Badger girls close out 2018 with two wins
The Lady Badgers traveled to West Valley High School in Spokane, Wash., to participate in the 2018 Eagle Holiday Classic. A total of 49 varsity teams (26 girls and 23 boys) from Idaho and Washington played in 69 games during the three-day event on Dec. 27-29.
Besides enjoying the trip to Spokane and participating in the event, the Bonners Ferry girls team accomplished its main goal: winning both of its games. The Badgers defeated Deer Park, Wash., 47-35, then rallied past Colville, Wash., 51-46.
“West Valley has a beautiful facility, and you can see they are proud of it. They have their original gym, which is nice, their new larger gym, which is amazing, and they even have a smaller auxiliary gym where they played JV games during the three days,” said BFHS Coach Travis Hinthorn.
“West Valley does a good job of setting up competitive games,” said Hinthorn. “We are similar to Deer Park and Colville as far as enrollment, and we would be in their league if we were in Washington.”
The West Valley athletic director gave Hinthorn a tour of the school and their facilities.
“My favorite part was the weight room,” said Hinthorn. “On one side it looks out over the gym, but on the other side it overlooks the track and football facility. He explained how they set up chairs and take elderly and handicapped spectators into their weight room so that they can watch football games from the indoors.”
Along with the boys, the Lady Badgers start Intermountain League play Friday, Jan. 4. It will be camp shirt day. Any child wearing their basketball camp T-shirt will be allowed in for free. There will also be drawings for prizes during the games for any camper wearing their camp T-shirt.
Bonners Ferry 47, Deer Park 35
The Badgers played well offensively, shooting 43 percent from the floor (19-of-44).
“We did a good job of getting the ball inside and were patient in our offense, even with the shot clock,” said Hinthorn.
Baylee Blackmore had a breakout game, leading the Badgers with 18 points and 12 rebounds.
“Baylee was fun to watch! She had a great game,” said Hinthorn.
Jerzie Pluid and Holly Ansley each scored in double digits and combined for 22 points, 16 rebounds and 9 steals.
Bonners Ferry 15 9 12 11 — 47
Deer Park 11 4 11 9 — 35
Bonners Ferry: Blackmore 18, Liermann 0, Sa Hill 0, Pluid 10, Ansley 12, Si Hill 0, Villelli 5, Pinkerton 2.
Deer Park: Carnahan 0, H Fairbanks 7, Patterson 0, Kharchenko 4, Bourette 0, Bunch 7, Lyons 10, Rose 5 Brookshire 2.
Bonners Ferry 51, Colville 46
Colville jumped out to an early 17-4 lead, but the Badgers answered, outscoring the Indians 20-7 in the second quarter to take a 2-point lead into halftime.
“Sometimes when we have an overnight trip, we are not as focused as we should be on that second day. We got in a hole early and were fortunate to climb out of it by halftime,” said Hinthorn.
McKenna Reggear, a 5-foot-10 freshman, led the Indians with 21 points.
The Badgers were led by three players who scored in double digits: Jerzie Pluid had 16 points and 9 rebounds; Baylee Blackmore contributed 14 points and grabbed 8 rebounds; and Holly Ansley scored 12 points to go along with 7 steals. Maecie Liermann made 4 free throws in the last minute to seal the win for the Badgers.
Bonners Ferry 6 20 9 16 — 51
Colville 17 7 10 12 — 46
Bonners Ferry: Blackmore 14, Liermann 4, Jackson 3, Sa Hill 0, Pluid 16, Ansley 12, Si Hill 0, Villelli 2, Pinkerton 0.
Colville: Brooks 7, Clark 3, Cox 6, Bartoschek 0, Lewis 9, Brown 0, Power 0, Reggear 21, Martin 0.