PREP BOYS BASKETBALL: Vikings clamp down in final three quarters, ease away from Lake City ... Rupp scores 19 points, Coeur d'Alene limits Timberwolves to 23 points after first quarter

COEUR d’ALENE — Coeur d’Alene junior Carter Rupp loves to compete.

Offensively and defensively.

On Monday, the Vikings had it going on both ends of the court.

Rupp scored a game-high 19 points, 11 in the second half as the Vikings buckled down defensively after the first quarter to beat the Lake City Timberwolves 68-43 in an Inland Empire League game at Viking Court.

“I was just moving around trying to get my teammates open and trying to get some open shots,” Rupp said. “I was just trying to find the open guys. These are some of my favorite games of the year, and I really get excited for sure. Just league games in general, the games are so competitive in general. I just love it.”

“He's in such constant motion,” Coeur d’Alene coach Jon Adams said. “He can score from outside, and is one of the top shooters in the state. If you can wear a team down, and be deliberate about it, that we didn’t want to go down and bust our butts on defense for 25 seconds to shoot in 7 seconds on the other end and not make them work defensively. And at some point, Carter just starts wearing you down. He’s always looking for a shot, and we give him a green light most of the time. At some point, teams get tired and Carter keeps shooting, and he knocked them down tonight.”

Coeur d’Alene (14-3, 5-0 IEL) beat Lake City (9-7, 1-3) 64-49 in the Fight for the Fish spirit game on Jan. 12 at Lake City High.

Freshman Jordan Carlson scored seven of his nine points in the first quarter for Lake City, which was tied with Coeur d’Alene 20-20 at the end of the quarter. Coeur d’Alene held Lake City to 23 points in the final three quarters.

“That team (Lake City), on any given night, they can beat anybody,” Adams said. “They put 20 points up on us in the first quarter and hit five 3-pointers. We were shooting well too, but we weren’t playing the suffocating defense that we wanted to play.”

“Coach AB (assistant coach Arnold Brown) said they don’t get more than 20 points in a quarter,” Coeur d’Alene junior Kai Wheeler said. “Our goal was to hold them below that in the second half, and we just brought the intensity.”

Junior Reese Strawn scored 17 points for Lake City, which was held to five points in the third quarter.

“We sent Logan Orchard on their best player (Reese Strawn) and Gunner (Larson) as well,” Adams said. “But Reese is such a phenomenal player, and they just wore him down a little. And Kai Wheeler inside getting 19 rebounds was just amazing.”

Since beating Moses Lake in a nonleague game on Jan. 5, Coeur d’Alene has also beaten Post Falls (59-30) and Lewiston (52-40) at home in IEL play.

“The last three games, and they’re all league games,” Adams said. “I’ve been wondering when we’re going to find our identity. We were scoring at a high pace through the first part of the season, which is great, but there’s going to be nights where teams are going to scout you and know how to cover some things. I told the guys they’re going to have to win some games defensively, and I’ve been super proud of the guys the last three games with the defensive effort. And we played three great quarters and locked in on all their guys.”

Lake City returns to action Jan. 29 at home vs. Post Falls. Coeur d’Alene travels to Post Falls on Thursday.

“I’m really pleased with how we approached the game and our mentality,” Lake City coach James Anderson said. “It was a much better start than the last time, and our physicality in the first half was good. Then we got behind a little bit and had a problem when we get down 5 or 6 points finding great shots, and making shots and getting back in, and it snowballed on us. It’s just something we’ve got to work on.”

Lake City    20    8    5    10    —    43

Coeur d’Alene    20    15    14    19    —    68

LAKE CITY — Parker 0, Winey 0, Strawn 17, Miller 8, Watson 2, Kloos 0, Arrieta 5, Williams 2, Meredith 0, Carlson 9.

COEUR d’ALENE — Larson 7, Orchard 14, Rupp 19, Nipp 3, Entzi 4, Riley 2, Wheeler 16, Murray 0, Booth 0, Symons 3, Zabel 0.

St. Maries JV2 43

Kootenai 34

ST. MARIES — Freshman Jaxson Harold-Moore scored 12 points as the host Lumberjack junior varsity 2 team avenged a loss 11 days earlier to the Warriors varsity.

Blane Kucirek added 10 points for the St. Maries JV2 team.

Chris Moore scored 14 points, Logan Strobel 11 for Kootenai (1-5).

“My team was frustrated with a 2-3 zone, and facing a full-court press for the first time shook them up a little bit,” Kootenai coach Tom Tucker said. “We were close all game with a ton of hustle, but couldn’t find the breaks we were looking for.”

Kootenai travels to Mullan on Thursday.

Kootenai    5    7    12    10    —    34

St. Maries JV2        8    8    10    17    —    43

KOOTENAI — Addington 2, Braz 0, Strobel 11, C. More 14, Hodges 9, Unger 0.

ST. MARIES JV2 — Transue 0, Baker 2, Pugh 6, Jensen 0, Blackwell 0, Wise 1, Dickison 3, Harold-Moore 12, Riberich 9, Cloos 0, Kucirek 10.

    JASON DUCHOW PHOTOGRAPHY Coeur d'Alene senior guard Logan Orchard puts up a short over Lake City freshman forward Jordan Carlson during the second half of Monday's Inland Empire League game at Viking Court.