Viks shoot their way past North Central
Lake City’s Josh Stellflug powers by South Kitsap defender D’Ante Ward in a Lake City Invitational game Friday night. LOREN BENOIT/Press
Lake City’s Ben Janke shoots a three in front of South Kitsap defender Gavin Morkert in a Lake City Invitational game Friday night. (LOREN BENOIT/Press)
By JOEL DONOFRIO
Staff writer
COEUR d’ALENE — North Central began Friday’s game against Coeur d’Alene in a 2-3 zone, and 3-point shots were there for the taking.
And like kids gobbling up Christmas cookies, the Vikings took them — sinking seven 3-pointers in the game’s first 12 minutes to open up an early double-digit lead. Coeur d’Alene cruised from there, topping the Indians 64-37 in the second round of the 2018 Lake City Invitational.
After North Central’s Leon Sayers opened the game with a 3-pointer of his own, the Viking shooters went to work.
Coeur d’Alene worked the ball inside to Kale Edwards, who found a wide-open Drew Hostetter outside the arc. This pattern of making the extra pass continued throughout the first quarter, and the Vikings never trailed again.
By the 3:44 mark of the second quarter, five different Vikings had seven 3-pointers, with Mayson Blakeley-Whittaker’s trey putting Coeur d’Alene ahead 27-16. Hostetter finished the first half with a fast-break layup, putting CHS in front 30-19, and the Vikings led by double-digits the rest of the game.
“Once in a while we shoot really well from 3-point range — we usually shoot well against zones,” Hostetter said. “I thought we had way more energy than the last time we faced them.”
The Vikings senior was referring to their Dec. 7 matchup with North Central — the first game they played on their new Viking Court. In that game, Coeur d’Alene got off to a sluggish start, allowed quite a few second-chance points and trailed the Indians at halftime. The rematch was much different.
“Sayers is a really good player, so we tried to stay connected with him. And we tried to keep them away from the rim, to box out better,” CHS coach Tony Hanna said. “I challenged our guys to bring more energy than they did (Thursday night, a 69-64 loss to Kentridge) — we came out flat in yesterday’s game. Today was much better.”
Although Sayers had 15 points and six rebounds, the Indians (5-5) shot 28 percent from the floor in the game (14-for-50), and their next highest scorer was Levi Edwards, who sank two late 3-pointers as both coaches played reserves for most of the fourth quarter.
Coeur d’Alene’s Gavin Margo had 14 points off the bench to lead all scorers, while fellow senior Connor King (10 points) joined Margo and Hostetter in double-figures. The Vikings outrebounded the Indians 29-28, with Carter Friesz’s six boards leading a balanced effort on the glass.
CHS (6-3) finished the game with 10 3-pointers and shot 22-for-47 overall from the floor. The Vikings face Mead (1-9) at 12:30 p.m. today to close out the tournament. The Panthers lost 65-41 to Columbia River in Friday’s second game.
North Central 11 8 9 9 — 37
Coeur d’Alene 18 12 22 12 — 64
NORTH CENTRAL — Stone 3, Niel 4, Rice 4, Sayers 15, Knight 2, Martin 0, Gifford 0, Phalen-Carpenter 0, Shoeffler 0, Edwards 6, Auld 3, McCarthy 0.
COEUR d’ALENE — Blakeley-Whittaker 8, Johnson 5, King 10, Hostetter 13, Edwards 5, Friesz 4, Margo 14, McLaughlin 0, Karns 1, Meade 0, Linehan 4.
Post Falls 58
Kentridge 53
Another strong game from Colby Gennett, and another night of stout defense, helped Post Falls win its second straight game at the Lake City Invitational.
“Kentridge has some kids who can really score — and I was really impressed with their point guard, (Cruz) Medina — so this was a good win for us,” Trojans coach Mike McLean said. “Alex Horning played really good defense on (Jett) Briceno, their best scorer, especially in the second half.”
Post Falls (7-4) led 30-24 at halftime, and the Trojans managed to stay ahead of their opponent by 3 or more points down the stretch, despite a few mistakes that kept Kentridge (8-3) in the game, McLean said.
Gennett had 21 points, seven rebounds and six steals — almost identical stats from his efforts in the Trojans’ Thursday win over Columbia River — while Isaac Ballew added 12 points and Gavven Dejarlais had eight points and eight rebounds.
“Colby’s the one guy we have coming back this year with varsity playing experience. For us to play well and get big wins, Colby has to have a strong game, and he did tonight,” McLean said. “Isaac Bellew’s 12 points gave us a really big lift, too.”
Post Falls concludes the tournament against North Central at 2 p.m. today.
Post Falls 14 16 15 13 — 58
Kentridge 13 11 13 16 — 53
POST FALLS — Gennett 21, Hauser 0, C. Rutherford 6, Ballew 12, Shields 0, Desjarlais 8, Horning 6, J. Rutherford 2, Mitchell 3.
KENTRIDGE — Medina 10, Moore 3, Banks 8, Victoria 0, Briceno 14, Pop 5, Paznokas 10.
South Kitsap 66
Lake City 63 OT
Josh Stellflug had 20 points and nine rebounds for the Timberwolves, who fell short to the Wolves of Port Orchard in the Lake City Invitational.
“Offensively, we played better tonight, but weren’t as good defensively,” said Lake City assistant coach Kelly Reed of the Timberwolves, who beat Mead 53-52 in their tournament opener on Thursday. “We weren’t as aggressive tonight, but once we picked up our pressure we were fine. We need to play with more energy than that. There were some good things, but we need more energy and intensity.”
Seth Hanson had 15 points and six rebounds for Lake City (1-7), which faces Columbia River today at 11 a.m.
D’Ante Ward had 19 points and six rebounds for South Kitsap.
Lake City 17 9 16 14 7 — 63
South Kitsap 19 14 16 7 10 — 66
LAKE CITY — Stellflug 20, Janke 3, Kiesbuy 11, Spellman 5, Hanson 15, Sundstrom 0, Brum 9.
SOUTH KITSAP — Morkert 13, Grant 6, Potz 4, Mackle 9, Pace 0, Ward 19, Escotta 5, Walters 0, Kelso 10, Welch 0.