UConn-bound guard too much for Trojans at Tark Classic

LAS VEGAS — Against an athletic team from Salesian College Preparatory School of Richmond, Calif., the Post Falls Trojan boys almost, almost had another big win in its stay at the Tarkanian Classic.

Almost.

Jake Pfennigs had 19 points and 15 rebounds for the Trojans, but UConn-bound point guard James Akinjo scored a game-high 35 points to lead Salesian past Post Falls 74-61 in a quarterfinal game Thursday night at Bishop Gorman High.

Post Falls led 36-30 at halftime before being outscored 44-25 in the second half.

“I’m very proud of my guys,” Post Falls coach Mike McLean said. “I thought they battled hard. That team was extremely athletic and at times, it felt like we were playing against a CSI-type team. Our guys were right there, but they made some free throws down the stretch. But our guys were right in it.”

Drake Thompson had 14 points and six assists for Post Falls (3-2), which faces Corona Christian today in a consolation game. Salesian is 8-0.

Salesian 30 44 — 74

Post Falls 36 25 — 61

SALESIAN — Ja. McClanahan 0, Lazo 0, Jefferson 12, Ju. McClanahan 13, Manuel 0, Akinjo 35, Moore 0, Fleer 2, Bell 0, Harris 0, Mallette 2, Fernan 0, Brinkman 12.

POST FALLS — Gennett 14, Thompson 13, Buer 0, McCliment-Call 9, Walker 0, Bourgard 0, Fleming 3, Ballew 3, Pfennigs 19, Morris 0, Dejarlais 0.

Coeur d’Alene 68

Lakeland 48

COEUR d’ALENE — Drew Hostetter and Sam Matheson scored 13 points each for the Vikings in nonleague win over the Hawks at Elmer Jordan Court.

“We did a good job of contesting shooters tonight,” Coeur d’Alene coach Tony Hanna said. “Lakeland can shoot the ball, and we didn’t want them to get started. We just wanted to contest each shot and I thought we did a good job of controlling the boards. Lakeland is a good team, and I know it’s going to be a different game when we see them at their place.”

Kaden Davis scored 18 points for Lakeland (5-1), which hosts Cheney tonight.

Mayson Whittaker scored 11 points for Coeur d’Alene (3-2), which faces South Kitsap next Wednesday on the opening day of the Lake City Winter Classic at Lake City High.

Lakeland 14 15 7 12 — 48

Coeur d’Alene 14 18 16 20 — 68

LAKELAND — Taylor 0, Zubaly 8, Munyer 0, Johnson 6, Knight 4, Vahey 0, Davis 18, Skalskiy 4, Neilson 6, Haaland 2.

COEUR d’ALENE — Henry 0, Delbridge 8, Leifer 0, Whittaker 11, Matheson 13, Friesz 2, Margo 3, Beggerly 6, Hostetter 13, Johnson 2, Duntemann 2, Bloom 0, Edwards 8.

Timberlake 51

Priest River 40

SPIRIT LAKE — After the visiting Spartans pulled even at 24 in the third quarter, guards Jordan Hardy and J.T. Wilfong keyed spurt by the Tigers with their defense in the Intermountain League opener for both teams.

“They put a lot of pressure on the opposing team,” Timberlake coach Michael Scott said. “We put some pressure on them, and got some turnovers out of it, mixed up different defenses to throw them off a little bit.”

Hardy scored 16 points, Jacob James 11 for Timberlake (3-5).

Dausen O’Brien scored a game-high 17 points for Priest River.

Timberlake plays host to Sandpoint tonight at 7.

Priest River 7 10 10 13 — 40

Timberlake 13 9 14 15 — 51

PRIEST RIVER — Hegel 8, O’Brien 17, Johnson 3, Downs 3, McCracken 3, Brennan 4, Salesky 0, Glazier 2, Thompson 0.

TIMBERLAKE — Hardy 16, Wilfong 1, Cramer 5, Simpson 1, Meijerink 0, Kluss 5, James 11, Gardom 6, Kistler 6.

St. Maries 62

Bonners Ferry 49

BONNERS FERRY — Jackson Pritchard shot 5 of 9 from beyond the 3-point line and finished with 21 points as the Lumberjacks beat the Badgers.

Daniel Howard had 13 points and seven rebounds for St. Maries (5-0), which competes in the Freeman Christmas tournament starting next Thursday, opening against Freeman.

“Daniel really gave us an added punch inside down the stretch,” St. Maries coach Bryan Chase said. “We just never quite had control of the game, but were able to make some free throws down the stretch.”

Tyler Lohman had eight points and seven rebounds, Koy Sands five assists and Kevin Duffield five rebounds and four assists for St. Maries.

Chris Sabin scored 16 points for Bonners Ferry (4-3).

St. Maries 15 16 18 13 — 62

Bonners 10 9 12 18 — 49

ST. MARIES — Sampson 2, Duffield 4, Bassett 0, Green 0, Lohman 7, Sands 2, Pritchard 21, Buell 10, Hammond 3, Howard 13.

BONNERS FERRY — Ryan 2, Sabin 16, S. Bateman 10, Hittle 4, Stone 0, Pluid 1, Bell 8, B. Bateman 7, Winder 1.

Genesis Prep 55

Mt. Spokane 54

SPOKANE — Junior Jonny Hillman scored a career-high 35 points, including the go-ahead free throws with 5 seconds left, and the visiting Jaguars outscored the Wildcats 20-7 in the fourth quarter to capture the nonleague thriller.

“They couldn’t guard Jonny off the dribble,” Genesis Prep coach Marsell Colbert said. “I thought Junior Williams and Jacob Schroeder facilitated so Jonny could do what he did.”

Williams made four of his five 3-pointers in the first half for Genesis Prep (4-2).

Kon Ajang had five rebounds and two blocked shots for the Jaguars. Schroeder had four assists, Max Reidt four steals.

“We didn’t have our best scoring night individually,” Colbert said, “but those guys dug in on the defensive end of the floor; they wanted it. Tonight we figured out some things on the defensive end.”

Jerry Twenge scored 23 points for Mt. Spokane (5-2), a 3A team in Washington.

Next up for Genesis Prep is a tournament Dec. 27-30 in San Diego.

Genesis Prep 8 17 11 20 — 55

Mt. Spokane 11 18 18 7 — 54

GENESIS PREP — Shelton 2, Mwinuka 2, Reidt 6, Williams 6, Schroeder 2, Hillman 35, Schultz 0, Ajang 2, Gonzales 0.

MT. SPOKANE — Wendle 4, Barrera 5, Brooks 7, Twenge 23, Williamson 0, Smith 14, Hattenburg 0, Degenhart 0, McClary 0.