Coeur d'Alene girls, Lake City boys hook wins
<p>Jeff Sharon celebrates atop his friend's shoulders Lake City High School's winning of "The Fish" following the "Fight for the Fish" cross-town rivalry basketball games Friday between Coeur d'Alene High and the T-Wolves.</p>
<p>Coeur d'Alene High's Kyeli Parker makes a pass around a falling Dailyn Ball from Lake City as Katie Rowe, right, comes in to pin Parker to the baseline Friday during the second half.</p>
<p>Lake City High's Mark Smyly goes up for a shot on the baseline during the first half of the T-wolves game against Coeur d'Alene.</p>
COEUR d'ALENE - Staring at a possible 1-3 start to 5A Inland Empire League play, the Coeur d'Alene High girls basketball team hit just enough shots and watched a last-second one by Lake City bounce off the rim Friday night.
Sophomore Caelyn Orlandi put Coeur d'Alene ahead to stay with 5 minutes to play, then drilled a key 3-pointer a couple minutes later as the third-ranked Vikings held off the fifth-ranked Lake City Timberwolves 48-44 in the girls Fight for the Fish game at Lake City.
"Nobody shot particularly well, but we made a few when we had to have 'em," Coeur d'Alene coach Dale Poffenroth said.
In the boys game, Chris Wheelock scored 10 of his 20 points in the fourth quarter as Lake City opened 5A IEL play with a 61-57 victory over Coeur d'Alene.
"You have to play to win; you can't play not to lose," Wheelock said of the Timberwolves protecting a slim lead down the stretch. "You've got to be aggressive; you can't play passive, especially at the end of the game - especially when they're hitting shots like they were."
Lake City won the spirit competition for the eighth time in the 13 years of the event involving the city rivals, which attracted a standing-room-only crowd estimated at 2,700.
Coeur d'Alene 48, Lake City 44: Against a Lake City zone which packed it in and surrounded Carli Rosenthal, Coeur d'Alene's 6-foot-3 senior post, the Vikings made just one of eight 3-pointers in the first half, which ended tied at 18.
In the third quarter, Kyeli Parker and Heather Baughman hit 3s as Coeur d’Alene (10-4, 2-2) started the quarter on an 8-0 run. The Vikings made 3 of 5 3s in the quarter.
Lake City (12-3, 1-1) answered with a 10-0 run, highlighted by 3-pointers by Katie Rowe and Sydney Butler, and the scrap resumed.
Orlandi cut backdoor and scored on a feed from Rosenthal to put Coeur d’Alene up 38-36 with 5:01 left, and the Vikings never trailed again. But Lake City wouldn’t go away, and Rowe drilled a 3 with 2:59 left to pull Lake City with 42-41.
Orlandi answered with a 3 moments later, but Butler followed with a 3 of her own with 53 seconds left to pull LC within 45-44.
Parker hit one of two free throws with 21.8 seconds left to make it 46-44. Lake City came down the floor, and Butler’s deep 3 from the top of the key bounced off the rim. Rosenthal rebounded and was fouled with 3.5 seconds left, and sank both free throws to ice the game.
“We got down 8 and our girls played their hearts out,” Lake City coach Royce Johnston said. “It was a great game — one in-and-out 3 away from winning the game.”
Lake City held Rosenthal to three field goals, but she made 9 of 11 free throws and finished with 15 points, 17 rebounds, four assists and two blocked shots.
“Our game plan worked to a ‘T,’” Johnston said. “We gave up more 3s than normal, but you play the percentages — anybody from 3 was better than Carli from the block.”
Coeur d’Alene finished 5 of 17 from behind the arc, 15 of 47 overall from the floor. Lake City hit 8 of 23 3-pointers, and was 13 of 40 from the field overall.
Parker also scored 15 points for the Vikings, who bounced back from Tuesday’s 41-33 loss at Lewiston — Coeur d’Alene’s second loss to the Bengals this season, marking the first time since 2005 the Vikings were swept in league play.
“We just looked horrible on Tuesday; we could have got beaten by most anybody Tuesday,” Poffenroth said.
Butler finished with 13 points, six rebounds and four assists for Lake City.
“He’s got a good ballclub,” Poffenroth said of Johnston. “They’ve increased the depth from which they shoot, which caused us some real problems.”
“At this point, as good as we are and as hard as we played, I don’t think it’s a moral victory,” Johnston said. “I think we’ve just got to get it done.”
On Tuesday, Coeur d’Alene travels to Sandpoint, and Lake City visits Post Falls.
Coeur d’Alene 10 8 14 16 — 48
Lake City 10 8 13 13 — 44
COEUR d’ALENE — Baughman 3, Orlandi 7, K. Parker 15, Legel 1, Petit 0, Rosenthal 15, Brainard 3, S. Williams 4.
LAKE CITY — S. Butler 13, Kacalek 9, Lewis 3, Rowe 7, Ball 2, Kerr 2, Mitchell 8.
Lake City 61, Coeur d’Alene 57: It’s the age-old question, particularly with no shot clock — do you milk the clock with a slim lead, or keep attacking?
Lake City (10-2, 1-0 5A IEL) kept attacking, and it was enough to withstand a 25-point outburst by Deon Watson of Coeur d’Alene (7-4, 1-1), who hit all five of his 3-pointers in the second half.
“Chris (Wheelock) had that look in his eye,” Lake City coach Jim Winger said. “Deon was shooting the ball well, I didn’t want to make us go flat.”
Watson and Jake Matheson hit 3s to open the fourth quarter as Coeur d’Alene pulled into a 42-all tie. Wheelock hit a 3 and scored on the drive to highlight a 9-2 run which turned a one-point lead into a 57-49 advantage with 56.3 seconds left.
Watson and Matheson both hit 3s to keep the Vikings close. Trailing by four, Matheson missed a 3, and Mark Smyly was fouled and sank two free throws with 22.1 seconds left to provide enough of a cushion.
“We just all wanted to stay aggressive ... Deon was the man tonight,” said Wheelock, still amped up several minutes after the game.
Matheson finished with 15 points, and Watson had seven rebounds. Lake City played a sagging man-to-man defense and kept the Vikings from driving to the basket much of the night, and Coeur d’Alene finished 19 of 50 from the field, including 8 of 24 from 3-point range.
“Chris Wheelock had a whale of a game,” Coeur d’Alene coach Kent Leiss said. “The thing I was most disappointed with was our shot selection — sharing the basketball was really poor tonight. We had zero patience, and actually, to only lose by four, I’m surprised, because I think that’s how poorly we ran our offense.”
Lake City lost senior post Clint Hartz to an ankle injury midway through the first quarter. The Timberwolves already lost senior wing Andy Mitchell to an ankle injury two weeks ago, so two of LC’s top seven players are injured. Kyle Guice, a 6-6 freshman post, took advantage of extended minutes to grab 13 rebounds to go along with his six points.
On Tuesday, Coeur d’Alene travels to Sandpoint, and Lake City visits Post Falls.
Coeur d’Alene 10 12 14 21 — 57
Lake City 12 10 20 19 — 61
COEUR d’ALENE — Matheson 15, Chalich 6, Roletto 0, Loy 0, Higbie 2, Baracco 9, Watson 25.
LAKE CITY — Smith 2, Wheelock 20, Carlson 10, Turner 11, Hartz 0, Smyly 12, Guice 6.