Lakeland falls in regional opener
SANDPOINT - A left-handed putback by Mike Lewis with 3:30 left gave Sandpoint its first lead of the game at 38-37, and the Bulldogs went on to beat the Lakeland Hawks 44-41 in the first round of the 4A Region 1 tournament Tuesday night at Les Rogers Court on Tuesday night.
No. 2 seed Sandpoint (10-11) travels to No. 1 seed Moscow (6-13) in a semifinal game Thursday. No. 3 seed Lakeland (4-17) awaits the loser Saturday in a loser-out game.
"Tonight was a big gut check. We've been on a skid lately," said Sandpoint coach Tyler Haynes, whose team had lost four straight games. "I'm proud of the kids for being willing to say 'win, lose or draw, we're going to finish this.'"
The Hawks jumped out to a 10-2 lead to start the game, keyed by two 3-pointers from Eric Cooper, as the junior wing scored a game-high 15 points and shot 4 of 5 from beyond the arc.
Jackson Olin led Sandpoint with 13 points.
Daniel Whitesitt pulled down 14 rebounds and Alex Opland had five assists for the Hawks, who shot 27 percent from the field.
"I know it sounds cliche, but we need to do a better job on the free- throw line," said Lakeland coach Trent Derrick, whose team went 11 for 19 from the line. "We did a good job getting the ball where we wanted to get it, we just didn't convert. We'll keep our heads up. There's another game to play, and we'll be ready."
Lakeland 11 8 13 9 - 41
Sandpoint 7 9 13 15 - 44
LAKELAND - Spencer 6, Black 0, Whitesitt 8, Cooper 15, Arno 7, Gray 0, Derrick 3, Opland 2.
SANDPOINT - Hawkins 6, Nikssarian 2, Kennedy 0, Rains 8, Olin 13, Lewis 4, Shultz 6, Fuhrman 5, Carothers 0.
Kellogg 48
Timberlake 42
SPIRIT LAKE - Nick Serrano and Tyler Morgan scored 10 points apiece to lead the Wildcats past the Tigers in an Intermountain League game.
Kellogg took a 20-10 halftime lead, but Timberlake battled back to within two points late in the game.
"We shot poorly in the first half," Timberlake coach Jim Simpson said. "It was a combination of our shooting and Kellogg's defense. I was proud of our kids to battle back and have a chance late. It got down to the end and they iced it with their free throws tonight."
Cooper Simpson scored 14 points, Brian Cronnelly 12 for Timberlake (2-17, 0-8 IML), which hosts Wallace on Thursday.
Kellogg (14-4, 5-2) hosts Priest River on Saturday.
Kellogg 7 13 10 18 - 48
Timberlake 5 5 16 16 - 42
KELLOGG - Watson 6, Wendt 6, Orsburn 0, Hulstrom 2, Reed 4, Beggerly 5, Serrano 10, Morgan 10, McDonald 5, Hadley 0.
TIMBERLAKE - Cronnelly 12, Chamberlin 0, Hayden 2, Masterson 8, Paige 6, Zanoni 0, Simpson 14.