PREP BASKETBALL: Gibson sparks St. Maries boys to Central Idaho League title
• BOYS
GRANGEVILLE — Eli Gibson scored 11 of his 18 points in the second quarter to spark a sputtering St. Maries offense, and the Lumberjacks clinched their sixth Central Idaho League title in seven years by beating the Grangeville Bulldogs 50-40 on Saturday.
Gibson, a senior, also had six rebounds and three steals for St. Maries (14-0, 3-0 CIL).
“He really got us going in the second quarter when we opened our lead up,” St. Maries coach Bryan Chase said. “His leadership was really big tonight; it was one of those nights where he willed us to a win.”
Colby Renner scored five of his nine points in the fourth quarter for St. Maries. Greyson Sands hit big 3-pointers in the second and third quarters for the Lumberjacks, and Tristan Gentry added six points and six rebounds.
“Grangeville was well-prepared for us, and we had to improvise a little on offense,” Chase said. “Eli did a good job creating some offense for us.”
Sophomore Miles Lefebvre led Grangeville (7-6, 2-2) with 16 points.
This year, rather than playing at a neutral site, the league champ hosts the 2A District 1-2 title game. Grangeville, the No. 2 seed, will host No. 3 Orofino in a loser-out first-round game. The winner will need to beat St. Maries twice to earn the district’s lone berth to state. The Lumberjacks will need only one win to advance.
St. Maries 11 19 7 13 — 50
Grangeville 8 13 5 14 — 40
ST. MARIES — Sands 8, Ross 0, Becktel 0, Gentry 6, Stancil 7, Elliott 0, Gibson 18, Ledbetter 2, Renner 9, McMaster 0.
GRANGEVILLE — D. Lindsley 3, Lefebvre 16, Wimer 4, Schoo 3, Ebert 5, J. Lindsley 5, Frei 4.
Timberlake 66
Wallace 62
SPIRIT LAKE — It was a night where the foul shooting came up key for Timberlake when it mattered most.
Zach Yetter hit two free throws to give the Tigers a 64-62 lead, then Taylor Menti hit a pair of foul shots to ice the game with five seconds remaining in a nonleague win over the Miners at Timberlake High.
“We’ve been on the other side of these close games too many times,” said Timberlake coach Mike Menti, whose team made 10 of 14 free throws on Saturday. “Our free throws really saved us tonight. To get a win, it’s good for the boys and a little boost of confidence. I’m proud of how they worked.”
Ethan Riley scored 24 points, hitting six 3-pointers for Timberlake (4-10), which visits Lakeside on Tuesday.
“Ethan was just consistent,” Mike Menti said. “He hit some clutch shots and brought us back into the game and changed the momentum a couple of times.”
Hayden Hogamier scored 21 points for Wallace (3-10), which hosts Genesis Prep on Thursday.
Wallace 11 15 18 18 — 62
Timberlake 19 8 20 19 — 66
WALLACE — Tesky 15, Farkas 2, Hogamier 21, Bailey 14, Murdock 0, Denson 8, Hull 2, Allison 0.
TIMBERLAKE — Riley 24, Tay. Menti 5, Paslay 2, Yetter 21, Millsap 0, Antone 0, Higgins 12, Tan. Menti 0, Simpson 2, Swenson 0.
Priest River at
Bonners Ferry, ppd.
BONNERS FERRY — No makeup date was announced for the first-place showdown between Priest River (9-4, 2-0 Intermountain League) and Bonners Ferry (7-4, 2-0).
• GIRLS
Sandpoint 48
Moscow 44
SANDPOINT — Senior guard Kaylee Banks knocked down four 3-pointers and finished with a 20 points and had five assists as the host Bulldogs kept their hopes of earning the top seed to regionals alive with the Inland Empire League win over the Bears on senior day at Les Rogers Court.
Kaylee Banks dished out four assists to help SHS carry a commanding 17-4 lead into the second quarter.
Sandpoint led 28-16 at halftime.
Just over a minute into the final quarter, Moscow hit a shot to grab its first lead since early in the opening quarter at 36-35.
Kaylee Banks answerd with a lay-in about 30 seconds later to help SHS retake the lead and then hit back-to-back 3-pointers on high-ball screens to allow the Bulldogs to grab a six-point advantage with just over five minutes left.
"That's an action that we just run to kind of get things going with a high-ball screen," Sandpoint coach Will Love said about Kaylee's back-to-back 3-pointers, "and let her kind of decide and they went under both times and Kaylee read that perfectly and got some big shots."
