Timberlake, Kellogg to collide for trip to state tonight

3A DISTRICT 1

SPIRIT LAKE — Top-seeded Timberlake wasted no time asserting itself in the 3A District 1 tournament with a 58-26 win over fourth seed Priest River on Wednesday night.

“Our boys really came together at the right time defensively tonight,” Timberlake coach Mike Menti said. “It was a matter of pride to really limit opportunities for [Priest River], contest every shot and make sure they didn’t get any second chances.”

Save for Keegan Hegel’s three pointer three minutes into the game, the Tigers held the Spartans to one first-quarter field goal and six total before both teams emptied their benches. Usual Spartan stalwarts Brandon McCracken, Caden Brennan and Hegel were held to seven points combined, which led to the Tigers leading wire-to-wire thanks to the efforts of senior forward Sheldon Kistler’s 14-point, 13-rebound double-double and junior wing Jacob James’s 13 points.

“Sheldon is our spark-plug,” Menti said. “He’s got his emotions out there on his sleeve and when he’s hustling and working like that, it sets the tone for our team.”

Despite carrying a 23-10 halftime lead, the Tigers put on the afterburners with a 23-point third quarter. As a team, Timberlake shot 8 for 13 (61.5 percent), committed only two turnovers and was sparked by James’s 7 points in order to put the game away.

“Our offense is going to come and go, but to hold [Priest River] to 10 points at the half was exactly what you’re hoping for,” Menti said. “To play at that level was exactly what I wanted our guys to do.”

The Tigers (7-13) will host Kellogg in the district championship game tonight at 7 p.m.

Jantzen Lucas’s six points led the way for the Spartans, who play Bonners Ferry today at 5:30 p.m.

Priest River 3 7 6 10 — 26

Timberlake 14 9 23 12 — 58

PRIEST RIVER — Anselmo 4, Hegel 3, Brennan 0, Lucas 6, McCracken 4, Kreager 5, Bell 2, Thompson 2, Zapfe 0, Parkes 0.

TIMBERLAKE — Cramer 0, Kluss 7, McDonald 4, James 13, Kistler 14, Gardom 8, Simpson 6, Dickinson 2, Peightal 4, Menti 0, Yetter 0, Paslay 0.

Kellogg 64

Bonners Ferry 44

SPIRIT LAKE — The second-seeded Wildcats (8-13) moved past the third-seeded Badgers (9-11) to advance to the championship game.

1A DIVISION II DISTRICT 1

Lakeside 63

Kootenai 55

POST FALLS — The Knights of Plummer (14-6) held off the Warriors of Harrison Flats (11-8) to advance to Friday’s 1A Division II District 1 championship game at The Courts at Real Life Ministries.

Other details were not reported.

Genesis Prep d.

Mullan, forfeit

POST FALLS — The Tigers, who have played with just five players all season, were down to four on Wednesday as one of them came down with pneumonia.

Mullan finished 7-12.

5A REGION 1

Lake City at

Lewiston, ppd.

LEWISTON — The regional loser-out game was postponed for a second straight day, due to hazardous travel conditions. The game has been rescheduled for tonight at 5 p.m. at Booth Hall. The winner is scheduled to play Coeur d’Alene on Friday in the second-place game, with that winner advancing to a state play-in game Saturday at Grangeville.