Hostetter hot from 3 for Vikings
LOREN BENOIT/Press Coeur d’Alene’s Drew Hostetter shoots a 3-pointer against Lake City during Thursday night’s game. Hostetter was 5 for 6 from the arc and scored 17 points for the Vikings in their 72-61 win over the Timberwolves.
Lake City’s James Carlson dunks the basketball against Coeur d’Alene during Thursday night’s game. (LOREN BENOIT/Press)
COEUR d’ALENE — A switch to a zone defense by Coeur d’Alene and some deadly outside shooting by junior Drew Hostetter helped the Vikings rally from an early 13-point deficit for a big 5A Inland Empire League boys basketball victory Thursday night.
Hostetter hit all five of his 3-pointers in the second half — he finished 5 for 6 from behind the arc — as Coeur d’Alene overtook visiting Lake City 72-61 at Elmer Jordan Court.
“The kid can shoot; he kinda came out of his shell tonight,” Coeur d’Alene coach Tony Hanna said of Hostetter, who scored 15 of his 17 points in the second half. “He’s had other games where he’s shot the ball well, but tonight he really stepped up for us. He’s had that potential. He’s been in and out of the starting lineup, and we haven’t really figured out his role, but he got another opportunity tonight and really stepped up for us.”
Sam Matheson scored a game-high 29 points for Coeur d’Alene (9-8, 3-2 5A IEL), which clinched the No. 2 seed to the Region 1 tournament in two weeks. Matheson, who also had eight rebounds and four assists, was 15 of 15 from the free-throw line, including 10 of 10 over the final 48.3 seconds to keep Lake City at bay.
James Carlson made 18 of 20 free throws and led Lake City (9-9, 1-4) with 24 points. Hunter Schaffer added 17 points, all in the first half.
Lake City hit 9 of 11 from the field in the first quarter, 14 of 20 in the first half and led 24-18 after one quarter and 39-32 at intermission. It could have been a bigger lead for the Timberwolves, who sliced up Coeur d’Alene’s man-to-man defense with its passing, as well as aggressive cutting and driving, and forced the Vikings into a zone defense. Lake City led by as much as 13 points before the Vikings closed the first half on an 8-2 run.
“We played really poor defense in the first half,” Hanna said. “So I challenged our guys at halftime — might have yelled at ’em a few times — asked them to get after it and we played much better second half defensively.”
Hostetter hit a couple 3s in the third quarter as Coeur d’Alene roared back to take a 48-47 lead after three quarters. If that score looks familiar, that’s been the final score of each of Lake City’s last three league games — all losses.
Lake City opened the fourth on a 9-3 run — six of those points coming from Carlson — for a 56-51 lead. But back came the Vikings, as Hostetter drained a 3 off a dish from Matheson, then Matheson fed Mason Whittaker for a 3 that tied the game at 59 with just under 4 minutes left.
After a Lake City turnover, Hostetter took a kickout pass from Kale Edwards and sank a 3 from the right wing with just under 3 minutes left to put the Vikings ahead to stay at 62-59.
Lake City missed a 3, Coeur d’Alene worked the clock, Lake City had to foul, and the Vikings — Matheson, actually — put the game away from the line.
“Tip your hat to Coeur d’Alene,” Lake City coach Jim Winger said. “They shot it great, they hung in there, we got in foul trouble, they got a little momentum before the half. I thought we played hard, we executed well, we got spread a little thin with the foul trouble, but so did they. We played our butts off, and I thought they played really well.”
The teams combined to shoot 52 free throws, as both coaches had to juggle their lineups to account for foul trouble. Lake City finished 19 for 38 from the field, 20 of 24 from the line. Coeur d’Alene hit 10 of 24 3s and was 22 of 28 from the line.
After winning its league opener over Lewiston, Lake City has dropped four straight in league, with one left next Friday at 5A IEL champ Post Falls.
“I told our guys afterward, we’ve had a tough couple of weeks, but we’ve really only played one bad game since Christmas, and we’ve had a tough go, but the games that count are still a week and a half away, so we’ve just got to keep plugging away, and we will.”
Coeur d’Alene travels to Moscow on Tuesday. Lake City plays host to Sandpoint on Thursday.
Lake City 24 15 8 14 — 61
Coeur d’Alene 18 14 16 24 — 72
LAKE CITY — Schafer 17, McCartin 9, Kolden 0, Sensel 0, Carlson 24, Manzardo 6, Kiesbuy 5, Pollow 0.
COEUR d’ALENE — Delbridge 5, Whittaker 3, Matheson 29, Friesz 0, Beggerly 4, Hostetter 17, Johnson 1, Dunteman 0, Bloom 0, Edwards 13.