Turnovers hurt Post Falls in loss
SPOKANE — Second-quarter turnovers ruined a strong start by the Post Falls boys basketball team, and the Trojans lost 61-43 to Ferris on Monday night in a nonconference road game.
Post Falls (9-6) led 15-5 after one quarter, but the Saxons (10-3) scored 22 points in the second quarter and 24 more in the third to take control of the game.
“We started becoming careless with the ball. We had seven turnovers in the second quarter, and it seemed like they all led directly to easy baskets,” Trojans coach Mike McLean said.
“We just didn’t compete tonight. Ferris took it to us, and we did not respond, especially in the second and third quarters.”
Cole Omlin (18 points) and Reece Van Lierop (16 points) led Ferris, while Alex Horning scored 15 points for Post Falls in its final nonconference game.
Colby Gennett added 12 points for the Trojans, who begin 5A Inland Empire play on Friday at Lewiston.
Post Falls 15 11 6 11 — 43
Ferris 5 22 24 10 — 61
POST FALLS — Gennett 12, McLean 6, C. Rutherford 2, Shields 0, Dejarlais 6, Horning 15, J. Rutherford 0, Mitchell 2.
FERRIS — Markham 4, Erickson 9, Smith 0, Bozett 2, Spink 12, Van Lierop 16, Omlin 18, Owen 0.
St. Maries 65, Kellogg 57
ST. MARIES — Strong inside play from Dan Howard, a second-quarter scoring spree by Eli Gibson and solid free-throw shooting down the stretch helped the host Lumberjacks hold off the Wildcats for a nonconference win.
Gibson, a 6-foot-1 sophomore guard, scored 12 of his game-high 19 points in the second quarter, helping St. Maries (8-3) extend a two-point advantage to a 31-22 halftime lead.
Howard, a 6-4 post, shot 8-for-8 from the field to score all 16 points inside, Lumberjacks coach Bryan Chase said.
“We definitely had a game plan to try and get the ball inside,” Chase said. “Kellogg slowed us down in the second half with some double- and triple-teams, but he (Howard) had a nice game.”
Kellogg cut the lead to 62-57 late in the game, but St. Maries shot 15-for-23 from the foul line to close out the victory.
Graden Nearing had 17 points to lead Kellogg, while Jackson Pritchard added 13 points for the Lumberjacks, who host Bonners Ferry on Thursday.
Kellogg 10 12 18 17 — 57
St. Maries 12 19 15 19 — 65
KELLOGG — Walter 1, Rickets 5, Oertli 3, Nearing 17, Miller 8, Davis 2, Jerome 12, Luna 9.
ST. MARIES — Hill 0, Ross 0, Pritchard 13, Nelson 0, Lohman 7, Sands 5, Gibson 19, Hammond 5, Howard 16.
NIC Booster Club luncheon is today
POST FALLS — North Idaho College coaches will give recaps of the recent holiday tournaments and previews of upcoming home wrestling matches and basketball games at noon today, Jan. 8, at Timber Gastro Pub, 1610 Schneidmiller Ave., Post Falls.
The Booster Club Luncheon is open to the public. The cost of lunch is not covered.
The NIC Booster Club meets on the second and last Tuesday of each month at noon at various locations in the community. Check out the NIC Athletics Department website for more details at www.nic.edu/athletics or contact the NIC Athletics Office at (208) 769-3348.