Lake City 'dialed' in — Mitchell scores school-record 39 as Timberwolves whip defending state 5A champion Owyhee

By MARK NELKE

Sports editor

COEUR d’ALENE — Kolton Mitchell could not be stopped, and his Lake City teammates were not going to be denied either.

In the matchup Idaho high school basketball fans have been clamoring to see since last season, Mitchell dazzled with a school-record 39 points and Lake City notched a convincing 80-60 win over defending state 5A champion Owyhee of Meridian on Saturday night at North Idaho College’s Rolly Williams Court.

“It meant a lot, because we wanted to play them last year,” said Mitchell, who has signed with Idaho State. “They’re the number one team in the state, so we wanted to come out and work hard … we did well, but this is only our third game of the season, so it doesn’t really mean a whole lot. Obviously our end goal is to win a state championship, and we didn’t do that tonight; we do that in March. So, it’s just another game for us.”

Lake City and Owyhee were on a path to meet in the state title game last March, but Lake City was upset in the first round at state.

Saturday’s matchup, part of the inaugural Northwest Invitational at NIC, was hastily arranged Friday morning, after three of the eight schools (all from western Washington), including Owyhee’s opponent, had to pull out because of the threat of poor travel conditions over Snoqualmie Pass.

So Lake City’s opponent, North Central of Spokane, ended up playing Coeur d’Alene, which was scheduled to play Foss of Tacoma. And Lake City and Owyhee agreed to meet.

“I was just super impressed with our guys,” Lake City coach Jim Winger. “When we get in a little bit of trouble, it’s because we get a little too amped up, like we did in the first quarter and a half of the Union game. Sometimes they care too much. To borrow an old Donny Haynes line, ‘Be intense but be relaxed.’ I thought our guys played awesome; what else can you say. That’s a really, really good team, and I thought we played really well.”

Lapwai, which has won 39 straight games, had its game with Lynden (Wash.) canceled due to the weather.

Organizers scrambled to put together two games, instead of the original four.

“Big shoutout to Dominque (Brooks; of Brooks Scouting Report) — we couldn’t have done it without him,” NIC men’s basketball coach Corey Symons said.

In the first game Saturday, Coeur d’Alene, playing four rotational players, routed North Central 79-51.

“It’s fun to play on a neutral court like this, in a different environment,” Coeur d’Alene coach Jon Adams said. “We knew we were coming in a little shorthanded. Seventy-two hours ago we were playing Foss, so we had to scramble and learn about North Central. Fortunately we had seen them in the summer; long, athletes at every position. But … we’ve got some depth; we’re trying to force turnovers. Our bigs, in particular, have been really playing well. And forced them into a lot of turnovers, which has kind of been our DNA.

Lake City 80, Owyhee 60: Mitchell, on a combination of drives and 3-pointers — several of the step-back variety — hiit 14 of 24 from the field, including six 3-pointers for the Timberwolves (3-0).

“He’s a competitor; he’s a winner, and it doesn’t surprise me, but that was a heckuva game by a kid that was pretty harassed the whole game,” Winger said. “It wasn’t like they didn’t know who he was. It’s a pretty remarkable effort.”

Mitchell, Lake City’s all-time leading scorer, hit a pair of 3s early to get Lake City started, and finished the half with four 3s and 19 points.

“He played great,” Owyhee coach Andy Harrington said of Mitchell. “He hit some really tough shots. He’s a great player, which we knew going in, but he made some plays that I was very impressed with. Nothing but credit to him.”

Blake Buchanan, the Virginia signee, had 14 points and 10 rebounds for Lake City. Nathan Hocking, who has signed with NAIA Ottawa University in Prescott, Ariz., added 11 points.

Junior Liam Campbell of Owyhee (1-1), who has roughly a dozen Division I offers, mostly from Pac-12, WCC and Mountain West schools, scored 29 points.

Hocking’s 3 midway through the first quarter boosted Lake City’s lead to 15-8, and the T-Wolves weathered the storm — and the Storm — with Mitchell on the bench the final 3 minutes of the quarter with two fouls.

“Well, he can’t do that,” Winger said. “We were not very happy with him, doing that. That’s one way we can get hurt, with Kolton on the bench. We just decided in the second quarter, he’s got to learn to play with two, and I think we made the right decision.”

“I’ve got to be smarter, especially early because I can’t come out,” Mitchell said. “But it’s also good for me to play with two fouls in the second quarter, just get more experience with not fouling.”

Lake City led 35-27 at halftime. Mitchell had 11 of his points in the third quarter as the T-Wolves stretched their lead, and Deacon Kiesbuy’s 3 with 8 seconds left in the third quarter boosted Lake City’s lead to 59-41.

The T-Wolves led by as much as 21 in the fourth.

“I think Lake City outplayed us from start to finish,” Harrington said. “They played very crisp basketball; they looked like the mature team that they are. I know that they were looking forward to that game, and they executed, and they kicked our butt. Credit to them.

“You could tell that they were dialed,” Harrington added. “I’ve seen them on film, kinda messing around, but tonight it was all business, you could tell. Credit to them for their program, and how bad they wanted that game.”

Owyhee sophomore Jackson Rasmussen, who like Campbell already has an offer from Washington State, added 14 points.

Lake City plays Kamiak on Thursday in the first round of the Curtis Winter Classic in University Place, Wash.

Lake City 21 14 24 21 — 80

Owyhee 14 13 14 19 — 60

LAKE CITY — Buchanan 14, Strawn 7, Hill 0, Watson 0, Miller 2, Kiesbuy 3, Johnson 4, Mitchell 39, Snow 0, Hocking 11.

OWYHEE — Downie 7, White 0, Sherburne 2, Daskewitz 0, Fernandez 0, Rasmussen 14, Allen, 4, Rogers 2, Bailey 0, Sasser-Gunson 5, Campbell 29.

Coeur d’Alene 79, North Central 51: Senior Alexander Nipp scored 19 points and sophomore Carter Rupp added 17 as the Vikings (3-1) eased away in the final three quarters with a mixture of pressure defense, ball movement and inside muscle.

“It sucks, losing those four guys, but we worked hard,” Rupp said. “We just worked harder than them, and were more aggressive.”

Gunner Larson added 11 points as nine players scored for the Vikings, who were missing starting point guard Steven Burgess. Logan Orchard had eight points and eight rebounds, and Nipp (nine rebounds) and Sam Entzi (six boards) controlled the inside.

Adams praised the play of Nipp, as well as freshman Caden Symons, who got his first varsity start, hit a 3 and added seven points.

Elijah Williams hit three 3s and finished with 18 points and nine rebounds for North Central (2-3). Gelonni Ervin added 17 points for the Wolfpack.

Coeur d’Alene returns to action Friday at Central Valley.

North Central 15 8 8 20 — 51

Coeur d’Alene 16 15 26 22 — 79

NORTH CENTRAL — Williams 18, Roubideaux 0, Bradick 0, Workman 0, Pratt 2, Sorweide 3, Stamps 8, G. Ervin 17, J. Ervin 2, Wynne 0, Rios-Mance 0.

COEUR d’ALENE — Larson 11, Orchard 8, Cherny 4, Wheeler 4, Smith 3, Nipp 19, Entzi 3, Rupp 17, McGraw 8, Symons 7, K. Wheeler 0.