PREP GIRLS BASKETBALL: Coeur d'Alene passes Post Falls test

COEUR d’ALENE — Finals week is tough enough.

Add in a key Inland Empire League game, against a tough opponent, and it could be enough to throw the best team for a loop.

In the fourth quarter on Thursday, Coeur d’Alene just got tougher.

Junior Teagan Colvin scored six of her team-high 19 points in the fourth for the Vikings, who outscored the visiting Post Falls Trojans 10-2 in the final quarter of a 56-45 win in Inland Empire League play at Viking Court.

Coeur d’Alene led 12-7 after the first quarter, but had Post Falls cut the deficit to 28-24 at halftime. Coeur d’Alene led 46-43 after three, but held the Trojans scoreless until Kailey Walton’s layup with two minutes remaining ended the Vikings' 10-0 run to open the fourth.

“I was just focusing on encouraging our girls because I knew they were tired,” Coeur d’Alene coach Nicole Symons said. “I kind or ruined our momentum trying to switch things up on us a little bit and run some different things offensively. I think mentally, we weren’t ready for it and we couldn’t flip-flop things:”

Coeur d’Alene (17-2, 7-0 IEL) has won seven straight since a 65-55 loss to Mater Dei of Santa Ana, Calif., in the Tarkanian Classic in Las Vegas.

“The girls work hard every single day in practice,” Symons said. “They push each other. We fight each other in practice and try to have an up-tempo pace to our first hour of practice so that we’re working on our legs and stamina. They work hard in that time and this is where it shows, in the fourth when we’re tired and they find another gear. We just had to find something from beneath. They just lead in their own ways, and I’m proud of them.”

Senior Kendall Omlin scored 11 points, senior Madi Symons 10 for Coeur d’Alene, which plays at Lake City on Saturday.

“They’ve got some good players with Colvin and Symons,” Post Falls coach Brian Hall said. “We just talked about trying to shut down their key players, but that Colvin is just all over the place. She’s more than just an offensive player. She plays defense and gets those boards and tonight she got a lot of boards. We kind of kicked ourselves in the rear end with turnovers, but were within three points after the third quarter. We could see the light a little bit.”

Senior Capri Sims, who has signed with Division II Central Washington in Ellensburg, Wash., had a game-high 22 points for Post Falls (17-3, 5-3). The Trojans have lost three straight.

“We knew this was going to be a tough game,” Symons said. “Post Falls is tough. They play super fast. It’s finals week, so our girls, they’re pretty high academic kids so we knew they were going to be physically and mentally tired from that. This game, on this Thursday, it’s always tough for us. Post Falls came out and played hard and we didn’t shoot the ball really well. But I’m super proud of our girls’ effort. We knew when it got kind of tight, we didn’t and just kept working and encouraging each other.”

Sims scored 15 in the third quarter for Post Falls. Brooklyn Brennan added 11 for Post Falls.

“Capri played great tonight,” Symons said. “When she’s playing downhill, she’s tough. But we told our kids, just another eight minutes. It’s good to have a little adversity to work through and be able to control the ball and work through some situations. Those are all good things to work on going into districts.”

Coeur d’Alene beat Post Falls 64-40 on Jan. 20.

“I’m proud of the girls,” Hall said. “They handed us a huge loss the last time and we cut that in half. It’s tough to beat a team three times, and we might see them again at districts. But we’ll be ready for them.”

Post Falls 7 17 19 2 — 45

Coeur d’Alene 12 16 18 10 — 56

POST FALLS — McLean 3, Berg 0, Walton 2, McGowan 0, Brennan 11, Sims 22, Asper 7, Mitley 0, Miller 0.

COEUR d’ALENE — Colvin 19, Mitchell 7, Awbery 5, Omlin 11, Symons 10, Lopez 0, Holecek 2, Legg 0, Carroll 2.

Lake City 87

Freeman 33

COEUR d’ALENE — Junior Avery Waddington scored 18 of her game-high 22 points in the first half, and the host Timberwolves raced out to a 55-17 halftime lead en route to the victory over the Scotties of Rockford, Wash.

Junior Sophia Zufelt hit five 3-pointers, four in the first half, and added 21 points for Lake City (16-3), who reached a season high in points, and topped the 80-point mark for the second time.

Junior Kamryn Pickford made six 3s and had 18 points for the Timberwolves, ranked fourth in 5A in this week’s state media poll. Kursten McKellips scored 10 points for Lake City, which finished with 13 3s.

Natalie Semprimoznik and Taylee Phelps each scored nine points for Freeman (14-4), ranked ninth in class 1A by The Associated Press.

Lake City plays host to Coeur d’Alene on Saturday.

Freeman 5 12 10 6 — 33

Lake City 27 28 17 15 — 87

FREEMAN — Semprimoznik 9, Crowley 2, Phelps 9, Denenny 5, Russell 0, Collett 0, Berglund 0, Goldsmith 8, Boswell 0.

