PREP BOYS BASKETBALL: Lake City handles Sandpoint's pressure
JASON DUCHOW PHOTOGRAPHY Ben Janke of Lake City goes up for a shot as Rusty Lee (4) of Sandpoint defends and Elijah Larson of the Bulldogs looks on Friday night at Lake City.
COEUR d’ALENE — The execution was there on offense for the Lake City Timberwolves in Friday’s home opener.
Defensively, that’s still a work in progress.
Kolten Mitchell had 15 points and five assists for the Timberwolves in a 77-61 win over the Sandpoint Bulldogs in a nonleague game at Lake City High on Friday.
“Sandpoint pressured and pressed us quite a bit tonight, which we don’t mind,” Lake City coach Jim Winger said. “Most of our scoring came in transition and I thought we handled the pressure really well.”
Blake Buchanan had 12 points, six rebounds and five blocked shots, Jack Kiesbuy 13 points and Varick Meredith 12 points for Lake City (2-0).
Arie VanDenBerg scored 17 points for Sandpoint (1-2), which hosts Timberlake on Thursday.
“We played pretty solid defense in the first quarter,” Winger said. “After that, we’ve got some work to do. I wasn’t really happy with our half-court defense. It’s only our second game, and we know what we’ve got to work on.”
Lake City faces Century in the first round of the Middleton Christmas Tournament next Thursday.
Sandpoint 8 18 15 20 — 61
Lake City 19 22 18 18 — 77
SANDPOINT — Roos 8, Frank 2, R. Lee 4, Eldridge 11, VanDenBerg 17, Bailey 12, S. Lee 0, Larson 3, Butler 4.
LAKE CITY — Buchanan 12, Janke 5, Irvin 10, Kiesbuy 13, Spellman 2, Johnson 8, Mitchell 15, Meredith 12, Bowman 0.
N.I. Christian 45
Genesis Prep 44
POST FALLS — Malachi Bullington totaled 22 points, 12 rebounds and two blocked shots for the Royals, who weathered a wild final 30 seconds to hold off the Jaguars in nonleague play at The Courts at Real Life.
North Idaho Christian (9-1) led by 11 points entering the fourth quarter, but Genesis Prep (1-3) had several shots to win it in the final 30 seconds, including a jumper from the top of the key that was off the mark at the buzzer.
“We got outworked,” North Idaho Christian coach Shawn Thompson said. “They played smarter than us, harder than us, and we were lucky to get out of there with a win.”
Wyley Pilgrim added 10 points for North Idaho Christian, which plays at the Kootenai Thunder on Tuesday.
“We could not stop the big kid,” Genesis Prep coach Jeff Hironaka said of Bullington.
Ayson McLuskie scored 14 points, Caleb Schroeder 11 for Genesis Prep, which plays North Idaho Christian again next Friday in the first round of the Priest River Christmas Classic.
Genesis Prep 4 11 14 15 — 44
N.I. Christian 10 16 14 5 — 45
GENESIS PREP — Young 3, Rubert 2, Schroeder 11, Daniels 9, McLuskie 14, Clesceri 0, Shin 1, Borek 0, Carter 0, Gonzales 4, Specht 0, Snowder 0.
NORTH IDAHO CHRISTIAN — Pilgrim 10, McKee 4, O’Brien 2, Alliano 3, Koontz 0, Mitchell 3, Johnson 1, Grassi 0, Bullington 22, Sakae 0.
Orofino 52
Wallace 47
OROFINO — Carter Bailey scored 23 points for the Miners, who fell short to the Maniacs in nonleague play.
Hayden Hogamier scored nine points for Wallace (0-4), which plays at the Lewiston JV today at 12:30 p.m.
Nick Drobish scored 13 points for Orofino (3-0).
Wallace 15 4 18 10 — 47
Orofino 8 15 14 15 — 52
WALLACE — Tesky 2, Farkas 7, Hogamier 9, Bailey 23, Morin 2, Denson 2, Hull 2, Hammerberg 2.
OROFINO — Soprano 11, Thomas 8, S. Sneddon 11, Drobish 13, Scott 7, Graham 2.