PREP BOYS BASKETBALL: Lakeside races back to state for third time in four years

COEUR d’ALENE — Lakeside senior guard Vander Brown is used to going to state, playing on a state little team as a freshman and a third-place team the following year.

So he didn’t take too kindly to the Knights not making it to state last year, when they were bumped off in a state play-in game.

“I put in so much work this summer than any summer ever,” said Brown, who scored 18 points as top-seeded Lakeside ran past second seeded Genesis Prep 76-43 in the championship game of the 1A Division I District 1 tournament on Thursday night at North Idaho College’s Rolly Williams Court. “The last offseason, I just worked my tail off, and I also encouraged a lot of my guys to get in the gym with me during the offseason. We had a newer team coming into the season, a younger team, but we worked hard in the offseason and put it together.”

Lakeside (15-3) advances to state next week at Vallivue High in Caldwell. If Grace beats Rimrock in a state play-in game Saturday, Lakeside will be the third seed. If Grace loses, the Knights will move up to the second seed.

Junior Liam Hendrickx added 15 points for Lakeside, which won its fourth straight district title. Freshman Tyson Charley scored 14 points, junior Brutis SiJohn 12 for the Knights, who jumped out to a 36-19 halftime lead.

“This year, we really wanted to go this year,” Lakeside coach James Twoteeth said. “It’s Vander’s senior year, so he’s really wanting to do something this year.”

Senior Joey Specht led Genesis Prep (10-11) with 12 points.

“That’s a great team,” Genesis Prep coach Lon Morast said of Lakeside. “I thought we had a pretty good game plan for them, just their quickness and ability to run the floor and turn us over was certainly the difference there. We were trying to limit their transition, and limit our turnovers, and sometimes that’s easier said than done.”

Genesis Prep 10 9 13 11 — 43

Lakeside 20 16 18 22 — 76

GENESIS PREP — Schultz 0, Farrell 6, Martin 2, Daniels 7, Russworm 8, Bateman 0, Earley 0, Rubert 8, Nichols 0, Tosh 0, Yasmenko 0, Specht 12, Wood 0.

LAKESIDE — Brown 18, SiJohn 12, Callahan 7, Rivera 5, Hall 5, Hendrickx 15, Spotted Horse 0, Charley 14, Peone 0.

Bonners Ferry 82

Timberlake 44

BONNERS FERRY — Sophomore Asher Williams scored 16 points for Bonners Ferry, which advanced to the state tournament with an 82-44 win over the Timberlake Tigers in Game 2 of a 3A District best-of-3 championship series on Thursday at Bonners Ferry High.

Bonners Ferry (21-1) will be the top seed in the state tournament starting Thursday at Meridian High.

“We decided tonight to put on full court pressure, hoping they’d be tired by the fourth quarter,” Bonners Ferry coach Nathan Williams said. “Four years ago, we took fourth in a district of four teams. This group of kids have been putting the work in since third grade. The success of the program has been due to the sacrifice of these families driving down to Kootenai County in blizzards to play doubleheaders.”

Senior Braeden Blackmore scored 11 points for Bonners Ferry.

Sophomore Haidyn Jonas scored 11 points for Timberlake, which finished 8-14.

Timberlake 15 10 11 8 — 44

Bonners Ferry 22 25 22 13 — 82

TIMBERLAKE — Olivieri 0, McLuskie 3, Yetter 4, Vallieres 6, Meidinger 0, H. Higgins 2, V. Higgins 5, MacArthur 4, Jonas 11.

BONNERS FERRY — R. Williams 8, E. Blackmore 6, Rice 2, Henslee 8, Petesch 6, A. Williams 16, Th. Bateman 5, Hammons 4, Tr. Bateman 9, Schulte 2, Smith 5, B. Blackmore 11.

Kellogg 49

Priest River 35

KELLOGG — Senior Riply Luna had 20 points and six rebounds for the Wildcats in a win over the Spartans in the 2A District 1-2 second-place game at Andrews Gymnasium.

“It’s always tough coming off the district championship loss,” Kellogg coach Mike Martin said. “We came out a little sluggish and finally got some shots to go down and stretch out the lead after halftime.”

Senior Kolby Luna scored 13 for Kellogg (17-7), which faces New Plymouth (19-6) in a state play-in game on Saturday at Grangeville High.

Tyler Engelson scored 13 points for Priest River, which finished 9-14.

Priest River 7 13 5 10 — 35

Kellogg 9 16 19 5 — 49

PRIEST RIVER — Mathews 0, Butler 7, Marinello 3, T. Engelson 13, Korff 2, Z. Engelson 2, Yount 8.

KELLOGG — Miller 7, Whatcott 0, R. Luna 20, K. Luna 13, McLean 3, Maciosek 0, O’Neill 2, Hendrix 3, Taylor 1.

Clark Fork 70

Mullan 43

COEUR d’ALENE — Junior Chase Sanroman scored 28 points to lead the Wampus Cats past the Tigers in the championship game of the 1A Division II District 1 tournament at North Idaho College, advancing to state for the second time since 2021.

Junior Ethan Howard scored 12 points for Clark Fork (13-8), which lost in a play-in game in 2022. The Wampus Cats open at state next Thursday at Caldwell High.

“Clark Fork hit some key shots in the second and third quarter to really open up the game,” Mullan coach Paul Elston said. “Our kids played really hard and I was proud of their effort.”

Senior Floyd Nelson scored 15 for Mullan, which finished 7-11.

Mullan 13 7 10 13 — 43

Clark Fork 16 17 20 17 — 70

MULLAN — Nelson 15, Trogden 7, A. Zingler 6, T. Zingler 9, S. Petit 2, Rupp Connors 0, L. Petit 0, Appiah 4, Imes 0, Knoll 0, Ayers 0.

CLARK FORK — Ch. Sanroman 28, Co. Sanroman 6, E. Howard 12, Bailey 3, Caven 7, Mintken 0, O. Howard 0, Christofferson 0, Holderman 0, Stevens 0, Matteson 0.