3A DISTRICT 1 BOYS BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT: Gus, Wildcats get it done

COEUR d'ALENE - In Gus they trust.

And on Wednesday in the 3A District 1 tournament championship game, he delivered, just like he's done all season long.

Kellogg senior point guard Gus Colburn scored 26 points - 12 coming in the second quarter - to lead the top-seeded Kellogg Wildcats past the Bonners Ferry Badgers 53-39 at North Idaho College, advancing to the state tournament starting next Thursday at Meridian High.

"We've been waking up and going to work every morning since summer league," said Colburn, who was named the Intermountain League Most Valuable Player following the game. "Our dreams haven't became a reality yet. We're not done. We're ready to go."

Kellogg (19-3) will open the state 3A tournament against the District 3 champions at 12:15 p.m. PST.

Earlier, Daniel Smith scored 15 points to lead third-seeded Timberlake past fourth-seeded Priest River 62-46 in a loser-out game.

Timberlake travels to Bonners Ferry tonight at 7 p.m. in the district tournament second-place game, with thatwinner advancing to a state play-in game on Saturday in Grangeville.

Kellogg 53, Bonners Ferry 39: Bonners Ferry jumped out to a 16-11 lead at the end of the first quarter before the Wildcats outscored the Badgers 42-23 the rest of the game.

"I think it was nerves, and guys playing a little amped up," Kellogg coach Jeff Lambert said. "We had too many nerves going in the first, but once we got settled down, we played well. Bonners played a heck of a game too. They played physical and did a great job. That's not a pushover either."

When Lambert needed a spark, he didn't need to look any further than Colburn.

"That's why he's the MVP," Lambert said. "That's the same way he's played for me for three years. If you need something, he'll go get it done for you. You don't have to tell him, he just does it."

Colburn hit a 3-pointer with 1:32 remaining in the first half, pushing Kellogg's advantage to 28-21.

"It was a little nerve-wracking, but we had to stick to the gameplan," Colburn said. "We all knew that we had to go out and play as a team and not make mistakes."

It is the second straight district title for Kellogg and third in four years dating back to 2012.

"This was the goal all year long," Lambert said. "Seven of these guys were on last year's team, so we've got some experience going down there. The district title was the goal, and now we set some new goals. One was to go unbeaten in league - which wasn't easy - and win a district championship. I'm sure the kids have some goals about what's going to happen next week too."

Collin Stone scored 10 points for Bonners Ferry (10-10).

"Kellogg's a really good team," Bonners Ferry coach Brian Woods said. "We came out and executed what we wanted in the first quarter, but really couldn't get into a rhythm after that. We kind of got away from our gameplan in the second half. I thought we still had a chance, but it kind of got away from us."

Bonners Ferry 16 7 5 11 - 39

Kellogg 11 18 10 14 - 53

BONNERS FERRY - Price 4, Sabin 0, Figueroa 0, O'Hara 4, Stockton 6, Stone 10, Carle 2, Nelson 5, Blackmore 6, Pluid 0, Bateman 2.

KELLOGG - G. Colburn 26, Martin 0, Jerome 8, Petersen 0, Waechter 4, Stott 0, Gust 5, Easley 2, T. Colburn 0, McDonald 8.

Timberlake 62, Priest River 46: Thomas Hauck added 11 points for the Tigers (6-17), which jumped out to a 36-19 lead at halftime.

"At this point, you can't hold anything back," Timberlake coach Tony Hanna said. "We knew if we didn't come out and play well tonight, we could have easily been done. I was pleased with how we came out and set the tempo early on. It worked out well with being able to rest some bodies because we've got to go again tomorrow, and we were able to keep our guys fresh for the most part."

Trent Slinger scored 11 points for Priest River, which finishes 4-16.

Timberlake lost by two in overtime in Monday's opening round to Bonners Ferry at NIC.

"It makes it hard when it's the third or fourth time you've seen a team," Hanna said. "You know what they're going to do, but they know what you're going to do. With Bonners, every game has been super tight, but in a one game tournament, who knows, maybe we can get going. We're playing our best basketball right now. It's been a down year, but we're playing good basketball right now and things are starting to click for us. I feel like we can compete with anyone at this point."

Priest River 9 10 7 20 - 46

Timberlake 23 13 14 12 - 62

PRIEST RIVER - Clark 6, Singer 11, Anselmo 2, Storro 2, Holman 1, Luckey 1, Simpkins 4, Jeter 0, Mathews 9, Huddleston 3.

TIMBERLAKE - Somershoe 4, Smith 15, Hofer 0, George 2, Hausladen 10, Kirby 0, Baier 3, Hauck 11, Jones 2, Menti 9, Zhang 3, Kistler 3, Hardy 0, Nowlan 0.