’t necessarily get to see who the better team was.”

Mead coach Quantae Anderson was assessed two technical fouls near the end of the first quarter and was ejected. Anderson will have to sit out Tuesday’s home game against Ferris. Panthers junior guard Brynn Smith was given a technical late in the fourth and fouled out.

Anderson was unavailable after the game. Mead assistant coach Michelle Maguire said there were lessons to be learned from it.

“You just have to battle through the fouls, keep playing, play our type of basketball. Work hard,” she said. “There’s nothing you can do about that. You just got to fight and keep fighting.”

“I think we kind of let it get to our heads a little bit with the refs not really calling it our way,” Gardner said. “But we’ve just got to learn from that and play through it and just play our game.”

The game was not originally on the schedule. Mead (10-3) lost out on three nonleague games when plans for playing in an out-of-town holiday tournament were canceled due to travel problems the week after Christmas. Coeur d’Alene (16-2) had an opening with just three games left on its schedule.

The Panthers entered the game ranked No. 8 in the Washington 3A media poll. The Vikings were ranked No. 2 in Idaho’s 5A poll.

Maguire said she was looking forward to the matchup .

“It’s very disappointing. We wanted to play basketball,” she said. “We want to get better, but to play a game off of free throws is tough. It interrupts the flow of the game and it definitely disrupted how we wanted to play.”

Mead scored the first six points of the game, with ninth-grader Reese Frederick hitting a couple in the lane and two free throws from Gardner.

CdA’s Libby Awbery hit a 3 from the corner, then Mead was whistled on five of six defensive possessions, leading to a parade at the free-throw line .

With roughly 2 minutes left in the quarter, Mead was called for an offensive foul. Anderson stepped on the court and clapped at an official, drawing a technical foul. A trailing official, who was near the baseline for the inbounds play, immediately called a second technical, resulting in Anderson’s ejection.

Madison Mitchell sank 3 of 4 free throws and sophomore forward Kelsey Carroll scored on the ensuing possession for a five-point swing. CdA led 17-8 after one quarter.

The Panthers started to chip away at the deficit. Addison Wells Morrison (nine points) drove the lane with a spin move for a layin, and Garnder hit a 3-pointer.

Teayonna Hoard took a midcourt steal the distance for a layup and a Natalie Braun jumper made it a four-point game.

Colvin made a pair at the line late and CdA led 27-22 at halftime. The Vikings had just five baskets in the first half and went 16 of 23 at the line.

“We were just like, ‘Yeah, (Anderson) got kicked out, but he did it for us because he wants us to win and he wants the best for us,’” Gardner said. “So we were like, ‘OK, let’s keep it up. Let’s come back stronger because (Anderson) got kicked out, but let’s play even harder.’ ”

The third quarter was all CdA.

Madi Symons, bound for the University of Wyoming in the fall, scored twice inside and Colvin took over, using an array of spins and twists to get loose for three buckets.

CdA outscored Mead 20-10 in the third quarter and led 47-32 entering the fourth. The Vikings went 8 of 9 at the line and held Mead to just four points in the final quarter.