PREP BOYS BASKETBALL: 21-0 run propels Lake City past Lewiston

By MARK NELKE

Sports editor

COEUR d’ALENE — Eager to get the jump on their league foe, the Lake City Timberwolves missed their first seven shots Thursday night against the Lewiston Bengals.

However, that was hardly a precursor to what happened next.

Lewiston scored the game’s first basket two minutes in, but Lake City answered with a 21-0 run that stretched into early in the second quarter.

That burst gave the Timberwolves enough of a cushion to ward off repeated Lewiston runs, and Lake City, ranked No. 1 in 5A, ended up finishing off the fourth-ranked Bengals 67-56 in Inland Empire League play.

“We can play like that; we should play like that all the time,” said Lake City junior Zach Johnson, who finished with nine points, 12 rebounds, three assists, two steals and a blocked shot. “We kind of let down a little bit. We just have to figure out as the season goes on, to play like that all the time.”

Blake Buchanan had 16 points and seven rebounds for Lake City (13-0, 2-0 IEL), and Kolton Mitchell added 14 points.

Lake City led 26-6 midway through the second quarter, before Lewiston (11-2, 1-1), which went eight minutes between baskets in the first half, charged back to within 31-24 at halftime.

The Bengals pulled to within three points twice in the third quarter, the final time at 42-39 on a 3-pointer by Aiden Hottinger. But the Timberwolves answered with a 10-0 run to regain control.

“We obviously came out of the gate awfully well,” Lake City coach Jim Winger said. “And then the kids let down. I thought our defense at the beginning was really good, and then I thought we finished the half cemented to the floor; we weren’t getting after it. I thought our perimeter defense was a little shaky tonight. The part I did like is, a lot of times when you let down, you find yourself in a big mess, and I thought we responded and made a decent run.

“I think it’ll be a good learning lesson for us — that it’s got to be four quarters.

Chanse Eke and Braydon Forsman each hit three 3s for Lewiston, and each finished with 16 points. The Bengals played a box-and-one on Mitchell, with Jace McKartcher doing the chasing.

“For a loss, I am dang proud of these kids,” Lewiston coach Jayson Ulrich said. “You put up a 2-spot (in the first quarter) against Lake City, which has all these new faces and a well-put-together team, most teams would fold. And our kids didn’t; they battled their butts off. Lake City’s good, but we didn’t back down.

Ulrich said he went to the box-and-one because “We didn’t want Mitchell to get going right out of the gate … we don’t want them to be comfortable. And that kept us in it.”

Perhaps Johnson’s biggest shot came when Lewiston pulled within 37-34 on a 3 by Eke. The next time down, Johnson buried a 3 of his own from the left wing.

“It was open,” Johnson said. “We all trust each other to shoot it when you’re open, take a good shot. Sometimes it doesn’t fall; sometimes we’re shooting lights-out, we just know to make the right play.”

Junior Deacon Kiesbuy hit three 3-pointers, all in the first half, and finished with nine points off the bench for Lake City.

Another reserve, freshman Cason Miller, hit a driving layin to finish off a 6-0 run to end the third quarter, then hit a baseline 3 early in the fourth to hike Lake City’s lead back up to 13.

“I was pleased with the bench guys,” Winger said.

Lake City travels to Post Falls on Tuesday.

Lewiston 2 22 15 17 — 56

Lake City 14 17 17 19 — 67

LEWISTON — Eke 16, McKarcher 6, Way 4, Hepburn 0, A. Hottinger 6, Forsman 16, White 8, D. Hottinger 0.

LAKE CITY — Buchanan 16, Strawn 2, Jones 4, Miller 5, Kiesbuy 9, Hocking 8, Johnson 9, Mitchell 14.

Kootenai at Genesis Prep, both 7 p.m.;

Kellogg JV 54

Mullan 43

MULLAN — Tom O’Neill had 16 points and eight rebounds for the Wildcats JV in a win over the Tigers at the Mullan Pavilion.

Luke Trogden had 13 points, seven rebounds, five steals and one block for Mullan (1-6).

“We really kind of controlled the glass tonight,” Kellogg JV coach Josh McDonald said. “Trogden’s a load and I’m throwing freshmen at him, but our guys did a good job to limit him to 13 points. (Mullan coach) Paul (Elston) does a good job with those guys and has them ready to play each night.”

Alex Trogden had seven points, seven rebounds and three steals for Mullan (1-6), which hosts the Post Falls C team on Tuesday.

Blake Coburn had 12 points and three assists for the Kellogg JV (3-5), which plays host to Lakeland on Tuesday.

Kellogg JV 15 10 17 12 — 54

Mullan 4 18 10 11 — 43

KELLOGG JV — Robinson 13 (Brodie), Bush 3, Coburn 12 (Blake), Towne 0, Blalack 4, O’Neill 16 (Tom), Knight 5, Baker 1.

MULLAN — L. Trogden 13, L. Petit 0, S. Petit 1, Zingler 12 (Austin), Nelson 9, Rupp-Connors 0, T. Zingler 1, A. Trogden 7.

North Idaho Christian at Kootenai Thunder, 8.