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Priest River cuts off Timberlake

by JASON ELLIOTT
Sports Writer | February 12, 2010 11:00 PM

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<p>Timberlake High's Kara Wenstrom, right, is fouled by Tristan Troudt of Priest River while going for a loose ball Friday in the fourth quarter of the girls 3A District 1-2 championship game in Rathdrum.</p>

RATHDRUM - Members of the coaching staff at Priest River stressed to their players before tipoff of Friday's 3A District 1-2 championship game that if they were going down, just make sure it was battling the entire way.

After jumping out to an 11-0 lead they will go down. South, that is, as the district's top seed after a 64-39 win over Timberlake at Lakeland High's Hawk Court.

"Kati (Bodecker) and I talked on the bench about attacking," Priest River coach Gary Stewart said. "I told the girls if they had an open shot - take it. We got to the foul line 31 times tonight, so I guess it worked."

Priest River advances to the state tournament beginning Thursday at Skyview High in Nampa. The Spartans (16-6) will open at 7 p.m. PST against the winner of tonight's game between Payette and Fruitland, for second place in the District 3 tourney. Timberlake (17-3), ranked second in 3A, plays Kellogg (15-8) tonight at 7 for the district's second berth to state. Kellogg eliminated Bonners Ferry 55-41.

Priest River 64, Timberlake 39: Priest River senior Taylor Stewart had 10 of her game-high 25 points in the first quarter as the Spartans jumped out to a 16-5 lead.

"We struggled the entire game," Timberlake coach Matt Miller said. "They took it to us from the opening tip to the final buzzer. Every time we had a run, they had an answer. You've got to give Priest River all the credit. They played incredible and killed us in toughness and on the boards. When you give a team 3 to 4 chances at the basket, it's tough to win."

Priest River junior Melissa Hopkins was named the Intermountain League Most Valuable Player following her 20-point performance on Friday.

"We had some great intensity tonight," Hopkins said. "We had a lot of different scorers, which is rare for us. Everyone stepped up for us. Timberlake is a very good team, but this win is huge for us."

Cassie Thompson and Kara Wenstrom had 12 points apiece for Timberlake, which lost to Bonners Ferry in last year's district title game, then beat Priest River for a berth to state.

Priest River 16 15 13 20 - 64

Timberlake 5 12 10 12 - 39

PRIEST RIVER - Troudt 2, T. Stewart 25, Trost 4, Pavey 6, M. Stewart 0, Oscarson 1, Stokes 1, Hopkins 20, Doolittle 0, Halcro 4, Hirst 0.

TIMBERLAKE - Wenstrom 12, Sanders 0, Gill 0, Madsen 5, Kistler 2, Malloy 0, George 2, Nichols 1, Thompson 12, Peters 1, Kirby 4.

Kellogg 55, Bonners Ferry 41: Chelsea Morgan had 14 points and Hailey Fuller had 12 points and 11 rebounds for the Wildcats, which outscored the Badgers 35-17 in the second half.

Timberlake is 3-0 vs. Kellogg this season, winning by eight, four (in overtime) and seven points.

"They are a great team," Miller said of Kellogg. "It's tough to beat a team three times in a season, let alone four. We're going to find out on Saturday if we've got the guts and energy to get it done."

Jordan Porter had 10 points for Bonners Ferry, which finished 9-14.

Bonners Ferry 10 8 3 14 - 41

Kellogg 11 9 15 20 - 55

BONNERS FERRY - Stippich 0, Pauls 7, Andrews 8, Hiatt 8, Payne 2, Neumeyer 0, Gust 2, Taggart 0, Wall 0, Porter 10.

KELLOGG - Viche 8, Young 2, R. Ashcraft 13, M. Ashcraft 2, Morgan 14, Huber 0, Sheppard 0, Day 0, Fuller 12, Waechter 4.

n ALL-INTERMOUNTAIN LEAGUE

PRIEST RIVER - Tristen Troudt, jr., Taylor Stewart, sr., Melissa Hopkins, jr., (MVP). TIMBERLAKE - Kara Wenstrom, soph., Caitlyn Nichols, jr., Cassie Thompson, jr. KELLOGG - Kirsten Viche, sr., Ryder Ashcraft, sr., Chelsea Morgan, sr. BONNERS FERRY - Erin Hiatt, sr.

COACH OF THE YEAR - Jeff Lambert, Kellogg.