PREP BOYS BASKETBALL: T-Wolves win tourney with 'D'

MERIDIAN — After an absolute battle for three quarters, Lake City turned to the one thing that had been working all weekend to create the offense it needed late.

Defense.

Kolton Mitchell scored 24 points, Zach Johnson added 22 and Blake Buchanan chipped in 16 points and 16 rebounds for the Tiimberwolves, who raced past the Pocatello Thunder 78-65 in the championship game of the Owyhee Holiday Classic on Saturday afternoon.

Lake City scored 50 points in the second half after trailing 33-28 at halftime.

“Scoring 50 in the second half is a pretty big stat, and a lot of that came from our defense creating offense,” Lake City coach Jim Winger said. “Our team defense in the second half was excellent.”

Lake City beat Timberline 47-38 in a semifinal game on Friday and Burley 61-46 on Thursday to advance.

“We’d played well the first two days,” Winger said. “Tonight, we just shot the ball well and competed. We made a run and just caught fire. We played extremely well, especially in the second half.”

With the score tied at 57 with 4 1/2 minutes left, Lake City went on a 9-0 run. Mitchell started it with two free throws, then Buchanan scored inside. Mitchell hit a 3-pointer and Buchanan scored on a putback for a 66-57 lead with just over 2 minutes left.

Johnson had nine rebounds, Mitchell five rebounds and four assist and Nathan Hocking eight points and eight rebounds for Lake City (6-0), which hosts Shadle Park on Tuesday.

Julian Bowie scored 31 points for Pocatello (5-1).

Lake City 17 11 22 28 — 78

Pocatello 11 22 17 15 — 65

LAKE CITY — Buchanan 16, Strawn 0, Jones 6, Miller 2, Kiesbuy 0, Hocking 8, Johnson 22, Mitchell 24.

POCATELLO — Bowie 31, Hales 5, Christensen 9, Zweigart 0, Evans 0, Payne 10, Jensen 10, Smith 0, Williams 0.

Ambrose 56

St. Maries 40

MERIDIAN — Sometimes, the other guys just get it going.

Saturday was that day for the Lumberjacks.

St. Maries had 19 turnovers and Ambrose hit seven straight 3-pointers in the second half to pull away in the championship game of the small/middle-sized school division of the Owyhee Holiday Classic.

“It was a pretty close game through the third,” St. Maries coach Bryan Chase said. “They went on that run, and we just couldn’t match their firepower at that point.”

Tristan Gentry-Nelson had 14 points and 11 rebounds for St. Maries (5-2), which hosts Genesis Prep on Jan. 5.

Johnny Sugarman scored 22 points for Ambrose (8-0), which lost to the Lumberjacks 51-50 in the state 2A championship game in March at the Ford Idaho Center in Nampa.

“It was a great tournament and we learned a lot from it,” Chase said. “That hot streak was the difference in that game.”

Ambrose 11 9 16 20 — 56

St. Maries 11 8 7 14 — 40

AMBROSE — J. Sugarman 22, E. Sugarman 0, T. Hughes 8, H. Hughes 12, Mattis 5, Kneadler 3, Turley 0, Boeck 6.

ST. MARIES — Gentry-Nelson 14, Sands 2, Badgett 5, Ross 2, Wolfe 2, Elliott 7, T. Renner 0, Wicks 0, C. Renner 6, Hill 2.

Timberline 39

Post Falls 35

MERIDIAN — The Trojans started strong, but the Wolves from Boise outscored them 34-22 over the final three quarters in the third-place game of the Owyhee Holiday Invitational.

“Were just a work in progress,” Post Falls coach Mike McLean said. “Things that we need to compete, with the varsity intensity and execute with varsity precision, we’re having a hard time putting possessions together with precision and execution.”

Cooper Craig scored 11 points, Jack Sciortino 10 for Post Falls (3-4).

Junior Blake Kiesau scored 11 points for Timberline (5-3).

