PREP BOYS BASKETBALL: Lakeside pulls away from Genesis Prep, advances to state play-in game

COEUR d’ALENE — Genesis Prep kept it interesting in the first half, but the top-seeded Lakeside Knights looked like the defending state 1A Division I champions in the second half, running away from the third-seeded Jaguars 83-46 in the District 1 championship game Thursday night at North Idaho College’s Rolly Williams Court.

“It’s been tough to keep focus; our schedule’s really weird,” Lakeside coach James Twoteeth said. “We play a really good team, then we’d have two weeks off and we’d come back and have three blowouts. It’s hard to stay focused.

“I had to stop them in practice this week — ‘Quit messing around; we can’t just show up and win.’”

The work is still not done for Lakeside (14-3), as far as getting back to state. This year, the District 1 champion has to go the play-in route, so the Knights will play Riverstone (16-7) of Boise, the third-place finisher from District 3, on Saturday at 3 p.m. at Grangeville.

That winner advances to state beginning next Thursday at Vallivue High in Caldwell.

Sophomore Tyson Charley scored 22 of his game-high 29 points in the second half for Lakeside. Senior Brutis SiJohn added 19 points, senior Blaze Callahan 14 for the Knights.

It was Lakeside’s fifth straight district title. The Knights have won or shared the league title each of the past five years.

Genesis Prep drained four 3-pointers in the second half and trailed just 38-30 at halftime. But Lakeside broke through the Jaguars’ pressure in the second half to the tune of 45 points.

“I was real proud of our kids in the first half for sure,” Genesis Prep coach Lon Morast said. “They worked their tails off; we were trying to wear them out a little bit — press, go and run, trying to get the pace how we wanted it. They came out in the second half and took advantage of our pressure, and got a lot of easy shots out of it. We had nothing to lose. We lost by 58 and 53 the first two times, so being down eight at halftime, we were pretty happy with that; maybe a little too happy.”

Spencer Farrell, Dylan Tosh and Brady Rubert each scored seven points for Genesis Prep, which had no seniors on its roster — the Jaguars had 10 juniors, a freshman and a sophomore.

Genesis Prep    6    24    11    5    —    46

Lakeside    15    23    27    18    —    83

GENESIS PREP — Farrell 7, Nichols 3, Tosh 7, Martin 2, I. Bateman 4, Rubert 7, Meyer 1, S. Bateman 2, Earley 4, Gintz 3, Stewart 0, Blood 6.

LAKESIDE — Peone 0, SiJohn 19, Callahan 14, Hendrickx 5, Nomee 4, Hall 7, Jones 0, Spotted Horse 0, Kee 5, Charley 29.

Bonners Ferry 79

Timberlake 49

BONNERS FERRY — Junior guard Asher Williams scored 20 of his game-high 32 points in the first half for the top-seeded Bonners Ferry Badgers in a win over second-seeded Timberlake to sweep the best-of-3 game 3A District 1 championship series at Bonners Ferry High.

The Badgers clinched a berth to the state 3A tournament starting next Thursday at Meridian High.

Bonners Ferry (19-3), runner-up at state last year, is ranked second in the latest MaxPreps.com rankings, which are used to seed the tournament. Matchups won’t be announced until this weekend.

Junior Thomas Bateman scored 14 points for Bonners Ferry , which won its third straight district title, and will be making its fourth straight trip to state.

"Mike LaFountaine (Timberlake coach) does a great job with his team and Timberlake jumped on us early, hitting some big shots and forcing turnovers," Bonners Ferry coach Nathan Williams said. "I was impressed with our defensive effort in the second half, and how we made the extra pass all night long versus their zone."

Junior Tyler Engelson scored 16 points for Timberlake, which finished 6-16.

Timberlake    19    11    11    6    —    47

Bonners Ferry    19    25    20    15    —    79

TIMBERLAKE — Engleson 16, Dykeman 0, Yetter 11, Vallieres 5, Meidinger 4, McDougall 1, Dorman 2, Higgins 7, Simpson 1.

BONNERS FERRY — Blackmore 7, Rice 4, Smith 5, Hinthorn 2, Williams 32, Th. Bateman 14, Cartwright 0, Tr. Bateman 5, Abubakari 5.

Clark Fork 80

Kootenai 26

COEUR d’ALENE — Owen Howard had 14 points and 12 rebounds for the top-seeded Wampus Cats in a win over the third-seeded Warriors in the 1A Division II District 1 championship game at North Idaho College.

Clark Fork (12-6), which won its fourth straight district title, will face North Gem in a state play-in game on Saturday at Cascade High.

Junior Christopher Moore scored a game-high 21 points for Kootenai (3-15), which on Tuesday won a postseason game for the first time since 2017.

Kootenai    4    7    6    9    —    26

Clark Fork    24    24    20    12    —    80

KOOTENAI — Moore 21, Hodges 3, Strobel 2, Addington 0, Braz 0, Unger 0.

CLARK FORK — O. Howard 14, Ch. Sanroman 12, Montgomery 11, W. Caven 10, Co. Sanroman 9, S. Caven 8, Christofferson 8, Cruz 5, E. Howard 3, Yanik 0, Stevens 0, Holderman 0, Adams 0.

Orofino 53

Grangeville 46

OROFINO — The second-seeded Maniacs (9-12) beat the third-seeded Bulldogs (5-13) in the 2A District 1-2 second-place game, advancing to a state play-in game.

Orofino will face Cole Valley Christian (22-2), the top-ranked team in the latest 2A MaxPreps.com rankings, on Saturday at Cascade High.

    MARK NELKE/Press Genesis Prep junior Isaiah Bateman (13) looks to shoot as senior Liam Hendrickx (11) of Lakeside defends in the 1A Division I District 1 championship game Thursday at North Idaho College.