PREP BASKETBALL: Lumberjack boys, Bulldog girls roll in return to court
• BOYS
SANDPOINT — After a two-week hiatus due to the holiday break, St. Maries didn’t miss a beat defensively, limiting the host Sandpoint Bulldogs to five field goals in the first half on the way to a 57-26 nonleague win at Les Rogers Court on Saturday.
“Our pressure really got to them and limited them in the first half,” St. Maries coach Bryan Chase said. “We didn’t execute very well in the first half offensively and both teams really missed a few open shots after not playing for a while.”
Eli Gibson had 14 points and five steals, Randie Becktel seven points, five rebounds and three steals for St. Maries (5-0). Tristan Gentry had nine of his 11 points in the first quarter for St. Maries, which hosts the Post Falls JV on Wednesday.
“I was pretty proud of how scrappy the kids were tonight,” Chase said. “We had a lot of guys that were doing the little things that you need to do to beat a big school like that.”
Sandpoint (2-3) hosts Moscow on Friday.
St. Maries 16 14 18 9 — 57
Sandpoint 7 5 6 8 — 26
ST. MARIES — Sands 5, Ross 0, Becktel 7, Badgett 0, Gentry 11, Stancil 6, Elliott 0, Wicks 1, Gibson 14, T. Renner 1, C. Renner 10, Hill 2, McMaster 0.
SANDPOINT — Roos 2, Pettit 0, Frank 5, R. Lee 0, Eldridge 2, VanDenBerg 2, Bailey 5, S. Lee 5, Larson 0, Lane 5.
• GIRLS
Sandpoint 63
St. Maries 22
SANDPOINT — It was apparent how excited Sandpoint girls basketball was to be back on the court Saturday.
After going three weeks without seeing another team and a 10-day quarantine, the Bulldogs came out on a mission against the visiting Lumberjacks at Les Rogers Court.
Sandpoint was flying around all night and head coach Will Love said it was fun to watch.
“The girls were definitely ready to go,” he said.
In the opening quarter, Sandpoint played arguably its best basketball all season.
The Bulldogs started a bit slow on offense in the first few minutes, but then kicked it into overdrive. Sandpoint scored 25 points in the first quarter and built a 23-point lead just like that.
Senior Riley Cessna caught fire in the first quarter, knocking down a trio of 3-pointers and scoring 11 points.
It was an offensive onslaught, but just as impressive was the Bulldogs defense. SHS forced 14 turnovers in the first quarter and got after it on every possession.
The Bulldogs were swarming the Lumberjacks like sharks and that effort opened up things offensively.
That dominant first quarter propelled Sandpoint the rest of the way and allowed them to secure the 41-point victory.
In the first half, SHS held the Lumberjacks to just one basket. The Bulldogs have worked on their shooting over the last few weeks in practice and it showed Saturday. They made a season-high nine 3-pointers.
Cessna finished with 19 points and five 3-pointers. Love was really impressed with what he saw from her.
“It was really nice to see especially for a senior like Riley who has worked really hard,” he said. “The other thing is she was putting the ball on the floor too. She wasn’t just making herself a shooter and she was probably playing the best defense that she’s played this year.”
Karlie Banks had 10 points, four steals and three assists while her older sister, Kaylee, tallied 9 points and five assists.
In the fourth quarter, the whole bench rose to their feet when Bella Phillips buried her first career 3-pointer. Coming into this season, the senior post had her sights set on knocking down a couple shots from deep and she put in the time to make it happen.
“We know that Bella can do that and it’s going to provide us some more spacing,” Love said. “I’m really proud of Bella because she’s put up a ton of shots.”
Phillips finished with 7 points and seven rebounds. Sofia Platte, Daylee Driggs and Hattie Larson each scored 6 points. Platte also had six rebounds.
The Lumberjacks finished with 25 turnovers.
Everything was working for Sandpoint against St. Maries and Love believes they can continue to fire on all cylinders if they bring that energy every night .
“Offensively that’s what I knew this team was capable of and hopefully we can save some for Tuesday night,” he said.
Sandpoint (3-4) hosts Bonners Ferry at 7 p.m. Tuesday.
St. Maries (2-6) hosts Lapwai on Tuesday.
St. Maries 2 8 6 6 — 22
Sandpoint 25 15 15 8 — 63
ST. MARIES — Sines 2, Jannsen 0, Badgett 0, McGreal 0, Christensen 0, Rimel 2, Spray 1, Watkins 4, Mitchell 0, Holder 12, Miller 1, Hammond 0.
SANDPOINT — Gammon 0, Driggs 6, Reinink 0, Lyons 0, Tomco 0, Cessna 19, Phillips 7, Kar. Banks 10, Larson 6, Platte 6, Kay. Banks 9.