“I was very happy with the way we bounced back (from a semifinal loss),” McLean said. “Pocatello really thumped us yesterday, knocked us back on our heels. This was our most complete game that we played down here. We learned a lot about ourselves on this trip.”

Post Falls returns to action Dec. 28 at Bishop Kelly, the first of three games in three days vs. Boise-area teams.

Timberline 7 11 11 12 — 39

Post Falls 13 7 8 7 — 35

TIMBERLINE — Kiesau 11, Davis 8, Zenner 7, Henstrom 0, Mertes 3, Parker 0, Anderson 4, Gropp 1, Labeau 5.

POST FALLS — Sciortino 10, Naylor 0, Shields 2, McCarthy 0, Summers 0, VonBruck 5, Craig 11, Bowie 2, Blake 2, Butler 3.

Lapwai 76

Coeur d’Alene 68

COEUR d’ALENE — In a battle of unbeaten teams the visiting Wildcats, the defending state 1A Division 1 champions, put four players into double figures in the win over the 5A Vikings at Viking Court.

Junior Terrell Ellenwood-Jones scored a game-high 24 points for Lapwai (5-0), which hit 12 3-pointers.

“They shot the lights out,” Coeur d’Alene coach Jon Adams said. “We schemed to get out on their shooters, but they’re very disciplined and shot fantastic.”

Sophomore Kase Wynott hit four 3s and added 22 points for Lapwai.

Senior Kross Taylor hit three 3s and scored 15. Titus Yearout, who has signed with Idaho, was held to 11, mainly by the defense of Cooper Larson.

Cameren Cope had 23 points and 10 rebounds for Coeur d’Alene (4-1). Larson added 12 points, Steven Burgess 11.

“Cope was a huge presence and played a great game around the basket; his best game so far,” Adams said. “We just didn’t execute; it was a wakeup call. I think we had a false sense of security, being 4-0. They’re a seasoned team, and they had answers for everything.”

Coeur d’Alene plays host to Shadle Park on Wednesday.

Lapwai 13 19 19 25 — 76

Coeur d’Alene 14 17 18 19 — 68

LAPWAI — Ellenwood-Jones 24, Yearout 11, Taylor 15, M. Brown 0, Mitchell 0, Ellenwood 4, Wynott 22.

COEUR d’ALENE — Entzi 4, King 0, C. Larson 12, Wellsandt 0, Nipp 6, Cope 23, Burgess 11, Orchard 9, G. Larson 3.

Priest River d.

Genesis Prep

PRIEST RIVER — Further details from the championship game of the Priest River Spartan Christmas Tournament were not available.

Genesis Prep (5-2) returns to action on Jan. 4 at Timberlake.

N.I. Christian 61

Clark Fork 55

PRIEST RIVER — Morgan O’Brien hit three 3-pointers and had 14 points and 14 rebounds, and Kameron Heston had 14 points and 12 boards as the Royals beat the Wampus Cats in the consolation game at the Spartan Christmas Tournament.

Caden Smith had 13 points and 10 rebounds for North Idaho Christian (9-3), which returns to action Dec. 28 at home vs. Flathead Valley Home School Association at Holy Family Catholic School in Coeur d’Alene.

Sam Barnett hit three 3s and led all scorers with 19 points for Clark Fork. Carter Sanroman added 18 points, six rebounds and four assists for the Wampus Cats.

“We fought hard for three quarters, we just didn’t have the legs down the stretch,” Clark Fork coach Heath Beason said.

Clark Fork (3-6) returns to action Friday, Jan. 7 to host Immaculate Conception Academy.

N.I. Christian 18 10 20 13 — 61

Clark Fork 20 11 13 11 — 55

NORTH IDAHO CHRISTIAN — O’Brien 14, Heston 14, Grassi 0, Adams 2, Dinkins 7, Alliano 0, Desrochers 0, McKee 5, Smith 13, Schlader 6.

CLARK FORK — Ca. Sanroman 18, Barnett 19, Shelton 6, Reuter 0, Howard 5, Mayorga 0, Ch. Sanroman 2, Co. Sanroman 3, Matsutaro 2.