Boys basketball goes into overtime, wins with 4 players on court

BONNERS FERRY — Neither a fourth-quarter deficit on the scoreboard, nor a one-player deficit on the hardwood, could keep the Badgers from upending Kellogg on Saturday night's Intermountain League opener for both teams.

Braeden Blackmore's 16 points led four Badgers in double-figures as the hosts, despite playing with only four players for the last two minutes of overtime, topped the Wildcats 75-70.

The atmosphere was intense, with just 3.9 seconds left in regulation and Travis Petersen on the free-throw line with two pressure-packed foul shots to tie the game. According to BFHS head coach Nathan Williams, the best was yet to come.

“I had no doubt that Travis was going to make those free throws,” Williams said, “Since these sophomores were in the fifth grade, I’ve been telling them that all close games come down to free throws.”

Williams has always made free throws a critical part of practice and training, so he was confident that his players will make those shots.

“We shoot free throws every practice after conditioning, and I knew Travis had these,” Williams said, “I event told the ref who was standing next to me before the first shot that I would like a timeout after the second made free-throw.”

Petersen's free-throws pushed the game into overtime, after the Badgers (6-4) trailed by nine points entering the final quarter.

Bonners Ferry quickly took a six-point overtime lead with the help of a layup by Blake Rice, but a technical foul was called on Rice, which fouled him out of the game.

Moments later, senior guard Hayden Stockton fouled out of the game, leaving just four players on the Badgers’ roster available to continue playing.

“I remember looking up at the clock and seeing over two minutes left in the game and knowing that five of my nine total players are fouled out, with four of the five being starters,” Williams said.

At that moment, the referee asked Williams to replace Stockton with another player.

“I said I have no more players and that we will have to play with four,” Williams said.

The Badgers faced an uphill battle but have prepared for this moment many times during practice.

“I’ve been telling them all year that our strength is our depth, and it is hard to beat a team with a solid bench,” Williams said.

Petersen stepped up huge in overtime, scoring 6 of his 11 points and coming up with some vital rebounds down the stretch. According to Williams, Petersen plays every game with tenacity and grit at all times on the court.

Using a 2-2 zone and grabbing several key rebounds, the home team held its overtime lead and closed out a unique IML win.

According to Williams, in his 20 years of coaching, he has never witnessed an overtime game of such importance with only four players in the game.

The Badgers ended the night shooting 9-for-14 from the free-throw line while committing 31 team fouls. Kellogg (2-4) made just 6 of 15 free throws in the fourth quarter, and finished 21 of 37 from the line.

“I will always remember this game and how the team stuck together and never stopped believing,” Williams stated.

Logan Jerome scored 19 points for Kellogg, and Riply Luna added 16 for the Wildcats.

“They just kept coming,” Kellogg coach Mike Martin said of Bonners Ferry. “There were times we felt we were going to open the game up, and they never went away.”

Ridge Williams tallied 14 points for Bonners Ferry, which hosts Timberlake in another league contest at 6 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 23.

Kellogg 16 16 17 12 9 — 70

Bonners Ferry 15 11 14 21 14 — 75

KELLOGG — Riply Luna 16, Kolby Luna 13, Groves 7, Frohlich 4, KJ Walker 11, Jerome 19, Hoffman 0.

BONNERS FERRY — Williams 13, Petersen 11, Rice 2, Hensley 10, Stockton 6, Hubbard 8, Mai 0, Beazer 4, Blackmore 16.