PREP BOYS BASKETBALL: Fourth-seeded Orofino stuns Kellogg for state bid

KELLOGG — The fourth-seeded Orofino Maniacs, winners of a play-in game against Grangeville last week, advanced to the state 3A tournament with a 55-48 win over the third-seeded Kellogg Wildcats in the District 1-2 championship game on Wednesday at Andrews Gymnasium. 

“Orofino sat back in a zone, and to their credit, they did it well,” Kellogg coach Mike Martin said. “They trapped certain guys and we didn’t work for good enough shots tonight and settled for playing catch. We weren’t aggressive enough against their zone early, and that set the tone for the night. Hats off to them.” 

Orofino (9-13) opens at state next Thursday at Capital High in Boise. 

Sophomore Ty Cheney scored 14 points and Radley McDonald 13 points for Kellogg (12-10), which faces St. Maries in the second-place game, with that winner advancing to a play-in game against Marsing on Saturday at 3 p.m. at Prairie High in Cottonwood. 

McDonald and Cheney were a combined 12 of 15 shooting. 

“They were super-efficient,” Martin said. “Those two did a good job of keeping us around and gave us a chance to get back into it.” 

Sophomore Blake Barlow scored 17 points for Orofino. 

“Barlow shot it well and they did a good job of executing their stuff,” Martin said. “We prepped to take them out of their stuff and they were patient with the ball and did a good job of finding the guys they needed to find.” 

Orofino    11    15    16    13    —    55 

Kellogg    4    15    8    21    —    48 

OROFINO — Runia 8, Bonner 9, Schneider 8, Burnette 0, Connolly 4, Barlow 19, Olive, Naranjo 2. 

KELLOGG — Robinson 5, McDonald 13, Taylor 9, Lewis 0, Honnerlaw 3, Cheney 14, Vindasius 4, Baker 0. 

St. Maries 65 

Priest River 61 

PRIEST RIVER — One streak might have ended on Monday, but the second-seeded Lumberjacks kept another alive another day, beating the top-seeded Spartans in a 3A District 1-2 loser-out game behind a 24-point night by junior JJ Yearout. 

“It was nice to see the kids keep battling and not give up,” said St. Maries coach Bryan Chase, whose team had a 10-year streak of district titles snapped on Monday. “We talked about putting four quarters together, and it seemed like we hadn’t in our losses lately. And we didn’t have any letdowns. To beat a good team like that, and a league champion, you’ve got to put four quarters together, and I was proud of our guys for doing that.” 

St. Maries (11-11) will host Kellogg (12-10) tonight in the second-place game, with that winner advancing to a play-in game on Saturday at Prairie High in Cottonwood. 

Yearout made 3 of 4 from the free-throw line in the final seconds to seal the win for St. Maries, which outrebounded Priest River 27-18. 

“Priest River is such a strong rebounding team,” Chase said. “I was proud of our guys for making that effort tonight.” 

Yearout also had eight rebounds and four assists, Jack Barta four steals, Isaiah Gustaffe 14 points, six rebounds and three assists, Hayden Defoort eight points and seven rebounds and Trenton Riberich six rebounds and two blocked shots for the Lumberjacks. 

Palmer Coleman scored 17 points for Priest River, which finished 14-6. 

St. Maries    18    18    14    15    —    65 

Priest River    14    20    19    8    —    61 

ST. MARIES — Harold 6, J. Barta 3, Yearout 24, Gustaffe 14, B. Barta 0, L. Riberich 8, Defoort 8, T. Riberich 2. 

PRIEST RIVER — Mathews 3, Coleman 17, Stoudt 9, Lamanna 0, Korff 2, Kreager 13, Stifel 10, Cook 7.