PREP BOYS BASKETBALL: Young Lake City wins in opener

SPOKANE VALLEY — Coming off a senior-laden, undefeated state championship season last year, the Lake City Timberwolves are a mostly new squad this year.

But one of the holdovers, junior guard Reese Strawn, lifted the Timberwolves to a season-opening victory Friday night.

Strawn, in his third year on the varsity, scored 13 of his game-high 26 points in the fourth quarter, including the go-ahead basket with a half-minute left as the Timberwolves beat the University Titans 63-57.

“He struggled early, but in the fourth quarter he wasn’t going to let us lose,” said first-year Lake City coach James Anderson, who coached the T-Wolf girls the past six seasons.

Strawn finished with seven 3-pointers, and also had three steals. Freshman Jordan Carlson added 15 points, and his high ball screen freed Strawn for the go-ahead 3, which snapped a 57-all tie.

“Real strong from the get-go,” Anderson said of Carlson. “He stepped up like he’d been there before.”

Braydn Arrieta hit three 3s and added nine points for Lake City. Shane Parker had eight boards, Josh Watson six.

Shane Skidmore, a 6-8 senior, scored 12 of his 16 points in the fourth quarter for University, also in its season opener. 

“He took away everything at the rim, so we had to find other ways to score,” Anderson said. “I was impressed with the poise and confidence we played with. For a team that hadn’t played much together, that was impressive.”

Lake City returns to action Thursday at Sandpoint.

Lake City    16    8    23    15    —    63

University    17    12    12    14    —    57

LAKE CITY — Parker 5, Strawn 26, Miller 5, Watson 0, Kloos 0, Arrieta 9, Williams 3, Carlson 15.

UNIVERSITY — Johnson 4, Del Mese 6, Wolfe 14, Korneichuk 7, Heimbigner 10, C. Wolcott 0, Lipke 0, Skidmore 16.

Baker (Ore.) 53

Post Falls 51

NAMPA — Post Falls fell way behind, caught up and went ahead, then fell on a basket in the closing seconds in the semifinals of the Capital Classic at Northwest Nazarene University.

“We didn't make enough winning plays down the stretch to overcome what Baker was doing to us,” Post Falls coach Mike McLean said. “They were trying to take away what we like to do with their athleticism and physicality. And we made it too hard on ourselves early.”

Sophomore Connor Carver scored 11 of his game-high 21 points in the second quarter for Post Falls (2-1), which trailed 19-7 after one quarter, then scored 23 second-quarter points to trail 31-30 at halftime.

The lead went back and forth in the second half, and a putback by Rasean Jones with five seconds left gave the team from Baker City, Ore., the win.

Post Falls committed seven of its 18 turnovers in the first quarter. McLean praised Baker, coached by his teammate at Eastern Oregon, Jebron Jones, saying Baker has a state championship-caliber team. And he also had kudos for his team for battling back. 

“We just ran out of steam a little bit tonight,” McLean said.

Isaiah Jones led Baker with 16 points.

Neil McCarthy added 12 points for Post Falls, which plays Ridgevue of Nampa today at 10:30 a.m. PST in the third-place game.

Post Falls    7    23    8    13    —    51

Baker    19    12    10    12    —    53

POST FALLS — Lysne 1, McLean 3, McCarthy 12, Cameron 0, McKeown 0, Carver 21, Blake 7, Shields 7.

BAKER — Hobson 8, Long 2, R. Jones 6, I. Jones 16, Logsdon 7, Jensen 2.

Lakeland 76

East Valley 39

RATHDRUM — Junior Mason Hensley scored nine of his game-high 21 points in the first quarter as the host Hawks jumped out to a 29-4 lead after one quarter in a victory over the Knights at Hawk Court.

Kenton Ferguson scored eight of his 16 points in the first quarter for Lakeland (2-0), and also had four assists, and Tyler Norce scored eight of his 11 in the opening quarter. Norce and Ferguson each hit two 3-pointers in the first quarter.

“Our guards really game out and set the pace,” Lakeland coach Tony Hanna said. “We came out pressing them, and they struggled with our pressure. We tried to set the tone early.”

Gabe Harris had eight points and eight rebounds for the Hawks, Ben Ryan eight points and seven boards, Garrett Varner five assists.

Payten Kintner-Burkhart scored 10 points for East Valley in its season opener.

