Sophs lead Lake City past Prep

COEUR d'ALENE - Lake City has a mostly-new varsity team this year, but the Timberwolves came of age in a hurry Tuesday night.

Sophomores Kyle Guice and Justin Pratt led the way as Lake City knocked off Gonzaga Prep of Spokane, the defending Washington 4A state champions, 65-54 in a nonleague game at Lake City.

"To play such a quality opponent as Gonzaga Prep with as young a group as we have and show the guts and determination that we had to throughout the second half, the kids competed and it was fun to see," Lake City assistant coach Kelly Reed said. "Gonzaga Prep made several runs and each time the kids answered. And on top, to defeat the defending state champs is a huge victory, and hopefully will give our kids some confidence."

Guice, a 6-foot-6 post, had 12 points, seven rebounds and seven blocked shots - five in the first half - for Lake City (2-0). This despite sitting much of the half in foul trouble.

"He totally dominated the first six minutes of the game," Reed said.

Pratt, a 5-8 point guard, hit three 3-pointers in the second half and scored 16 of his 19 points after intermission. He finished 4 of 6 from 3-point range, 5 of 6 from the line.

"Justin's a super competitor, and he plays with a lot more maturity than a typical sophomore does," Reed said. "He just rose to the occasion."

Juniors Mitch Bevacqua and Riley Moreen added 11 and 10 points, respectively, for Lake City.

But, “we still have lots of work to do,” Reed stressed.

Lake City plays host to North Central on Friday.

Gonzaga Prep 12 16 11 15 — 54

Lake City 10 17 17 21 — 65

GONZAGA PREP — Bracey 11, Dowd 9, Gregory 10, Hopkins 4, Grenz 0, Johnson 3, Kuharski 10, Groh 2, McClerry 5.

LAKE CITY — Traverse 3, Pratt 19, Bevacqua 11, Ness 4, Moreen 10, Guice 12, Winger 6.

Cheney 65

Lakeland 62

RATHDRUM — Senior guard C.J. Skillingstad scored 24 points to lead the Blackhawks past the Hawks in the nonleague opener for both schools at Hawk Court.

Lakeland had a chance to send the game to overtime with seven seconds remaining, but a 3-point attempt came up short.

“I thought we played pretty good with a new unit and coach,” said Dave Stockwell, in his debut as Lakeland coach. “Overall, the kids played good. We just need to learn to finish the game.”

Eric Cooper scored 20 points and Aaron Spencer had 16 points for Lakeland, which travels to Riverside next Tuesday.

Cheney 15 14 13 23 — 65

Lakeland 8 17 17 20 — 62

CHENEY — Skillingstad 24, Gingrich 6, Harding 7, Igbinoba 16, Miller 8, Burstler 4, Petropoulous 0, Gamby 0.

LAKELAND — Spencer 16, Piva 0, Carr 3, Derrick 6, Black 8, Stanford 0, Horne 1, Cooper 20, Simpson 8, Frank 0.

Timberlake 61

Sandpoint 54

SPIRIT LAKE — Johnny Hayden scored 16 points to lead the Tigers past the Bulldogs in the nonleague opener for both schools.

“It was a good one,” said first-year Timberlake coach Tony Hanna. “The kids played hard and really got after it. We were able to push the tempo a little bit and forced a few turnovers. I’m really proud of them.”

Brian Cronnelly had 13 points for Timberlake, which travels to Medical Lake on Saturday.

Jackson Olin scored 18 points for Sandpoint, which hosts East Valley on Friday.

Sandpoint 15 11 11 17 — 54

Timberlake 14 10 18 19 — 61

SANDPOINT — N. Schwartz 6, Burgstahler 5, Nitcy 1, R. Schwartz 17, Nelson 0, Olin 18, Couch 3, Litzell 4.

TIMBERLAKE — Rice 2, Cronnelly 13, Masterson 2, Hayden 16, Scott 8, Page 8, Allen 0, Blaine 0, Thompson 10, Cramer 2.

Bonners Ferry 50

Cd’A Charter 49

BONNERS FERRY — No other information was available.

Pullman Christian 52

Grace Bible 40

PULLMAN — Ben Thruman scored 13 points for the Warriors in a loss to the Eagles in the Mountain Christian League opener for both schools.

Isaac Schaefer had six points and five rebounds for Grace Bible Academy, which faces Logos on Friday at the Hub Sports Center in Liberty Lake on Friday.

Grace Bible 15 3 12 10 — 40

Pullman Christian 11 17 10 14 — 52

GRACE BIBLE — Thruman 13, Nordhausen 8, Schaefer 6, Collier 6, Madsen 2, Peabody 5.

PULLMAN CHRISTIAN — Shirey 18, Simanson 11, Weaver 10, Mitchell 6, Shaffer 4.