Lady Badgers second at districts, fall to Teton in state play-in game
Photo by MANDI BATEMAN Holly Ansley takes a jump shot against Kellogg earlier this season.
It was a busy week of travel for the Badgers as they played four away games in six days while traveling 1,442 miles.
On Monday, the girls traveled to Timberlake for the first round of the Intermountain League districts, losing to Kellogg 57-49.
Two days later, the Badgers beat Priest River 46-21, which led to a rematch with the Wildcats at Kellogg on Thursday. It was the third game against Kellogg in eight days, and the Badgers won 55-45, earning them second place in districts and qualifying them for a state play-in game on Saturday in Fruitland, Idaho, against the second-place team from districts 5 and 6. There, the Teton Redskins beat Bonners Ferry 50-29, ending the Lady Badgers’ season. Teton will face Filer in a 3A state quarterfinal today.
Bonners Ferry 46, Priest River 21
SPIRIT LAKE — After an opening-round loss to Kellogg at districts, the Badgers played Priest River in a loser-out contest. Priest River came out in a stall offense to slow down the Badgers, but after a defensive change, Grace Villelli and Emma Pinkerton got the Badger offense going with some steal/lay-in baskets.
“Priest River tried some offensive stall tactics to try to slow down the game,” said coach Travis Hinthorn. “We switched to zone and let Grace and Emma try to make something happen defensively.”
Villelli scored all 9 of her points in the first half while Pinketon turned in a solid performance with 7 points, 7 rebounds, 5 steals and 2 assists. Baylee Blackmore got things going offensively in the second half where she scored 19 of her game-high 21 points. Blackmore also had 8 rebounds and 6 steals.
Bonners Ferry 12 9 16 9 — 46
Priest River 7 2 6 6 — 21
Bonners Ferry: B. Blackmore 21, Sa. Hill 0, M. Blackmore 0, Petesch 2, Ansley 5, Si. Hill 2, Villelli 9, Pinkerton 7.
Priest River: Fitzmorris 2, Rantala 0, Rusho 0, Pound 2, Fink 13, Radan 0, Prudek 0, Palfrey 0, Minish 2, Freitas 2, Shockey 0.
Bonners Ferry 55, Kellogg 45
KELLOGG — After beating Priest River, the Badgers travelled to Kellogg to play the Wildcats for the third time in eight days. The winner would claim the second place trophy and earn a trip to the state play-in game in Fruitland.
Sierra Hill was the difference in the game, scoring a game-high 21 points, including four 3-pointers and making seven of eight free throws.
“That was our best defensive rebounding game of the year,” said Hinthorn. “Baylee, Holly, Sierra Hill and Sierra Petesch did a great job of getting strong defensive rebounds and keeping Kellogg to one and done shooting.”
Hill, Blackmore, and Ansley had a strong finish, scoring all 15 of the Badgers’ fourth quarter points including making 10 of 14 free throws down the final stretch of the fourth quarter.
Hill had 8 rebounds and 3 steals to go along with her 21 points. Ansley added 11 rebounds and 13 points.
Bonners Ferry 17 7 16 15 — 55
Kellogg 11 4 15 15 — 45
Bonners Ferry: B. Blackmore 9, Sa. Hill 0, M. Blackmore 2, Petesch 4, Ansley 13, Si. Hill 21, Villelli 2, Pinkerton 4.
Kellogg: Van Hoose 0, Wendt 2, Allred 8, Ferreira 0, Hill 0, Figueroa 8, Nearing 7, Cheney 18, Erickson 2.
Teton 50, Bonners Ferry 29
FRUITLAND — Teton had an experienced team, starting five seniors, but it was senior Waklee Kunz who did the most damage to the Badgers, scoring 24 points to lead Teton as the Redskins jumped on top of the Badgers 20-10 after the first quarter.
The trio of Kunz, Cambrie Streit, and Annalea Brown scored 28 of the Redskins’ 32 points in the first half, and Kunz controlled the second half, dropping 15 of Teton’s 18 second half points.
“Teton came out ready to play. They were definitely the more aggressive team,” said Hinthorn. “We had a hard time scoring against their physical, half-court defense. We started with a box-and-one on Kunz, and Streit and Brown scored all their points; then, when we got out of the box-and-one, Kunz scored 20 points. She’s a great player!”
Bonners Ferry 10 9 2 8 — 29
Teton 20 12 11 7 — 50
Bonners Ferry: B. Blackmore 6, Sa. Hill 0, M. Blackmore 0, Petesch 0, Ansley 9, Si. Hill 2, Villelli 5, Pinkerton 7.
Teton: Brown 2, Lasson 0, Olivas 0, Atchley 0, Stevens 0, Kunz 24, Jones 0, T Streit 0, C Streit 9, Marshall 0, Thomas 2, A. Brown 13, Guevara 0, Tibbetts 0.