PREP GIRLS BASKETBALL: Coeur d'Alene locks up Lake City, IEL title

COEUR d’ALENE — The path to the state 6A tournament might take a few different turns this year. 

But it still runs right through Viking Court. 

Junior Natalie Semprimoznik scored a game-high 25 points, 20 in the first half as the Vikings beat the Lake City Timberwolves 72-51 to clinch the Inland Empire League title and top seed in a best-of-3 District 1 championship series. 

“It was very important,” Coeur d’Alene coach Stacy Boyd said. “Right now, we’ve got some good players that stepped up. Some of our other players like Brookeslee Colvin weren’t able to get going, but she did a lot of little things to keep us afloat. One thing about this team is they know the task and where we need to be. And they’re playing well right now.” 

Sophomore Brookeslee Colvin scored 21 points for Coeur d’Alene (12-7, 7-0 IEL), which has won two straight state titles, beating Lake City in last year’s 5A title game. 

“Coeur d’Alene is getting better,” said Lake City coach David Pratt, whose team fell 75-39 in the Fight for the Fish spirit game on Jan. 10. “They hit a lot of shots to start the game. We weren’t giving it to them but tried to mix it up. They started on a nice run, but I liked how we were able to stay mentally tough tonight where in the Fish game, we were not.” 

Coeur d’Alene travels to Post Falls on Saturday, then hosts Lakeland to conclude the regular season on Tuesday. 

“I told them to stay positive and stay humble,” Boyd said. “We’ve got to take it one game at a time and can’t be looking ahead. We can’t be looking back to last year.” 

Senior Sadie Zimmerman scored 22 points for Lake City (6-14, 3-4), which travels to Deer Park on Saturday. 

“Our goal is to continue to get better,” Pratt said. “We still have a chance to go where we want to go, and it seems crazy to say that. But they’re fighting to get better and we’ve got injuries and illness right now. We’ve got a lot going on, but the kids are hungry to get better, and I love that about them.” 

Coeur d’Alene    24    13    13    19    —    72 

Lake City    11    15    8    17    —    51 

COEUR d’ALENE — Bridge 3, Wheeler 7, Semprimoznik 25, Wallis 4, Colvin 21, Shafer 4, Bowmer 0 Carroll 5.  

LAKE CITY — Murphey 8, Hiltenbrand 5, M. Zimmerman 0, Baltzell 0, Fagan 9, S. Zimmerman 22, Chavez 0, Smith 1, Johnson 4. 

Lakeland 52 

Moscow 28 

MOSCOW — Sophomore Macy Bretveld scored 19 points and the visiting Hawks avenged a home loss to the Bears with the Inland Empire League win at Bear Den. 

Landree Simon scored a game-high 21 points for Lakeland (12-4, 4-3 IEL) which lost 46-39 to Moscow on Jan. 11. 

Jessa Skinner scored 12 points for Moscow (9-10, 1-5). 

Lakeland plays at Coeur d’Alene on Tuesday. 

Lakeland     14    13    12    13    —    52 

Moscow     5    8    9    6    —    28 

LAKELAND — Simon 21, Kiefer 0, Forsman 0, H. McMurray 0, Hatcher 0, J. McMurray 0, Vanek 0, Bowie 2, Bretveld 19, Bullington 10. 

MOSCOW — Kiblen 0, Becker 3, Skinner 12, S. Rae 2, Williams 9, Colvin 2, Hennrich 0. 

Grangeville 49 

Timberlake 48 (OT)

GRANGEVILLE — The Tigers had the Bulldogs on the ropes. 

Twice. 

But fouls got in the way. 

Leading 45-42 with .9 seconds remaining, the Tigers were called for a foul, with Grangeville junior Caryss Barger making the first, missing her second attempt, but putting the shot back to force overtime. With a 48-47 lead with 3.5 left in overtime, the Tigers were called for another foul on Barger, who made two of three free throws to give the Bulldogs the nonleague win over the Tigers. 

