St. Maries tops Sugar-Salem
MERIDIAN - Lumberjack senior post Ian Heath had 15 points and 15 rebounds as the Lumberjacks downed the Diggers on Thursday to advance to a state 3A boys basketball tournament semifinal game tonight at 5:15 p.m. PST at Meridian High.
"Ian really stepped his game up tonight," St. Maries coach Craig Wicks said. "Our senior guards that had been down here struggled a little bit. He took over a bit tonight and rebounded well for us and finished the game with a good dunk."
Zach Lehman scored 11 points, despite going 2 of 9 from the field for St. Maries (19-5), which faces Weiser (20-4), which defeated Marsh Valley in the late game.
“They’ve got a couple good kids that can put the ball on the floor,” Wicks said. “We’ll have our work cut out for us and need to improve our game, but if we play to our potential and within ourselves, we can compete.”
St. Maries shot 16 of 21 from the free throw line, compared to 17 of 42 from the floor.
“Our free throws saved us tonight,” Wicks said. “We’re not shooting the ball real well right now and are still having a tough time finding the hole. We came out on top tonight — and that’s all that matters.”
St. Maries 13 9 11 17 — 50
Sugar-Salem 12 6 12 14 — 44
ST. MARIES — Joiner 4, Schetzle 8, Sampson 0, Lehman 11, Guidry 2, Mercer 5, Heath 15, Cordell 5. Totals 7-42 16-21 50.
SUGAR-SALEM — Miayaski 11, Marler 8, Briggs 3, Rydalch 3, Somsen 1, Davidson 6, Fogle 0, Larson 6, Hawkes 2, Rhoton 4, Zhao 0. Totals 15-58 11-19 44.
1A DIVISION II
Murtaugh 50
Kootenai 48
CALDWELL — Humberto Pacheco hit a pair of free throws with four seconds remaining to lift the Red Devils past the Warriors in the opening round of the state 1A Division 2 tournament at Caldwell High.
Kootenai, which trailed by eight points in the first half, outscored Murtaugh 28-22 in the second half.
“We made a heck of a run in the second half,” Kootenai coach Andrew Whipple said. “We were really coming at them and then got called for five fouls in the last minute, just playing defense.”
Junior Brandon Carman made a layup in the final moments to tie the game, but had the shot waved off on an offensive foul for Kootenai.
“We came out and worked our tails off in the second half,” Whipple said.
Jake Zarpentine scored 17 points for Kootenai (6-12), which faces Meadows Valley in a loser-out game today at 2 p.m. PST.
Murtaugh 12 16 12 10 — 50
Kootenai 11 9 11 17 — 48
MURTAUGH — Venegas 2, Baynes 12, Pacheco 13, Gonzales 11, Stanger 12, VanLeeuwen 0. Totals 19-59 6-12 50.
KOOTENAI — Zarpentine 17, Wallace 10, Myhre 6, Willms 0, B. Whipple 0, Carman 8, Pfeffier 0, Kraack 7, Napierala 0. Totals 21-48 3-6 48.