Badger men win four games in five days

The Badger boys’ varsity basketball team had a challenging week starting Jan. 27. They played four games in five days and won all of them, including a league win against Priest River to get the Badgers to 2-1 in league play this season.

Tuesday, Jan. 27 the varsity boys played Lake City’s JV in Coeur d’Alene, taking the win 51 to 43.

“Earlier this season we lost to them by 5 at home,” said coach Andy Rice. “We played much better and got the win. Wyatt Nelson led us, especially in the second half, scoring 15 of his game-high 17 and going 9 of 11 from the free throw line. It was great to start the week off with a win and see our improvement.”

Thursday, Jan. 29 was a rescheduled game against Libby.

“We came out and shot very well, in fact we shot 59 percent from the floor for the game,” Rice said. “We had very balanced scoring and played solid defense for the majority of the game.”

At one point in the third quarter, Libby pulled within 4 points.

“That was as close as they got,” Rice said. “We came out and played a great fourth quarter and outscored them 16 to 8. We had all five starters score in double digits, which is a testament to our teamwork and unselfish play.”

Caleb Blackmore led the Badgers in scoring against Libby with 15.

Friday was a big league match up with Priest River.

“We knew they were going to play us tough, and they did,” Rice said. “It was extremely physical and really tested our mental toughness.”

Priest River shot extremely well from the three -point line, going 10 of 17.

“We did a great job at attacking them on offense, we just didn’t covert enough at the free throw line to really pull away,” Rice said.

The Badgers shot 22 of 39 from the line as a team.

“I was glad to see us stay composed down the stretch and not let the emotions take over,” Rice said. “We could have easily let them back into it and lost. When it counted we stepped up and held them off to get the win.”

The victory over Priest River puts the Badgers in second behind Kellogg for the Intermountain League.

Kaleb Stockton led the Badgers in scoring with 20, 13 of those points coming in the first quarter.

Saturday was the last game of the week for the Badger men, who traveled to Kalispell to compete against Stillwater Christian.

“We knew this was going to be our toughest match-up, especially since we were physically drained from already playing three games during the week,” Rice said. “We shot very well the first quarter going 7 of 9 including 3 of 3 from the three point line.”

The second quarter was the opposite. The Badgers shot 3 for 13 and went into the half down 26 to 29. About halfway through the third quarter the Badgers trailed 30 to 38.

“After a time-out we really started to focus and play smart,” Rice said. “We began to execute our offense and move the ball and get some great shots.” The Badgers came screaming back with a 21-0 run to take the lead for good. The Cougars scored on a couple of their last possessions, but the Badgers had the game already.

“It was awesome to see us come together and play smart basketball when it mattered,” Rice said. “Kaleb Stockton led us in scoring with 22. He shot 6 of 7 from the three point line.”

The Badgers play Coeur d’Alene’s JV on the road tonight at 7 p.m. before a trio of IML league games starting with an away game at Timberlake Friday and a home game versus Kellogg on Tuesday, Feb. 10.

1st 2nd 3rd 4th Final

Bonners Ferry 14 16 14 16 60

Libby 8 14 16 8 46

Price 2, Sabin 0, O’Hara 10, Stockton 10, Stone 11, Carle 2, Nelson 10, Blackmore 15, Pluid 0, Bateman 0.

1st 2nd 3rd 4th Final

Bonners Ferry 21 11 9 15 56

Priest River 15 12 12 13 52

Price 0, Sabin 0, O’Hara 6, Stockton 20, Stone 8, Carle 2, Nelson 14, Blackmore 6, Bateman 0.

1st 2nd 3rd 4th Final

Bonners Ferry 17 9 9 16 51

Stillwater 15 14 9 4 42

Price 2, O’Hara 13, Stockton 22, Stone 2, Carle 2, Nelson 6, Blackmore 4