Post Falls girls top turnover-prone Sandpoint
KYLE CAJERO/Bonner County Daily Bee Sandpoint guard Aly Lish inbounds the ball as Ali Carpenter of Post Falls defends on Saturday.
KYLE CAJERO/Bonner County Daily Bee Post Falls defenders Kennedy LaFountaine, left, and Ali Carpenter trap Sandpoint’s Brooklen Steiger along the baseline on Saturday.
SANDPOINT — Turnovers and fouls spoiled Sandpoint’s season opener on Saturday night, as Post Falls posted a 45-31 victory over the Bulldogs at Les Rogers Court.
Although Sandpoint kept pace with Post Falls and staged several rallies, the Trojans’ effectiveness from behind the arc was enough to pull away in the third quarter.
“It was a good win for us,” Post Falls coach Marc Allert said. “Sandpoint played really hard. We’re pretty well matched teams: We’re both really inexperienced and pretty young, so it was pretty evenly matched. For these kids, every game’s a new experience for them, so we’re trying to learn on the fly here.”
As is usually the case for November games, mistakes plagued both teams. Although Post Falls picked up nine fouls in the first half, opening the door for Sandpoint to take over the game, the Bulldogs couldn’t capitalize from the charity stripe; when all was said and done, the Bulldogs went 5 of 11 from the free-throw line.
“I knew we might have some issues with our youth and we saw with taking care of the ball,” first-year Sandpoint head coach Will Love said. “We ended up with 24 turnovers and that really hurt us, especially down the stretch when Post Falls started hitting some shots.”
In addition to Sandpoint’s turnovers, two scoreless spells were ultimately the difference: The Bulldogs didn’t get on the board until senior Natalie Petit hit one of two free throws 5:46 into the first quarter. Then in the third, Post Falls opened the frame with an 8-0 run led by senior guard Bubba Gleaves. The Columbia softball commit led all scorers with 13 points.
“[Gleaves’s] role before was kind of different,” Allert said. “She was a role player coming off the bench but now we’re counting on her a little more. She did a great job of shooting the ball tonight, which she’s capable of doing. She’s kind of understanding what I’m asking of her and I thought she played really well tonight.”
Sandy Faulkner grabbed 10 rebounds for Post Falls (1-1).
Junior Maddie Morgan and sophomore Hattie Larson nearly put the Bulldogs in the mix of things with their efforts on offense and defense, respectively. Morgan came off the bench to lead the Bulldogs with nine points, including a pair of 3s to snap Post Falls’s third-quarter run, Larson, meanwhile, filled the stat sheet with five points, five rebounds and two steals.
“I think the kids learned a lot tonight about playing those extended minutes, playing [Post Falls’] number one defender and how hard you have to work constantly — especially when you’re playing 20 or 25 minutes a game,” Love said. “You’ve got to be able to keep that intensity the whole time.”
The Trojans stretched Sandpoint’s zone and patiently set up their shooters by relying on the extra pass. Sandpoint was unable to contain Post Falls’s shooters, who scored 21 of their 45 points off 3s.
“It was a tough way to start the season but Post Falls is a really good program,” Love said. “They’ve graduated some good players but Marc does an awesome job of coaching. I’d say he’s one of the top coaches in the state. Post Falls is going to be ready to go.”
Sandpoint plays host to Lake City on Tuesday at 7 p.m.
Post Falls returns to action Nov. 26 at home against University.
Post Falls 9 7 17 12 — 45
Sandpoint 8 6 11 6 — 31
POST FALLS — Gleaves 13, Lovett 11, Gardiner 0, La Fountaine 0, Faulkner 8, Blake 7, Smith 5, Johnson 1, Carpenter 0.
SANDPOINT — Banks 6, Lish 4, Edwards 4, Larson 5, Petit 1, Morgan 9, Anderson 0, Steiger 0, Perry 0, Phillips 2.