Boys lose to Priest River, Timberlake

Priest River and Timberlake defeated the Badgers on Feb. 14 and Feb. 18.

The Badgers started the game against Priest River well on both ends of the floor and raced out to an early lead.

Four different Badgers scored in the opening period, and Bonners moved the ball well against the Priest River defense.

In the second quarter, the Spartans switched to a packed-in 2-3 zone defense, and the Badgers struggled scoring. After a scoring drought that lasted most of the quarter, Bonners went into halftime trailing by only four.

In the second half, the Badger offense still seemed out of sync because of the Spartans’ zone and the cold shooting from outside. RC Akre hit two big threes in the quarter to extend the Spartans’ lead to 11 going into the fourth. The Badgers started to play with more intensity in the fourth and out scored the Spartans, but it was too late to dig themselves out of the hole.

During the two middle quarters, we struggled against the Priest River zone because of a lack of movement.

We held the ball too long and did not attack the creases in the zone with cutters. Because of that, we relied too heavily on the three-point shot, and we only shot 2 of 13 from behind the arc. We played solid defense for most of the game, but allowed too many points in the paint to Jimmy Koch in the second half.

The Badgers nearly pulled through on Monday night, but couldn’t quite make the final surge in the fourth quarter, falling 72-58 in the opening round of the district tournament on Feb. 18.

After playing even with the Tigers for most of the first quarter, Timberlake went on a 5-0 run to take a 19-14 lead going into the second. Cameron Woods started out hot, scoring the Badgers’ first seven points.

Bonners struggled to stop John Thompson throughout the game and allowed him to dominate the paint.

Every time the Badgers would put together a run, the Tigers would find an answer, usually by finding Thompson down low. Despite the Badgers’ success on the offensive end, they went into halftime down 36-28.

In the second half, the Badgers kept pace with the Tigers, finally putting a run together at the end of the third and the beginning of the fourth. Bonners cut the lead to five at the start of the final period, and Evan Moe hit a big three-pointer from the corner to cut the lead to two with under six to go in the game.

Timberlake quickly called a time-out, and from that point on, it was all Tigers. Timberlake went on a 14-2 run to end the game and came away with an opening round win.

We had a four-part game plan going in, and we were able to accomplish three of those parts. We nearly eliminated Timberlake’s transition game, we kept Johnny Hayden out of the paint most of the night, and we controlled the tempo. However, we gave up too many offensive rebounds and second chance points. Our goal was to hold Timberlake under 55 points, but when they are able to score so many second chance points from point blank range, that is a difficult task. Overall, though, we played well as a team, executed our offense, and had flashes of tough defense.

Feb. 14 at Priest River

Bonners Ferry: 13 3 8 11 -- 35

Priest River: 9 11 13 10 -- 45

BONNERS FERRY: Price 3, Skeen 3, Ky. Rice 2, Pluid 3, Woods 7, Evans 0, Moe 4, Farrens 11, Ko. Rice 0

PRIEST RIVER: Akre 12, Riley 7, Sommer 3, Reynolds 3, Stelow 2, Koch 15, Low 6, Roland 0

Districts Feb. 18 vs. Timberlake

Bonners Ferry: 14 14 19 11 -- 58

Timberlake: 19 17 18 18 -- 72

BONNERS FERRY: Price 6, Bennett 0, Skeen 5, Ky. Rice 4, Pluid 6, Woods 16, Evans 0, Moe 11, Farrens 10, Ko. Rice 0

TIMBERLAKE: Rice 1, Cramer 3, McNamara 7, Masterson 10, Hayden 6, Scott 10, Allen 9, Thompson 26