Hill, Abubakari lead Badgers to win in season opener
Freshman Asha Abubakari launches a shot in the Badgers' first practice of the season. Photo by Jake Caccavaro.
BONNERS FERRY — The Bonners Ferry High school girls basketball team opened its season with a win for the fourth year in a row, beating Lakeside 68-45 Saturday afternoon at Ron Miller Court in Plummer, ID.
Behind strong performances from senior wing Sadie Hill and freshman forward Asha Abubakari, the Badgers (1-0) jumped out to a big first-half lead and never looked back.
Bonners Ferry set the tone early, scoring 24 points in the first quarter and following that up with a 27-point second quarter as the Badgers established an early lead and took a 51-27 advantage into halftime against the 1A DI Knights.
The second half was a lot more slow-paced as the Badgers’ hot shooting came back down to Earth and defense prevailed. Bonners Ferry finished the afternoon with a scorching hot 11-for-28 clip from the 3-point line; the Badgers got nearly half of their points from downtown and six different players connected from deep.
"I think those are all game highs for made 3s, attempted 3s and number of players hitting a 3 in my 14 years of coaching," said Badgers head coach Travis Hinthorn.
Hill led Bonners Ferry with 15 points and tied with Abubakari for the team lead with nine rebounds. Abubakari racked up 14 in the first varsity basketball game of her career and hauled in nine boards while racking up three assists and two steals.
Sophomore guard Kara Villaluz scored 10 points to round out the Badgers’ double-digit scorers, and Avery Bayer and Mia Blackmore chipped in nine and eight points, respectively.
"We are a lot quicker than we have been in the past," Hinthorn said. "And [we] have a lot of ball handlers. We are going to try to play much faster this year, whereas in the past we have had to be a much more ball-control team."
Bonners Ferry’s season opener was originally scheduled as a Friday night home game against St. Maries, but that game was postponed.
The Bonners Ferry girls basketball team will be back in action for its home opener on Tuesday, Nov. 24 when the Badgers take on Wallace Sr. High at 6:30 p.m. inside the BFHS gymnasium.