Badgers defeat Knights by 25, holiday tournament

Badgers defeat Knights by 25, holiday tournament

BONNERS FERRY —- Fresh off the holidays and winter tournament, Badger boys basketball jumped ahead in the second quarter and defeated the East Valley Knights from Spokane on Tuesday, 73-49.

Coming into the contest, East Valley was 6-3 and the Badgers were 6-1 after a losing by one point to West Valley Eagles from Spokane.

The Badgers held a seven-point lead in the first quarter and went on to out score the Eagles by 16 in the second. It was a high speed contest, with East Valley touted four players 6-foot-4 or taller. At the half the Badgers were up 45-22.

Luke Holecek, for East Valley, was an unstoppable force, at 6-foot-4-. As point guard he displayed instrumental ball handling skills and attacked the basket scoring 29 points.

Bonners Ferry head coach Nathan Williams said he had scouted Holecek and knew he was averaging over 33 points a game.

“He’s a good player and has a nose for the ball,” Williams said.

In several matchups, Badger Charles Henslee at 5-foot-10 guarded Holecek, but he kept him at bay and successfully fought and gained defensive rebounds.

Riley Petesch, for the Badgers, had a breakout offensive and defensive first half, nabbing rebounds and making big plays to put the Badgers ahead. He scored 11.

Also in the second quarter, Braeden Blackmore scored three three-pointers in back-to-back possessions for the Badges, creating a big lead going into the half. Blackmore was the lead scorer for the Badgers with 19 points.

The Badgers made 11 three-pointers, seven of which were in the second quarter. The Badgers took five charges against the Knights.

“East Valley was big and physical, but I thought we were quicker,” he said. “We were going to press every possession.”

Williams said he was happy how rebounded and defended, but there are still things they need to work on. In the second half the Badgers worked on different offenses that haven’t had a game repetition.

Williams said the different offense will come into play depending on who the Badgers are playing.

Williams, “I like playing teams with winning records, it makes us better and gives us a better ranking at the state level.”

Badger boys basketball will play St. Maries at home on Friday. St. Maries was the 2A state champion in 2021 and runner up in 2022. Badgers boys are 7-1.

BONNERS FERRY 18 27 15 13–73

EAST VALLEY 11 11 14 13–49

Bonners Ferry: R. Williams 8, E. Blackmore 2, C. Henslee 6, R. Petesch 11, A. Williams 10, Th. Bateman 5, D. Hammons 2, Tr. Bateman 6, P. Schulte 4, B. Blackmore 19.

East Valley: Henry 4, Anderson 0, Wilkinson 8, Stevens 0, Callinan 0, Bales 0, LaVasser 0, Cloud 0, Whallon 2, Holecek 29, Hanson 6, Layne 0.

Badgers at Eagles Holiday Classic

SPOKANE — Badger boys basketball went 1-1 at the Eagles Holiday classic basketball tournament defeating Medical Lake by a wide margin and falling to West Valley by one point in overtime. Both teams are 3A schools in Washington.

The Badgers lost in overtime by one point against the West Valley Eagles, losing their undefeated status. Bonners Ferry had a five-point lead with less than a minute on the clock but in the last second the Eagles threw up a shot to win, 56-55.

Bonners Ferry head coach Nathan Williams said the game reminded him of playing Homedale in the state championship tournament, the Badgers also lost by one point and missed the opportunity for fourth place.

“That’s the great thing about basketball, things change quickly, desperate shots land, it’s what makes the sport fun,” he said.

He added the boys battled hard and are better because of the loss, as they have refocused.

West Valley is 6-3 and its players had a lot of height on the Badgers.

West Valley 14 10 10 9—56

Bonners Ferry 10 12 13 12 8—55

West Valley: R. Eaton 7, P. Munns 5, N. Godd-Lewis 1, A Zettle 9, W. Busse 0, B. Fried 15, R. Schroder 19, T. Price 0, T. Raiford 0, B. Abbey 0.

Bonners Ferry : R. Williams 13, E. Blackmore 2, C. Henslee 2, R. Petesch 4, A. Williams 28, Th. Bateman 0, D. Hammons 0, Tr. Bateman 0, P. Schulte 0, B. Blackmore 6.

The Badgers took a 15 point lead and held the Cardinals scoreless in the first quarter on Dec. 27. Ridge Williams and Thomas Bateman scored a third pointer each for the BAdgers.

By half the Badgers were up 31-7 against the Cardinals. The Badgers had a dominant third quarter, scoring 25 points and spreading the ball across the team. The Badgers continued the assault and won 72-26.

Williams said Medical Lake is a younger team and allowed the Badgers an opportunity to put in subs every four minutes and get shoots and looks to baskets for other players. Once ahead the Badgers pulled back and played half court defense.

Ridge Williams and Thomas Bateman were the leading scores for the Badgers with 13 points each.

The Badgers were 10 for 12 at the free-throw line and scored six three-pointers.

Medical Lake 0 7 12 5—26

Bonners Ferry 15 16 25 16—72

Medical Lake: C. Bahr-Credson 7, M. Rasmussen 7, C. Petersen 1, T. Tueller 0, t. Oliver 9, J. Puckett 0, A. Suddeth 0, J. Henry 0, J. Lundberg 0.

Bonners Ferry: R. Williams 13, E. Blackmore 10, C. Henslee 0, R. Petesch 4, A. Williams 6, Th. Batman 13, D. Hammons 5, Tr .Bateman 9, P. Schulte 4, Braeden Blackmore 8.