Lumberjacks capture 6th straight district title

RATHDRUM - They wanted to go out with a bang.

The St. Maries Lumberjacks will get that chance this week.

Marlee Masterson had 29 kills in two matches on Saturday as the top-seeded St. Maries Lumberjacks won their sixth straight 3A District 1 championship with a 25-12, 25-15, 25-20 win over the second-seeded Priest River Spartans on Saturday at Lakeland High.

Priest River later battled back to defeat Kellogg 25-22, 16-25, 25-9, 25-17 to earn the second seed to state.

State is at Lake City High in Coeur d'Alene.

St. Maries (24-8) will open Friday at 8 a.m. against Sugar-Salem. Priest River (13-8) will face Fruitland in its opening-round match at 1 p.m.

"If we can play like this, we should do really well," Masterson said.

Last week, it was announced that St. Maries will drop from the 3A to the 2A classification next year.

"It's very disappointing for us," St. Maries coach Missy Asbury said. "We like where we're at right now. We're just motivated to go out with a bang and make some noise next week."

Masterson, who was named Intermountain League MVP, added 11 digs in the title match.

"Marlee is our go-to girl," Asbury said. "She's been struggling a bit with her hitting so we had to remind her to stay on top of the ball and keep her eyes on the court."

St. Maries began the first game with a 14-6 lead after a Masterson kill and extended the advantage to 22-8 after a run of points on serves by Jaylee Sines.

"We knew we had to start strong," Asbury said. "We did that against Kellogg and continued what we did against Priest River."

Sines had 30 assists, Mariah Gladden seven kills and seven blocks, Lakin Anxo and Abbey Anderson five digs in the title match.

Later, Beth Bykerk had 15 kills and three blocks as the Spartans beat the fourth-seed Kellogg Wildcats to advance to the state tournament.

"It's always tough to come back and win after playing in the district title match," Priest River coach Kati Bodecker said. "We just had to win any way possible and create our own energy on the court."

Priest River was also missing starting outside hitter Melissa Trost, who was out Saturday with a knee injury and might also miss the state tournament.

"This is really big for us right now," Bodecker said. "We had a challenge to overcome without her and we did it."

Taryn Eldore had 22 assists and Kelsey Lederle had 26 digs and two aces in the runner-up match for Priest River.

Earlier matches:

Kellogg d. Timberlake: Kellogg rallied after losing the first game to beat Timberlake 19-25, 25-14, 25-16, 25-22 in a loser-out match.

Kelly Madsen had 29 kills and three blocks, Brooke Murray 47 assists and three aces and Amanda Swanson 31 digs for Timberlake.

"We could have done some things better today," Timberlake coach Michelle Garwood said. "We just lacked team unity and communication. We made a lot of unforced errors today. We were off and on all season. We had a chance today, but just couldn't close the door."

St. Maries d. Kellogg: Sines had 35 assists, Masterson 14 kills, seven digs and four blocks, Gladden 11 kills and three blocks, Anxo nine digs and Clarissa Stephenson seven digs as the Lumberjacks beat the Wildcats 25-15, 25-13, 25-18.

Christina Gibbs had 57 digs, Tarah Ivie 22 kills, Kelsey Carter 20 kills, Taylor Samuelson 51 assists and Shalene Yost six aces on the day for Kellogg, which concludes the season 10-7.

"It was a long day, but I thought our team played really well," Kellogg coach Crystal Luna said. "Our team battled hard today. When you're fourth place in the league and battling for second in the district tournament, that's something to be proud of."

3A DISTRICT 1 TOURNAMENT

Kellogg d. Bonners Ferry 25-23, 25-13, 25-17 (loser-out)

Priest River d. Timberlake 22-25, 23-25, 25-14, 25-15, 15-9

St. Maries d. Kellogg 25-15, 25-13, 25-18

Kellogg d. Timberlake 19-25, 25-14, 25-16, 25-22 (loser-out).

St. Maries d. Priest River 25-12, 25-15, 25-20 (championship, winner to state)

Priest River d. Kellogg 25-22, 16-25, 25-19, 25-17 (winner to state)

ALL INTERMOUNTAIN LEAGUE

MVP - Marlee Masterson, St. Maries, sr, OH,

COACH OF THE YEAR - Missy Asbury, St. Maries.

ST. MARIES - Mariah Gladden, jr., MH, Abbey Anderson, sr., RS/DS, Jaylee Sines, sr., S. PRIEST RIVER - Taryn Eldore, jr. S/RS, Beth Bykerk, so., RS, Melissa Trost, jr., OH. TIMBERLAKE - Nichelle Eastmond, jr., OH. Brooke Murray, sr., S. Kelly Madsen, sr., OH/MB. KELLOGG - Taylor Samuelson, jr., RS/S. BONNERS FERRY - Mattea Bertling, sr., OH.