Lakeland plays at West Valley tonight at 6.

East Valley    4    19    13    3    —    39

Lakeland    29    18    21    8    —    76

EAST VALLEY — Harry 0, Martin 7, Burkhart 10, Rigby 6, Mertens 3, Lavausser 0, Shevchenko 0, Cloud 4, Nunn 2, Elanvin 7, Layne 0.

LAKELAND — Norce 11, Hensley 21, Ferguson 16, Ryan 8, Tebbe 2, Varner 0, Weil 3, Roth 5, Cook 2, Carrel 0, Harris 8, Yager 0.

North Central 86

Timberlake 47

SPOKANE — Junior Tyler Engelson scored 19 points for the Tigers in a loss to the Wolfpack.

“It was an intense game,” said Timberlake coach Mike LaFountaine, whose team’s tallest player is 6-foot-5 Braden McDougall, compared to 6-11 for North Central. “We played at a level that we haven’t seen before, but played well. We did our best to compete with a good team, and those kids can play. Tyler, Vaughn (Higgins) and Jacob (Yetter) busted their butts, and we’ll get better from playing tough teams like this.”

Cole Meidinger scored seven points for Timberlake (0-2), which travels to West Valley on Tuesday.

Jacori Ervin scored 16 points for North Central in its season opener.

Timberlake    20    8    13    6    —    47

North Central    32    25    19    10    —    86

TIMBERLAKE — Engelson 19, Dykeman 2, Yetter 6, Vallieres 5, Devore 0, Meidinger 7, McDougall 0, Dorman 2, Higgins 6.

NORTH CENTRAL — E. Williams 14, Elliot 7, Jones 12, Campbell 3, Stamps 10, Ju. Ervin 6, Daniels 10, Wright 6, Ja. Ervin 16.

Lakeside 82

Wallace 26

KELLOGG — Tyson Charley led five players in double figures with 22 points for the Knights in a win over the Miners in the Silver Valley Tournament at Andrews Gymnasium.

Brutis SiJohn added 16 points for Lakeside (2-0), which plays in the championship game tonight at 7:30.

“It was a good game for us,” Lakeside coach James Twoteeth said. “We were able to play a lot of guys and get them some experience.”

Julian Davis scored 14 points for Wallace (1-1), which plays in the consolation game tonight at 5:30.

Lakeside    27    16    21    18    —    82

Wallace    6    9    7    4    —    26

LAKESIDE — Peone 7, SiJohn 16, Callahan 10, Hendrickx 13, Nomee 0, Hall 2, Jones 0, Spotted Horse 2, Kee 10, Charley 22.

WALLACE — Davis 14, Guardipee 2, Paul 0, Cleveland 6, Larson 4, Myles 0, Anderson 0, Williams 0, Stutzke 0, Therrian 0, Sabala 0.

Kellogg 65

Coeur du Christ 36

KELLOGG — Sophomore Draeden Taylor scored 10 points for the Wildcats, who advanced to the championship game of the Silver Valley Tournament with a win over the Saints at Andrews Gymnasium.

“Everyone scored for us, and that’s just how we’re going to be built this year,” Kellogg coach Mike Martin said. “Everything is going to be a little more balanced with this group.”

Junior Brodie Robinson and freshman Porter Lewis scored eight points each for Kellogg (1-1), which faces Lakeside in tonight’s championship game at Andrew Gymnasium at 7:30.

“It’s going to be a really good test for us and our group,” Martin said. “It will be good to see if we can match that intensity that they bring.”

Patrick Schlader scored 19 points for Coeur du Christ, which faces Wallace in the consolation game tonight at 6.

Coeur du Christ    7    8    17    4    —    36

Kellogg        15    17    15    18    —    65

COEUR du CHRIST — P. Schlader 19, S. Hayes 2, Connelly 11, G. Hayes 0, Urbina 0, T. Schlader 3, O’Neil 0, Drewser 1. 

KELLOGG — Robinson 8, Whatcott 7, Coburn 8, Taylor 10, Blalack 4, Lewis 8, McDonald 7, Garry 5, Cheney 4, Vindasius 4.

Kootenai at

Genesis Prep, ppd., weather

POST FALLS — The nonleague game was postponed due to slick road conditions near the Fourth of July Pass.

No makeup date was announced.