Eighth-grade girls place fourth at tournament

Bonners Ferry eighth-grade girls placed fourth out of six teams during a home tournament on Saturday.

The Lady Badgers defeated Lakeland 19-17, but then lost to Kellogg 25-15 and St. Maries 29-22.

Priest River won the tournament followed by Kellogg in second, St. Maries in third, Lakeland in fifth and Timberlake in sixth.

Against Lakeland, Lady Badger Jordan Grapensteter led the girls with 9 points and 3 steals.

“The Badgers played great defense avenging an early-season 33-point loss to the Hawks,” said coach Pat Behrens. “Tessa Payne played strong inside with 13 rebounds.”

Other scoring included Sarah Schuman 5, Elizabeth Newhouse 2, Ally Merrifield 2 and Hailey Beazer 1.

Against Kellogg, “cold shooting” plagued the Badgers, Behrens said.

“Tessa Payne played strong inside for the Badgers with 6 points and 6 rebounds,” Behrens said.

Merrifield led the girls with 8 rebounds and Schuman added 6. Other scoring included Grapensteter 4, Lindsay Taggart 2, Beazer 2 and Merrifield 1.

Against St. Maries, the Lady Badgers started the game with a 7-0 deficit, which turned out to be the difference in the game, Behrens said.

Merrifield led the girls in scoring with 8 points and rebounds with 7. Grapensteter added 6 points, 6 rebounds and 4 steals.

Other scoring included Macie Everhart 2, Beazer 4 and Schuman 2.