PREP BOYS BASKETBALL: Post Falls wins Middleton tourney

MIDDLETON — Cole Rutherford usually is the distributor for the Post Falls Trojans.

Late in Saturday’s game, the senior point guard scored the biggest basket of the game.

Rutherford’s driving layin with 1:28 left gave Post Falls a one-point lead, and he hit 6 of 6 free throws down the stretch to help ice the Trojans’ 54-51 victory over the Middleton Vikings in the championship game of the inaugural Ridley’s Christmas Tournament at Middleton High.

“Some guys, the lights get too bright. Tonight, the lights weren’t too bright for Cole Rutherford,” Post Falls coach Mike McLean said.

Rutherford finished with 14 points, eight assists and five steals for Post Falls (3-0) in its season-opening weekend trip to southern Idaho. Alex Horning added 12 points, Caden McLean nine, including a 3-pointer that tied the game at 41 midway through the fourth.

“For being early in the season, our team defense and individual defense was very good,” McLean said. “We had good ball pressure; we didn’t allow teams to get right into their sets.”

Zack Rodriguez scored five points, including a 3-pointer, in a 10-0 run that put Post Falls up 29-19 at the half.

Middleton, third at state in 4A last year, took the lead late in the third quarter, and led 45-42 on a driving layup by Tyler Madaris, a 6-7 junior who finished with 17 points.

James Lee answered with an inside basket for Post Falls, then Rutherford took it to the basket to put the Trojans ahead to stay.

Post Falls returns to action Dec. 28 at Rigby at the East Idaho Holiday Basketball Tournament.

Post Falls 15 14 6 19 — 54

Middleton 15 4 16 16 — 51

POST FALLS — McLean 9, Anderson 0, Hauser 0, Rodriguez 5, Rutherford 14, Ballew 6, Lee 8, Horning 12.

MIDDLETON — Foote 8, Wright 12, Johansen 0, Graviet 0, Stucki 6, Medaris 17, Hansen 5, Day 3, McKnight 0.

Madison 65

Lake City 40

MIDDLETON — Sometimes, it’s just best to burn the game tape and move onto the next one.

Exactly what the Timberwolves will do.

Taden King scored 25 points, 10 coming in the second quarter and another nine on three 3-pointers in the third quarter as the Bobcats of Rexburg beat the Timberwolves in the third-place game of the Ridley’s Christmas Tournament.

“He beat us on the bounce and our help defense wasn’t there today,” Lake City coach Jim Winger said. “For us, everything was off to say the least. We’ll throw this one out and get back to work again on Monday.”

Blake Buchanan had 12 points and seven rebounds, Kolton Mitchell 12 points for Lake City (4-2), which plays at Hillcrest High of Ammon in the Tiger-Grizz Tournament on Dec. 29.

It was Lake City’s fourth straight day with a game.

“The first few games, we did some good things,” Winger said. “Everything was off today, but it doesn’t do any good to dwell on it.”

Braxton Pierce scored 10 points for Madison (6-2).

Madison 20 14 18 13 — 65

Lake City 13 11 5 11 — 40

MADISON — Crane 6, Lerwill 6, Hathaway 10, Sutton 4, Wilson 2, Pierce 10, King 25, Randall 2.

LAKE CITY — Buchanan 12, Jones 0, Janke 0, Irvin 4, Kiesbuy 7, Johnson 0, Mitchell 12, Meredith 5.

Lewiston 69

Lakeland 59

LEWISTON — The visiting Hawks got the deficit down to five points with under a minute to go and learned a lot about the makeup of their team.

Abe Munyer scored 18 points and Carson Seay added 16 for the Hawks, who fell short to the Bengals — keyed by a 25-point day by George Forsmann in an Inland Empire League game.

“It was a real competitive game to the finish,” Lakeland assistant coach Tyrel Derrick said. “We had to extend the game a little bit late, and Lewiston did the right things down the stretch.”

Seay scored eight points in the fourth quarter for Lakeland (2-3), which was without reserve Jalen Skalskiy due to injury.

“We had a really intense week of practice and saw some things translate to build on defensively,” Derrick said. “Carson and Abe had their best games of the year by far, which was nice to see with all the work they’ve put in.”

Forsmann scored 19 of his 25 points in the second half for Lewiston (5-0, 2-0 IEL).

Lakeland (2-3, 0-3) plays at Lapwai on Monday.

Lakeland 11 15 14 19 — 59

Lewiston 13 10 24 22 — 69

LAKELAND — Hocking 0, Seay 16, Henry 5, Ab. Munyer 18, Am. Munyer 4, Haaland 8, Roth 8, Waddington 0.

LEWISTON — Eke 1, McKarcher 13, Way 0, Mullikin 11, Hottinger 15, Forsman 2, White 2, Goeckner 0, Forsmann 25.

Sandpoint 73

Bonners Ferry 66

BONNERS FERRY — Colin Roos tallied 15 points and 12 rebounds as the Bulldogs beat the Badgers in nonleague play.

"He brought great energy," Sandpoint coach Wade Engelson said. "If you watch him play, he's an extremely active rebounder and he's always active on the court and really made a difference for our team tonight."

Arie VanDenBerg hit four 3-pointers and added 14 points for Sandpoint (2-2). Max Frank and Rusty Lee added nine points each.

"I'm proud of our guys in that we got knocked down a couple times ... and our guys just continued to compete," head coach Wade Engelson said.

Ridge Williams scored a game-high 23 points for Bonners Ferry (2-4).

Sandpoint returns to action Jan. 2 at home vs. St. Maries.

Sandpoint 18 15 23 17 — 73

Bonners Ferry 22 13 16 15 — 66

SANDPOINT — Roos 15, Frank 9, R. Lee 9, Eldridge 5, VanDenBerg 14, S. Lee 5, Larson 7, Lane 2, Butler 7.

BONNERS FERRY — Williams 23, Petersen 5, Rice 4, Henslee 7, Hubbard 10, Regan 1, Mai 0, Beazer 3, Bateman 0, Blackmore 13.

North Idaho Christian at Priest River tournament

Clark Fork 54

Priest River JV 32

PRIEST RIVER — Carter Sanroman scored 22 points and Clark Fork picked up its first victory of the season, beating the Spartan junior varsity in the consolation game at the Spartan Christmas Tournament.

"Carter wanted this on his shoulders and he came through," Clark Fork coach Heath Beason said.

Cole Reuter added 19 points for Clark Fork (1-4), which jumped out to a 24-2 first-quarter lead.

Clark Fork returns to action Jan. 5 at home vs. Mullan.

Clark Fork 24 5 16 9 — 54

Priest River JV 2 14 9 7 — 32

CLARK FORK — Garcia 3, Sanroman 22, Barnett 8, Shelton 0, Reuter 19, Bopp 0, Mayorga 2, L. Pierson 0, Mintken 0, Matteson 0, J. Pierson 0.

PRIEST RIVER JV — Korff 7, Gleason 3, Ganiger 8, Hughes 5, G. Fitzmorris 9, Gregory 0, Best 0, T. Fitzmorris 0, Janssen 0, Michaels 0.