Timberlake tops BFHS in boys district opener
KELLOGG — The top two teams in the Intermountain League, Kellogg and Timberlake, won 3A District 1 semifinals Monday night at Kellogg High School, and were scheduled to meet at 7 in the district championship Wednesday.
The Tigers used stout defense and strong exeuction in the fourth quarter to pull away from Bonners Ferry for a 53-40 win in Monday night’s second game, after Kellogg handily won the opener over Priest River.
“Our defense was great. We weren’t shooting the ball very well, but we executed on defense and that carried us tonight,” Timberlake coach Mike Menti said. “Wyatt Dickinson had a couple of steals and key defensive stops for us.”
Led by the scoring of Jacob James (14 points), Zach Yetter (11 points) and Jack McDonald (10 points), the Tigers led 30-20 at halftime, only to see the Badgers cut the lead to five after the third quarter.
“At that point, we did a good job of taking care of the ball, and played good defense to hold them to seven points in the fourth quarter,” Menti said.
Braeden Blackmore led the Badgers with 12 points.
Bonners Ferry (7-13) faced Priest River (4-15) in a loser-out game on Wednesday night. The winner of that game faces the loser of the Kellogg-Timberlake matchup on Thursday night, with either the Wildcats or Tigers hosting the game.
Bonners Ferry 10 10 13 7 — 40
Timberlake 12 18 8 15 — 53
BONNERS FERRY — Hines 5, Williams 3, Bateman 6, Stockton 4, Hubbard 2, Rice 0, Mai 2, Petersen 3, Blackmore 12, Morgan 3.
TIMBERLAKE — Peightal 3, Menti 6, Higgins 0, Paslay 2, Yetter 11, McDonald 10, James 14, Dickerson 7.
Kellogg 73, Priest River 39: The top-seeded Wildcats shut down the visiting Spartans, opening a double-digit lead in the first quarter and a commanding 39-10 advantage at halftime.
Graden Nearing had 22 points, five assists and three steals for the Wildcats (15-6), with Gavin Luna adding 14 points and nine rebounds.
Priest River 4 6 15 14 — 39
Kellogg 21 18 14 20 — 73
PRIEST RIVER — Matthews 2, Butler 0, Hahn 11, Bell 0, Lucas 8, Brennan 16, Thompson 2, Yount 0.
KELLOGG — Bush 4, R. Luna 5, K. Luna 3, Oertli 8, Groves 2, Nearing 22, Miller 4, Saijo-Walker 2, Jerome 9, G. Luna 14, Hoffman 0.