“They did a great job of getting the ball inside and outrebounded us the entire game,” Timberlake coach Matt Miller said. 

Junior Malia Miller had 14 points for Timberlake (15-3), which hosts Lakeside of Plummer on Monday. 

Barger finished with 14 points for Grangeville (12-5), which travels to Deer Park next Thursday. 

Timberlake    16    14    9    6    3    —    48 

Grangeville    16    14    11    4    4    —    49 

TIMBERLAKE — Soumas 2, Nelson 8, MacArthur 14, Simpson 7, Needs 3, Miller 14, Jones 0. 

GRANGEVILLE — Barger 14, Wagner 1, Long 9, Adams 0, Green 11, Told 0, Lefebvre 2, Vanderwall 12. 

Lakeside 67

Wallace 44

WALLACE — Further information was not available.

Genesis Prep 56 

Clark Fork 18 

POST FALLS — Senior Sienna Williams scored 23 points as the host Jaguars beat the Wampus Cats in Scenic Idaho Conference play at The Courts at Real Life. 

Ella Martin added 12 points for Genesis Prep (12-6, 3-2 SIC), which travels to Mullan on Monday. 

Hannah Thompson led Clark Fork (1-9, 0-4) with seven points. 

Clark Fork     4    5    5    4    —   18 

Genesis Prep     11    15    18    12   —    56 

CLARK FORK — Leadbetter 0, Gannon 4, Rupp 4, Herrick 1, Stevens 0, Scarlett 0, Thompson 7, Mayorga 2. 

GENESIS PREP — M. Lawler 2, Covey 0, Martin 12, Pope 5, Williams 23, Nelke 5, Clermont 0, K. Lawler 9. 

Kootenai 50 

Mullan 27 

MULLAN — Freshman Brooklyn Charles had 18 points, seven rebounds and four steals for the Warriors in a North Star League win over the Tigers at the Mullan Pavilion. 

The teams, the lone two in the league, will play again on Feb. 4 at Kootenai High. 

Freshman Harleigh Dutton had 11 points, six rebounds and four steals for Kootenai (2-8), which travels to Deary tonight. 

Avah Blankenship scored 13 points for Mullan (1-12), which hosts Genesis Prep on Monday. 

Kootenai    17    11    8    14    —    50 

Mullan        4    11    10    2    —    27 

KOOTENAI — Parrish 4, Loucks 0, H. Charles 0, Lowery 2, S. Davidson 9, B. Charles 18, D. Davidson 6, Mazen 0, Dutton 11. 

MULLAN — Crandall 2, Streeter 0, Blankenship 13, Niemi 0, Bosson 2, Kostelich 2, Elliott 8. 

N.I. Christian 54 

Pullman Christian 39 

PULLMAN, Wash. — Belle Jordan scored 21 points for the Royals in a Mountain Christian League win over the Eagles. 

Kenna Brotherton had five points, 10 rebounds, six assists and five steals and Chelsey Cate 13 points, 11 rebounds and five steals for North Idaho Christian (10-4, 7-0 MCL), which faces Christian Center tonight at Holy Family Catholic School. 

Lizzie Fitzgerald had 13 points for Pullman Christian (5-7, 4-5). 

N.I. Christian    9    13    16    16    —    54 

Pullman Christ.    12    12    9    6    —    39 

NORTH IDAHO CHRISTIAN — Ellis 0, Belle Jordan 21, Cate 13, Salaiz 13, Brotherton 5, Smith 0, Pilgrim 2. 

PULLMAN CHRISTIAN — Rajasekaran 12, Torrey 2, Carrier 4, Lizzie Fitzgerald 13, Anderson 8, Olson 0, Downs 0, Cofer 0. 

    JASON ELLIOTT/Press Coeur d'Alene sophomore Brookeslee Colvin drives down the court as Lake City senior Sadie Zimmerman defends in the fourth quarter of Thursday's Inland Empire League game at Lake City High.