Moscow went on a 7-0 run to take a 44-43 lead with 2:18 left, but Karlie Banks, a sophomore, buried a 3-pointer with 1:24 left to put SHS up 46-44.
The Bulldogs won despite going 6 of 17 from the free-throw line and getting cold from the field after the first quarter.
Karlie Banks finished with nine points and five rebounds, and Hattie Larson added 11 points, eight rebounds and four steals.
The Bulldogs (8-8, 5-6 IEL) head to Post Falls on Tuesday for their final regular season game. In order to secure the No. 1 seed to the 4A Region 1 tournament, Sandpoint must beat the Trojans and Lakeland has to fall to Lake City on Tuesday as well. If both teams lose, they would finish with the same league and overall record, and Lakeland owns the tiebreaker based on point differential in the teams' head-to-head meetings. Sandpoint won by nine points, then Lakeland won the rematch by 14.
Moscow 4 12 17 11 — 44
Sandpoint 17 11 7 13 — 48
MOSCOW — A. Lassen 11, Heyns 6, Gray 12, Nauman 3, Watson 3, J. Lassen 7, Berg 0, Baker 2, Anderson 0.
SANDPOINT — Gammon 0, Driggs 2, Reinink 0, Lyons 3, Tomco 0, Cessna 3, Phillips 0, Kar. Banks 9, Larson 11, Kay. Banks 20.
Timberlake 47
Lewiston 41
SPIRIT LAKE — After sitting and watching the first 16 minutes, Timberlake senior guard Taryn Soumas got up from the bench and got involved.
Soumas, who sat out Friday’s Intermountain League win at Kellogg with a knee injury, scored 15 points as the Tigers beat the Bengals at Timberlake High.
“She said she was feeling good and probably played the last 14 minutes of the game,” Timberlake coach Matt Miller said. “The MRI came back positive, and they said no tear and it looks good. She did a light workout in the small gym (auxiliary gym) and said she really wanted to go, and she played well.”
Brooke Jessen scored 12 points for Timberlake (16-2), which hosts Kellogg on Tuesday.
Katy Wessels scored 15 points for Lewiston (3-12), which is off until visiting Coeur d’Alene to open the 5A Region 1 tournament on Friday.
Lewiston 12 9 10 10 — 41
Timberlake 12 10 16 9 — 47
LEWISTON — Collins 6, U’Ren 2, Hill 0, Bursch 0, Wessels 15, Barney 10, Ortiz 8, Kessinger 0, McRoberts 0, Taylor 0.
TIMBERLAKE — T. Soumas 15, Hammond 1, Kronenberg 9, C. Soumas 1, Carhart 3, Jessen 12, Bain 0, Jeffs 6.
Lakeside 61
N.I. Christian 55
PLUMMER — After getting a little more familiar with their opponents at halftime, the Knights stormed back in a big way after halftime to down the Knights.
Ashlee Holt made 6 of 11 3-point attempts, four coming in the second half for the Knights, who rallied from a 16-point halftime deficit to get the win at Ron Miller Court.
Grace Gwin scored 20 of her 22 points in the first half for North Idaho Christian (17-6).
“We didn’t do a good job of guarding her early, and she made us pay,” Lakeside coach Chris Dohrman said. “We did a lot better job of guarding her in the second half. We didn’t play that great in the first half. We weren’t hustling to rebounds and were getting beat off the dribble, but the girls did a great job of turning that around in the second half.”
Jolissa Holt had 17 points, 12 rebounds, seven steals and six assists for Lakeside (9-7), which plays at Wallace on Tuesday.
Kianna Nelson scored nine points for North Idaho Christian, which hosts the Lake City JV on Monday.
N.I. Christian 20 20 9 6 — 55
Lakeside 11 13 24 13 — 61
NORTH IDAHO CHRISTIAN — Monaghan 2, Kelly 7, Garn 0, Pilgrim 9, Gwin 22, Daigle 0, Nelson 9, Connelly 0, Gilmar 0, Overturf 6.
LAKESIDE — A. Holt 18, Gorr 11, J. Holt 17, Twoteeth 5, Riviera 0, Lowley 0, Peters 10, Marchand 0.
St. Maries at
Grangeville, ppd.
GRANGEVILLE — The Central Idaho League game was postponed after the Lumberjacks came in close contact with a positive case of COVID-19 from a Priest River player.
No makeup date was announced.
St. Maries' scheduled home game Tuesday vs. Genesis Prep has been rescheduled for next Saturday.