LAKE CITY — Frazey 4, Pickford 18, Bowman 0, Zufelt 21, Waddington 22, McKellips 10, Holzer 5, Reynolds 5, Zimmerman 2.

St. Maries 43

Orofino 41

ST. MARIES — Berkli McGreal hit two fourth-quarter 3-pointers and finished with 20 points, and the Lumberjacks rallied from three points down after three quarters to beat the Maniacs in Central Idaho League play.

Grace Beardin, who has signed with Lewis-Clark State, scored a game-high 26 points for Orofino (5-9, 2-3 CIL), which beat St. Maries 32-24 at home on Jan. 6.

St. Maries (8-8, 2-3) travels to Grangeville on Saturday.

Orofino 16 12 10 3 — 41

St. Maries 11 14 10 8 — 43

OROFINO — McCarthy 0, Deyo 0, Beardin 26, E. Province 4, Hanna 2, Johnson 4, Miller 5.

ST. MARIES — McGreal 20, Sexton 1, Janssen 2, Sindt 7, Mitchell 6, Linnemeyer 4, Watkins 3.

Kellogg 59

Priest River 27

PRIEST RIVER — Macy Jerome scored 18 points and Dani Schillereff had 18 points and 12 rebounds for the Wildcats in a Central Idaho League win over the Spartans.

Dani Hendrickson had seven points, 11 rebounds and five assists, Maddie Cheney eight points and seven blocked shots for Kellogg (7-11, 4-3 CIL), which hosts St. Maries on Tuesday.

Desarai Humphrey scored seven points for Priest River (2-12, 0-3), which plays at St. Maries next Thursday.

Kellogg 18 13 12 15 — 59

Priest River 9 5 10 3 — 27

KELLOGG — Jerome 18, Schillereff 18, Coe 5, Karst 0, Reynoldson 0, A. Groth 0, Hendrickson 7, Cheney 8.

PRIEST RIVER — Marinello 3, Pound 4, Thompson 0, Burgess-Duquette 6, Humphrey 7, McCracken 5, Yount 2.

Lakeside vs. Genesis Prep at The Courts, Post Falls, 7;

Mullan 51

Kootenai 16

MULLAN — Jazzymn Nelson scored 20 points for the Tigers in a North Star League win over the Warriors at the Mullan Pavilion.

Ellie Lowman scored 13 points for Mullan (9-6, 3-1 NSL), which hosts Genesis Prep on Tuesday.

Keira Bohannan scored eight points for Kootenai (0-11, 0-2), which travels to Clark Fork on Tuesday.

Kootenai 0 5 1 10 — 16

Mullan 15 17 17 2 — 51

KOOTENAI — Bohannan 8, Phillips 5, Shilling 0, John 0, Glessner 3, Moore 0, Wilcox 0.

MULLAN — Lowman 13, Nelson 20, Garitone 2, Blankenship 2, Petit 0, Haig 0, Charvez 9, Frazier 5.

Wallace 50

Clark Fork 17

WALLACE — Junior Britany Phillips scored 27 points for the Miners in a nonleague win over the Wampus Cats at Kirby Krulitz Court.

Junior Tia Hendrick scored eight points for Wallace (11-6), which hosts Lakeside on Tuesday.

Eloise Shelton scored nine points for Clark Fork (4-11), which hosts the Sandpoint JV on Saturday.

Clark Fork 6 3 3 5 — 17

Wallace 10 22 14 4 — 50

CLARK FORK — Leadbetter 0, Myers 2, Shelton 9, Reuter 0, Printz-Hay 2, Herrick 0, Scarlett 3, Thompson 0.

WALLACE — Birdsell 0, Berry 4, Lewis 0, K. Phillips 7, Johnson 0, Br. Phillips 27, O. Berry 2, Hasz 2, Hull 0, Be. Phillips 4, Hendrick 8.

N.I. Christian 56

The Oaks 43

LIBERTY LAKE — Jennifer Peterson had 21 points, 13 assists and five steals for the Royals in a win over The Oaks at the HUB Sports Center, clinching a fourth-straight Mountain Christian League title.

Chelsey Cate had 11 points and eight rebounds, Danica Kelly 10 points, seven assists and seven steals and Rylee Overtuf 12 points, eight rebounds and six blocked shots for North Idaho Christian (27-2, 11-0 MCL), which faces the Spokane Athletic Co-op tonight at Spokane Fitness Center.

Annelise Curran scored 23 points for The Oaks (12-4, 9-2).

The Oaks 4 9 17 13 — 43

N.I. Christian 20 15 11 10 — 56

THE OAKS — Bagley 0, Curran 23, Reade 6, Dowers 0, Clancy 0, Love 0, Lejameyer 4, Ott 0, McEachran 2, Palpont 7, Stevens 1.

NORTH IDAHO CHRISTIAN — Peterson 21, Cate 11, Kelly 10, Overturf 12, Pilgrim 0, Sanwald 2.