PREP GIRLS BASKETBALL: Coeur d'Alene knocks off Timberlake in fan-less opener

COEUR d’ALENE — Two of the top teams in the state in their respective divisions opened their seasons in an eerily empty gym Tuesday night, thanks to COVID-19.

Junior Skylar Burke scored a game-high 21 points as the Coeur d’Alene Vikings, who advanced to the state 5A tournament last season for the first time since 2014, held off the Timberlake Tigers, last year’s state 3A champions, 51-44 at Viking Court.

Since Gov. Brad Little dropped the state back to Stage 2 in his Idaho Rebounds plan due to rising coronavirus cases, no fans were allowed to attend.

The only noise came from the players on the bench, as well as the junior varsity players who hung around from the previous game.

Other than that, it was only essential personnel.

“I was concerned about the emotion, knowing there wasn’t going to be anyone here, and no parents,” Coeur d’Alene coach Nicole Symons said. “And it’s been a long time since some of these girls have played. Because we didn’t have summer league, and if they didn’t play AAU, it’s been a long time since we’ve had a game.”

Brooke Jessen led Timberlake with 18 points.

“It was kind of a typical first game,” said Timberlake coach Matt Miller, who was one person short from his planned rotation due to lack of practices. “For us, it came down to turnovers; we just turned the ball over too much, and the turnovers would ignite their fast break.

“But, … we battled. We rotated in seven kids, and that was kinda hard against their speed and depth. It would have been nice to have one more body.”

Coeur d’Alene led 30-29 at halftime, and held Timberlake to one basket over the first nine minutes of the second half and inched out to a 40-32 lead.

“We just came out flat, no energy, no communication,” Miller said of the third quarter. “Gave up a couple easy ones. Really the whole third quarter was just horrible basketball on both sides; it was really sloppy. The third quarter looked like the first quarter should have, being the first game of the season.”

McKennah Kronenberg, who finished with 11 points, hit back-to-back 3-pointers to pull Timberlake within 40-38. Olivia Hammond hit a 3 to bring the Tigers within 42-41, but Burke answered with a 3, and Burke and Emma Whiteman had key steals down the stretch to help seal the win.

“We stopped fouling, for one,” Symons said of the third-quarter defensive surge. “We want to play aggressive defense, but balance the hands. We like to play really fast, but fast doesn’t have to be out of control, and we’re always trying to balance that at the beginning of the season.”

Madi Symons added 12 points for Coeur d’Alene, which returns to action Dec. 1 at home vs. Post Falls.

Timberlake plays host to Sandpoint on Thursday.

Timberlake 13 16 2 13 — 44

Coeur d’Alene 14 16 7 14 — 51

TIMBERLAKE — Soumas 4, Hammond 4, Kronenberg 11, Wall 0, Carhart 2, Jessen 18, Bain 5.

COEUR d’ALENE — Matheson 0, Brainard-Adams 0, Whiteman 7, Symons 12, Johnson 2, Younker 7, Chavez 2, Froehlich 0, Phenicie 0, Burke 21.

Post Falls 35

Sandpoint 32

SANDPOINT — Dylan Lovett had 11 points, five rebounds and three assists for the Trojans, who held off the Bulldogs in the Inland Empire League opener for both at Les Rogers Court.

“We can do better,” Post Falls coach Marc Allert said. “It was a first game, and we’ve got a lot of young kids. It was the first varsity game that some of them have been in. They played with a little bit of jitters. We want to play fast, but they were playing too fast. Physically, we were playing at the right speed, but mentally, we weren’t playing at the right speed. They saw the play, but it was too late, or they’d try to force it and think it was there, and it wasn’t there. We just need to get better, and we will.”

Capri Sims had eight points and seven rebounds and Hanna Christensen eight points for Post Falls, which travels to Lakeland on Thursday.

Daylee Driggs scored eight points for Sandpoint, which travels to Timberlake on Thursday.

PostFalls 4 18 9 4 — 35

Sandpoint 8 10 7 7 — 32

POST FALLS — McLean 4, Nichols 4, Lovett 11, Grant 0, Buckley 0, Crane 0, Magnuson 0, Walton 0, Blake 0, Sims 8, Christensen 8.

SANDPOINT — K. Cessna 5, Driggs 8, Reinink 2, Lyons 2, Tomco 0, R. Cessna 3, Phillips 0, Banks 3, Platte 5, Banks 4.

Lakeside 45

St. Maries 31

ST. MARIES — Ashlee Holt hit three 3-pointers early in the fourth quarter to stretch a two-point lead to double digits, leading the 1A Division I Knights past the 2A Lumberjacks.

“That kind of took the wind out of our sails a little bit,” said St. Maries coach Gary Krumheuer, whose team finished 10 of 47 shooting. “We did not shoot the ball very well tonight.”

Ashlee Holt scored 13 points — all in the fourth quarter — and Jolissa Holt scored 12 points for Lakeside (1-0), which is scheduled to host Bonners Ferry on Saturday.

“It was a good first game for us,” Lakeside coach Chris Dohrman said. “We didn’t play our best, but we did enough to get a win. Ashlee and Jolissa both had a good game. We were missing a few kids that were quarantined at the last minute, but you’ve got to do what you have to do and the kids really stepped up.”

Macie Rimel scored 11 points for St. Maries (0-2), which is scheduled to travel to Bonners Ferry on Friday.

Lakeside 5 14 7 19 — 45

St. Maries 5 9 9 8 — 31

LAKESIDE — A. Holt 13, Havier-Gorr 0, J. Holt 12, Twoteeth 2, Wineclaw 0, Rivera 5, Allen 2, Lowley 0, Peters 10, Marchand 3.

ST. MARIES — Sines 0, Janssen 2, Badgett 5, McGreal 2, Christensen 5, Rimel 11, Chapel 0, Watkins 0, Mitchell 4, Miller 0, Hammond 2.

Wallace 46

Priest River 31

WALLACE — Chloe Cielke scored 15 points to lead the Miners past the Spartans in the season opener for both programs at Kirby Krulitz Court.

Makia Fitzmorris scored 13 points for Priest River.

The teams will play again on Friday in the opening game of the Silver Valley Tournament at Kellogg High starting at 4:30 p.m.

Priest River 7 9 8 7 — 31

Wallace 11 7 14 14 — 46

PRIEST RIVER — Rantala 0, Freitas 8, Pound 2, Burgess-Dia 0, Fitzmorris 13, Palfrey 5, Barton 0, Shockey 3.

WALLACE — Garitone 0, Cielke 15, House 13, Burmeister 10, Gibson 0, Hemphill 2, Bergem 6.