PREP BASKETBALL: North Idaho Christian girls capture another Mountain Christian League tourney title

GIRLS

SPOKANE VALLEY — Rylee Overturf, the team’s lone senior, totaled 16 points, eight rebounds and three blocked shots as the top-seeded North Idaho Christian Royals pulled away in the fourth quarter to beat second-seeded The Oaks 55-35 in the championship game of the Mountain Christian League tournament Saturday night at The Oaks.

Symone Pilgrim added 10 points, 15 rebounds, nine assists, five steals and two blocked shots for North Idaho Christian School (31-2), which won its fifth straight conference tourney title, after winning the regular season title for the fourth straight year.

Jennifer Peterson had 10 points and seven assists, Chelsey Cate 10 points and 10 boards, and Danica Kelly nine points, six assists and five steals for NICS.

North Idaho Christian’s only two losses this season were to 3A schools, Bonners Ferry and state-bound Timberlake.

“They play so well together,” said Jerry Bittner, who has guided the Royals to 12 MCL tourney titles in his 18 seasons as head coach. “It makes it hard to key on any one player; each starter had at least one game over 20 points. They play so well together, and have a good feel for the game.”

Ammelia Curran scored a game-high 21 points for The Oaks, which pulled to within seven points after three quarters.

The Oaks 13 9 11 2 — 35

N.I. Christian 15 17 8 15 — 55

THE OAKS — Bayley 0, Curran 21, Reade 6, Dowers 0, Clancy 0, Parch 0, Love 3, Ott 0, McEachran 1, Palpart 2, Stevens 2.

NORTH IDAHO CHRISTIAN — Peterson 10, Cate 10, Kelly 9, Overturf 16, S. Pilgrim 10, Salaiz 0, Collins 0, Sanwald 0, Benoit 0.

BOYS

St. Maries 67

Kendrick 45

ST. MARIES — Junior Seth Swallows came off the bench and totaled 13 points and five rebounds, and hit 3 of 5 3-pointers as the Lumberjacks beat the Tigers in nonleague play.

“He gave us good minutes, came in and rebounded well,” St. Maries coach Bryan Chase said.

Greyson Sands added 12 points and five assists for St. Maries (13-5). Tyler Renner had 10 points and eight rebounds.

Jared Badgett and Dillon Holder each had four assists, and St. Maries had eight of its 20 assists in the third quarter in opening up a 56-34 lead.

“We were moving the ball well,” Chase said. “(Jagger) Hewitt is one of the top steal-getters in the league, at the top of their 1-3-1 zone. The kids did a good job handling pressure and making the extra passes.”

Hewitt had 16 points for Kendrick (14-3), which leads the 1A Division II Whitepine League.

St. Maries plays host to Central Idaho League-leading Kellogg on Tuesday. The Wildcats won 56-36 at Kellogg in the first meeting.

Kendrick 12 11 11 11 — 45

St. Maries 15 17 24 11 — 67

KENDRICK — Clemenhagen 1, Hewitt 16, Tweit 13, Cook 0, Taylor 2, Boyer 0, T. Koepp 13.

ST. MARIES — W. Holmes 8, L. Holmes 2, Sands 12, Badgett 0, J. Barta 0, B. Barta 0, Yearout 0, Renner 10, Wicks 5, Sloper 0, Swallows 13, Hill 9.

Bonners Ferry 64

Sandpoint 60

BONNERS FERRY — No other information was available.

The Oaks 82

N.I. Christian 59

SPOKANE VALLEY — Larry Fendich scored 27 points for the Royals, who fell short to The Oaks in the championship game of the Mountain Christian League tournament at The Oaks.

Caiden Smith scored 15 points for North Idaho Christian, which finished 20-12. The Royals had won the previous seven conference tournament championships.

Noah Mattson scored 23 points for The Oaks (25-0).

N.I. Christian 10 21 11 17 — 59

The Oaks 18 24 23 17 — 82

NORTH IDAHO CHRISTIAN — Fendich 27, Hunter 6, Smith 15, Ellis 0, Ca. Malinauskas 5, Winde 0, Scott 0, Antone 3, Sullivan 3.

THE OAKS — C. Harkin 6, J.L. Curran 11, J.M. Curran 0, Shubin 2, Mattson 23, K. Harken 21, Van Horn 0, Christensen 18, Strickler 1.

Spokane Class. Christ. 42

Christian Center 30

SPOKANE VALLEY — Colton Smith had 18 points and eight rebounds for the Lions, who fell to the Knights in the third-place game of the Mountain Christian League tournament at The Oaks.

Cyrus Coppinger had six points and four rebounds for Christian Center, which finished 9-13.

Nate Kuntz scored 13 points for Spokane Classical Christian (11-5).

Christian Center 3 14 8 5 — 30

Spokane Class. Christ. 14 7 13 8 — 42

CHRISTIAN CENTER — Smith 18, Jones 3, Tesky 0, Stark 0, May 1, C. McWhorter 2, Coppinger 6, Marshall 0, Mametieff 0.

SPOKANE CLASSICAL CHRISTIAN — Fowlkes 6, Kuntz 13, Kapelac 0, Hammond 0, Audeyen 2, McGwire 7, Timme 5, Piazza 9.