Priest River rolls into first
PRIEST RIVER - In a matchup of the Intermountain League's only two unbeaten teams, Priest River took over the top spot with a 66-42 win over St. Maries on Saturday night at Spartan Arena.
St. Maries (13-3, 4-1 IML), ranked No. 3 in 3A, started the game on a 16-10 run before the second-ranked Spartans outscored the Lumberjacks 56-26 in the final three quarters, being led by the long-range shooting of senior Max Salesky.
Salesky scored 17 of his game-high 24 points in the second and third quarters for Priest River (11-4, 3-0 IML). Eric Holbrook added 13 points, eight assists, five rebounds, two steals and two blocked shots.
"In the first quarter we didn't make shots that we normally make, but I thought we did a good job in the second half attacking the glass and controlling the rebounds which led to second opportunities," Priest River coach Ryan Bodecker said.
Tyler Douglas chipped in 12 for the Spartans, who host Timberlake next Saturday.
Warren Joiner scored 12 points for the Lumberjacks, who are still playing without injured star Zach Lehman.
St. Maries travels to Kellogg on Saturday.
St. Maries 16 4 9 13 - 42
Priest River 10 18 17 21 - 66
ST. MARIES - Joiner 12, Schetzle 8, Guidry 7, Mercer 8, Sempel 0, Heath 7, Linnemeyer 0, Cordell 0.
PRIEST RIVER - Barrett 12, K. Peterson 2, Douglas 2, Bach 5, Salesky 24, T. Peterson 3, Holbrook 13, Mortenson 0, Bradbury 1, Huddleston 0, Swafford 0, Storlie 4.
Post Falls 61
Moscow 34
POST FALLS - Matt Lickfold made all but one shot from the field en route to a 13-point night and the Trojans, ranked No. 1 in 5A, outscored the 4A Bears 42-12 in the middle two quarters at The Arena.
"We just dominated every facet of the game tonight," Post Falls coach Mike McLean said. "We physically imposed our will, and that allowed us to play at the speed we wanted. All 11 guys played well."
Connor Hill added 11 points, Michael Hillman grabbed 11 rebounds and Marcus Colbert had six assists for Post Falls (13-2), which plays at second-place Lake City on Tuesday in 5A Inland Empire League play.
Josh Helbling led Moscow (4-10) with 13 points.
Moscow 10 3 9 12 - 34
Post Falls 15 22 20 4 - 61
MOSCOW - Pennington 1, Brooks 7, Jung 5, Langfield 0, Wilder 2, Donaldson 6, Helbling 13.
POST FALLS - English 0, Gonzales 5, Hill 11, Anderson 4, Valente 8, Thoreson 8, Colbert 9, Benner 0, Hillman 3, Lickfold 13, Shelton 0.
Lewiston 68
Sandpoint 47
LEWISTON - The visiting Bulldogs got outrebounded 38-20 and committed 25 turnovers in the loss to the Bengals at Booth Hall.
"We got pounded on the boards, and we turned the ball over a lot," Sandpoint coach Tyler Haynes said. "They probably scored half of their points on offensive putbacks."
Sam Heitzman had 18 points and eight rebounds for Lewiston (9-7), and Matt Kalbfleisch had 14 points and eight boards.
Jackson Olin hit 4 of 7 3-pointers and led Sandpoint (8-7) with 14 points. Blaine Shultz added 10 points and five rebounds.
Sandpoint plays host to Lakeland on Tuesday.
Sandpoint
Lewiston
SANDPOINT - Hawkins 4, Nikssarian 2, Kennedy 5, Rains 0, Olin 14, Lewis 0, Shultz 10, Fuhrman 9, Carothers 1, Gavin 2.
LEWISTON - Fuentes 7, Imel 2, Hansen 6, Kalbfleisch 14, Thomason 11, Mai 1, Bernatz 2, McIntosh 2, Heitzman 18, Beck 5.
Bonners Ferry 66
Timberlake 58
BONNERS FERRY - Mat Evans scored 28 points and Bonners Ferry (2-10, 1-3 Intermountain League) beat Timberlake.
Cooper Simpson scored 21 points, Brian Cronnelly 15 for Timberlake (2-14, 0-5), which plays at Priest River next Saturday.
Timberlake 14 18 16 10 - 58
Bonners Ferry 22 16 14 14 - 66
TIMBERLAKE - Cronnelly 15, Chamberlin 0, Hayden 9, Masterson 4, Scott 0, Page 11, Zanoni 2, Simpson 21.
BONNERS FERRY - Owinyo 0, Moe 7, Zarate 6, Mendez 4, Evans 28, Everhart 4, Lopez 13, Awbrey 0, Peycke 4.