PREP BASKETBALL: Bonners Ferry Boys make history with 10-0 start, but Girls are upended with injuries
Sophomore Taren Bateman takes a jump shot in a home game earlier this season. She is expected to miss extended time after exiting the Jan. 4 game against Thompson Falls with a fourth quarter injury.
Photo by NED NEWTON
Bonners Ferry 74,
Clarkston 27
LEWISTON – The Badgers cruised to another tournament victory with a 47-point win in the Championship game of the Avista Holiday Tournament. They are the first Badgers basketball team in school history to open the season 10-0.
“I’m excited for the team to go 10-0 and do one more thing that no other Badger team has done,” coach Nathan Williams said. “This humble group deserves the recognition, and I hope the win streak continues until March 9.”
Senior guard Asher Williams won Most Valuable Player in the tournament, and senior Forward Thomas Bateman made the All-Tournament team.
Bonners Ferry – 23 26 12 13 74
Clarkston – 7 9 11 0 27
Bonners Ferry 58,
Lewiston 55
The real test for Bonners Ferry came not in the championship game against the Clarkston Bantams (4-6), but in a gritty victory over the then-undefeated Lewiston Bengals (9-1) in the first round.
The Badgers made a seven-point comeback in the final three minutes of the game to secure the win.
The victory marks the second time this season the Badgers have won against an undefeated opponent, as they beat the Reardon Screaming Eagles (10-1) on Dec. 28.
The Badgers also defeated the Moscow Bears on their way to winning the tourney.
Lady Badgers’ Taren Bateman to miss extended time
Thompson Falls 61,
Bonners Ferry 57
BONNERS FERRY – The Lady Badgers (7-6) conceded a seven-point fourth quarter lead in a home loss to the Thompson Falls Blue Hawks (2-4) on Jan. 4.
Star sophomore guard Taren Bateman exited the game in the fourth quarter with an injury in the midst of a 27-16 run by Thompson Falls to close the game. Head coach Sarah Hummel said the team is bracing for an extended absence but is still waiting official results for Bateman’s injury. Bateman, who is averaging over 20 points per game, finished with 21 in the loss.
“Taren is out for the foreseeable future. This will give others an opportunity to step into different roles, and we will have to work as a team and spread the offense around,” Hummel said. “We had a lot of adversity in that game that we couldn’t quite overcome.”
Bonners Ferry went into the game shorthanded with senior Sydney Hinthorn out with a day-to-day injury and senior Brooke Petesch playing limited minutes while battling an illness.
Thompson Falls – 11 10 13 27 61
Bonners Ferry – 12 13 16 16 57
PTS: BF – Bateman 21, Hiatt 8, Willis 8, Baisden 6, Petesch 5, Mierke 4, Johnson 3, Thomson 2
REB: BF – Hiatt 6, Bateman 5, Willis 5, Baisden 4, Mierke 3, Johnson 2, Petesch 2
AST: BF – Mierke 4, Willis 3, Bateman 2, Hiatt 2, Baisden 1
STL: BF – Bateman 6, Baisden 3, Hiatt 2, Petesch 2, Mierke 1, Willis 1