Badgers begin districts Monday
Photo by MANDI BATEMAN Braeden Blackmore goes for a slam dunk during the Badgers’ Feb. 11 home victory over Priest River.
Photo by MANDI BATEMAN Ty Bateman was one of two seniors honored before the game last Saturday for senior night.
Photo by MANDI BATEMAN Matt Morgan drives past a defender during last Satrurday’s game.
Photo by MANDI BATEMAN Elijah Dahl passes the ball.
Photo by MANDI BATEMAN Braeden Blackmore drives to the basket.
Photo by MANDI BATEMAN The Badgers played hard on Saturday night, earning a win.
Photo by MANDI BATEMAN Matt Morgan and Braeden Blackmore.
Photo by MANDI BATEMAN Braeden Blackmore jumping high for the tip off.
Photo by MANDI BATEMAN Josh Beazer works his way around a defender.
Photo by MANDI BATEMAN Braeden Blackmore drives to the basket.
Photo by MANDI BATEMAN Ty Bateman drives to the basket on senior night.
The BFHS boys varsity basketball team split a pair of Intermountain League games this past week, leaving the Badgers with a 3-3 conference mark and the third seed in next week’s 3A District 1 tournament, hosted by Kellogg High School.
Bonners Ferry opens with a rematch against Timberlake at 7 p.m. Monday. The host Wildcats, IML regular-season champions, face fourth-seeded Priest River in Monday’s opening game.
The two winners of Monday’s games meet Wednesday night for the district title and a berth in the 3A state tournament, with the other two teams playing a loser-out game Wednesday.
Second place in the district tournament will be determined on Thursday night, Feb. 27, at the home gym of the highest remaining seed. The winner of that game advances to a play-in game for another berth in the state tournament.
Bonners Ferry 65, Priest River 56
The Badgers had a strong start against the visiting Spartans on Tuesday, Feb. 11, then found themselves in a tightly-played game as Priest River made some adjustments in the second quarter.
“There for a while it was back and forth with both teams hitting some big shots, it was pretty intense,” said coach Andy Rice. “I thought we did a good job holding our composure when they made a few runs and we finished the game off to get a win.”
Priest River 8 18 19 10 — 56
Bonners Ferry 22 17 12 14 — 65
Priest River: Matthews 0, Hahn 6, Bell 0, Lucas 7, Brennan 16, Kreager 20, Thompson 6, Yount 1.
Bonners Ferry: Hines 2, Williams 0, Bateman 12, Stockton 10, Hubbard 9, Rice 0, Mai 0, Petersen 0, Blackmore 21, Morgan 11.
Bonners Ferry 64, Post Falls 55
On Saturday, Feb. 15, the Badgers honored their seniors, Ty Bateman and Matt Morgan, during senior night, before facing the Post Falls JV team.
Braeden Blackmore scored 15 points and Ethan Hubbard added 14 points for Bonners Ferry.
“It was nice to have a good crowd out and see our two seniors Ty Bateman and Matt Morgan get recognized for their hard work and dedication to the basketball program,” said Rice. “Both of them have been captains and leaders for our fairly young team this year.”
Post Falls JV 9 17 5 24 — 55
Bonners Ferry 10 20 12 22 — 64
Post Falls JV: Smith 2, Sciortino 16, Jacobson 13, Summers 11, Gunderson 0, Cooper 3, Rutherford 8, Christianson 2.
Bonners Ferry: Bateman 10, Hines 10, Stockton 2, Hubbard 14, Rice 2, Williams 4, Petersen 0, Blackmore 15, Morgan 5, Mai 0.
Timberlake 53, Bonners Ferry 38
In their final IML contest of the regular season, the Badgers fell at Timberlake on Tuesday, Feb. 18, but will face the Tigers on Monday at Kellogg High School in the first game of districts.
Ty Bateman scored 19 points for Bonners Ferry, which managed only 15 points as a team after intermission.
“We struggled against their zone defense,” said Rice. “Ty Bateman hit some big shots but we could never really get our offense rolling.”
Bonners Ferry 14 9 10 5 — 38
Timberlake 17 14 9 13 — 53
Bonners Ferry: Hines 0, Williams 0, Bateman 19, Stockton 4, Hubbard 0, Rice 3, Mai 2, Petersen 0, Blackmore 8, Morgan 2.
Timberlake: Peightal 2, Menti 4, Higgins 3, Paslay 3, Yetter 10, McDonald 14, James 11, Dickinson 6.