BFHS boys come back strong

The Bonners Ferry boys basketball team rebounded from a tough loss to Lakeland with a convincing win vs. Riverside High School of Chattaroy, Wash.

The Badgers hosted Lakeland on Tuesday, Dec. 10, and lost 93-55 to the Hawks.

Lakeland has a great team this year. They came in 4-0 after beating Coeur d’Alene, East Valley, West Valley, and North Central out of Spokane. They were able to use their size and athleticism to force us into making lots of turnovers. Lakeland shot the ball extremely well; they went 12-of-28 as a team from the 3-point line (42.9 percent), which is very impressive.

I am glad we had the opportunity to play against a top team like Lakeland — it gives us a chance to see what we need to work on and what worked for us. Despite the difference in size and experience, I was very proud of how we kept playing hard, especially in the second half. I think we were a little shell-shocked in the beginning. I saw some confidence start to take hold in the second half and we had some young guys step up and hit some good shots. I think this will serve us well when we get into league play this year.

Lakeland 29 27 24 13 — 93

Bonners Ferry 10 12 17 16 — 55

Lakeland: Zublay 11, Furry 5, Seay 10, Henry 2, Ab. Munyer 13, Am. Munyer 6, Haaland 20, Roth 4, Elizondo 3, Waddington 9, Derrick 5, Faasen 4.

Bonners Ferry: Williams 10, Bateman 5, Hubbard 9, Rice 0, Mai 6, Petersen 2, Blackmore 19, Morgan 4.

Bonners Ferry 81, Riverside 69

Saturday, Dec. 14, was a great day of basketball for the Bonners Ferry Badgers. Both girls and boys junior varsity and varsity teams came away with wins.

This was a great team win for us. We are starting to see some of our guys settle down and play some quality basketball. Hoping that we can keep building off of this game and continue to get better and build a reputation for hustle, hard work and determination.

Riverside came in with a lot of fight and grit, they never really gave up but we were able to take advantage of their bench. This was a mostly back and forth game until late in the fourth quarter when the Badgers were able to take the lead with a fast-break lay-in by Matt Morgan that sparked a 13-0 run to cap off the win.

Riverside was led by Jaxon Betker who scored 34 points. He did a great job getting to the rim and drawing contact. He shot 18-of-24 from the foul line.

Braeden Blackmore shot 10-of-14 from the floor, including 2-for-3 on 3-point shots for 24 points and had 10 rebounds. Braden played a great pressure defensive game for us.

Morgan really had a great game. Morgan had 16 points, 8 of those coming in the fourth quarter. He was able to get to the free throw line repeatedly, where he shot 8-for-12 on free throws. It was nice to see him step up and provide some of his senior leadership for us.

Ty Bateman had 8 rebounds to go along with his 8 points. Ty’s physical presence on the floor has been greatly appreciated and I think it will keep getting better as the season progresses.

Ball movement was much better this game. We had 20 assists, including six from Blake Rice coming off the bench.

The Badgers played at Wallace on Dec. 17, and travel to St. Maries on Dec. 20. We will not be back in action at home until Jan. 9 vs. St. Maries.

Riverside 15 21 20 13 — 69

Bonners Ferry 21 14 20 26 — 81

Riverside: Betker 34, Nortz 9, Steven 3, Supanchick 9, Lyons 6, Burnham 4, Gallinger 4, Burns 3, White 0.

Bonners Ferry: Hines 0, Spencer 0, Williams 9, Bateman 8, Stockton 8, Hubbard 4, Rice 4, Mai 5, Petersen 3, Blackmore 24, Morgan 16.