PREP BASKETBALL: Lake City boys shoot it, score win over Moscow

• BOYS

COEUR d’ALENE — After nearly a month on the road, Lake City got back to its friendly confines of home to open Inland Empire League play on Wednesday.

And with the fans — at least some — in the stands, the Timberwolves didn’t disappoint shooting, going 23 of 38 on 2-point field goals on their way to a 65-33 win over the Moscow Bears in the Inland Empire League opener for both.

Lake City — playing its first home game since Dec. 11 against Sandpoint — jumped out to a 42-20 halftime lead.

“It’s been a while since we’ve been home, but had to travel to get some games in,” Lake City coach Jim Winger said. “We played with a lot of energy and took some good shots tonight. These kids really have a lot of enthusiasm on the bench when they play, and you couldn’t pick a better year for that. They fire themselves up and played extremely well tonight.”

Kolton Mitchell had 21 points and five assists, Blake Buchanan — who led the Bears to a runner-up finish in the state 4A tournament as a freshman in 2020 — had 11 points and Zach Johnson 10 points for Lake City (5-5), which shot 4 of 10 from the 3-point line.

“Both Blake and Zach were really tough in the paint tonight, and Kolton’s a tough guard,” Winger said. “It was a rock solid effort tonight. We shot the ball really well and it was our best defensive effort of the year. It was a real quality win.”

Benny Kitchel scored 12 points for Moscow (2-3), which plays at Sandpoint on Friday.

Lake City hosts Sandpoint on Tuesday.

Moscow 11 9 7 6 — 33

Lake City 19 23 16 7 — 65

MOSCOW — Brown 6, Simpson 6, Abendroth 2, Rehder 3, Kees 0, Larson 0, Colter 0, Kitchel 12, Skinner 4.

LAKE CITY — Buchanan 11, Janke 2, Irvin 4, Kiesbuy 5, Johnson 10, Mitchell 21, Meredith 10, Bowman 2, Jones 0.

St Maries 66

Post Falls JV 47

ST. MARIES — In a first half of runs, both the Lumberjacks and Trojans JV had their fair share.

An 8-0 midway through the third quarter by the host Lumberjacks put things away.

Eli Gibson had 16 points and 10 rebounds, Colby Renner 13 points and Coleman Ross 12 points for the Lumberjacks in a win over the Trojans.

“It was a great first half,” said St. Maries coach Bryan Chase, whose team led 28-25 at halftime. “It was real competitive and they kind of caught us off guard. It was a good game and good test for us. We don’t see a team play that kind of style with the run and jump, so it took a half to get used to that.”

Jack Sciortino had eight of his game-high 18 points in the second quarter for the Post Falls JV.

Brett Stancil had six points and four assists for St. Maries (6-0), which travels to Kellogg on Saturday.

Langen Naylor scored 13 points for the Post Falls JV, which plays at Lewiston on Friday.

Post Falls JV 10 15 12 10 — 47

St. Maries 20 8 19 19 — 66

POST FALLS JV — Smith 2, Naylor 13, McCarthy 3, Tebbe 2, Jacobson 3, Bowie 0, Scirotino 18, Butler 2, Cooper 2, Summers 2.

ST. MARIES — Sands 7, Ross 12, Becktel 8, Gentry 2, Stancil 6, Elliott 2, Gibson 16, Renner 13, McMaster 0.

• GIRLS

Lake City 55

Moscow 32

MOSCOW — Brooklyn Rewers had 20 points, 12 rebounds and eight blocked shots for the Timberwolves in an Inland Empire League win over the Bears at Bear Den.

Kendall Pickford had seven points and five assists, Jaya Miller seven points and four steals and Ashlynn Shanley 12 points for Lake City (6-3, 3-1 IEL), which travels to Coeur d’Alene on Friday.

Angela Lassen had eight points for Moscow (0-7, 0-3), which hosts Sandpoint on Friday.

Lake City 14 9 16 16 — 55

Moscow 11 2 8 11 — 32

LAKE CITY — Pickford 7, Miller 7, Bowman 0, Shanley 12, Reynolds 0, Roberts 0, Rewers 20, Jenkins 3, Parks 0, Hawkins 6.

MOSCOW — Knott 0, A. Lassen 8, Heyns 6, Gray 6, Nauman 1, Watson 0, Berg 3, Baker 0, Leituala 4, Anderson 4.

• POSTPONEMENTS

Friday's Inland Empire League boys basketball game between Coeur d'Alene and Lake City at Coeur d'Alene HIgh was postponed due to COVID protocols after a varsity player tested positive within the Viking program.

Saturday's Sandpoint at Coeur d'Alene boys game, as well as Tuesday's game between the Lewiston boys and host Coeur d'Alene were also postponed.

No makeup dates have been announced.