PREP GIRLS BASKETBALL: Vikings press on — After 13 straight losses to rival, Coeur d'Alene knocks off Lake City for third straight time

COEUR d’ALENE — Tori Younker remembers going into the locker room as a freshman and sophomore following games at Lake City High.

“We struggled a lot in our early years here,” Younker said. “We came into the locker room defeated a lot.”

Tuesday was a different story all together.

Younker hit four 3-pointers and scored 18 points, one of four Vikings in double figures in a 64-38 win over the Timberwolves in Inland Empire League play at Lake City.

Coeur d’Alene knocked off Lake City in the 5A Region 1 championship game 58-36 last February in the team’s last matchup. Tuesday night’s win was Coeur d’Alene’s third straight over Lake City, after Lake City had won 13 straight over the Vikings dating back to the 2014-15 season.

“To come back these last few games victorious, it’s been nice,” Younker said. “But we know that it’s not done yet. We’ve got to keep rolling.”

Skylar Burke scored 15 points, Madi Symons 13 points and Jaelyn Brainard-Adams 12 points for Coeur d’Alene (3-0, 2-0 IEL).

“We were just being unselfish tonight,” Younker said. “Madi and Skylar, they always come through for us. But with how unselfish they are, and we’ve got girls that can shoot from the outside, when they find us, we have a hard time losing.”

Coeur d’Alene led 28-17 at halftime, then outscored Lake City (1-2, 1-1) 20-13 in the third quarter to pull away.

“Credit to Coeur d’Alene, they pressured us so much that they took us out of what we wanted to do,” Lake City coach James Anderson said. “We weren’t able to move the ball the way we wanted to, and struggled to adapt. It’s a credit to them, how they defended us and how they played.”

Coeur d’Alene created its offense with its defense, pressing Lake City into seven turnovers in the first half.

“Our culture is to play fast, and I’ll live and die by that,” Coeur d’Alene coach Nicole Symons said. “Our defense will always be the most important focus on this team because I think you can compete with a lot of teams if you just dig in and play good defense. Not only did we play on-ball defense, but our team defense has improved. The girls have bought in and I’m super proud of their effort tonight from tipoff to the final buzzer.”

All but one player scored on the night for Coeur d’Alene.

“It was really big-time tonight,” Symons said. “We know that Skylar and Madi will take a majority of the defensive end for us, so our girls have got to set their feet and hit shots. We’ve been working on shooting in practice, and it’s starting to show. We’ve been sharing the ball really well as well, and that’s all you can ask for.”

Brooklyn Rewers scored 12 points, Kendall Pickford 10 for Lake City.

“Kendall and Brooklyn are going to do what they do,” Symons said. “It’s a big target to guard Brooklyn inside, and Kendall can shoot from the outside and freshman Sophia Zufelt has come in and worked hard. We knew she could shoot, but if we played with our tempo, it’s hard to keep up with us.”

Lake City plays at Kellogg tonight at 7.

Coeur d’Alene plays host to Lakeland on Friday.

Coeur d’Alene 15 13 20 16 — 64

Lake City 6 11 13 8 — 38

COEUR d’ALENE — Brainard-Adams 12, Whiteman 3, Symons 13, Johnson 0, Younker 18, Chavez 3, Burke 15.

LAKE CITY — Pickford 10, Miller 7, Zufelt 0, Shanley 0, Reynolds 0, Rewers 12, Jenkins 4, Parks 0, Hawkins 5.