Sandpoint girls survive to play basketball another day

SANDPOINT — The season came to an end for Post Falls as Sandpoint cruised to a 58-40 4A Region I girls basketball tournament victory Friday night at Les Rogers court.

By eliminating Post Falls, the Bulldogs advance to play Moscow in a loser-out game on Tuesday in Sandpoint.

"Most importantly, we lived another day," said Sandpoint coach Scott Salesky. "So now we play here Tuesday night in another do-or-die game. Hopefully we can put together four real good quarters against Moscow, because tonight we only played two or three."

The Bulldogs opened strong by building a 10-point lead early and held onto a seven-point edge into halftime. The third period was pretty much a wash, however Sandpoint broke out in the fourth leading by 22 points with 3 minutes left in the game.

"We did real good down the stretch and the girls figured out how to close," said Salesky.

Senior Kelsey James finished with a game-high 17 points, nine rebounds, five assists and four steals to lead Sandpoint. Junior Ashleigh Mire had 16 points, while Elle Carne grabbed eight rebounds.

Freshman Heather Arnone scored 11 points to lead the Trojans, while freshman Jenny McVeigh and senior Mackenzie Sinclair each scored seven points. Sinclair also had four rebounds and four steals.

"Really the heart of this team and the leadership that emerged on the team came from my three freshman," said Post Falls coach Chris Johnson. "So we are real enthused and we think things are going to be much different next year."

Post Falls 10 9 7 14 — 40

Sandpoint 17 9 9 23 — 58

POST FALLS — McArthur 0, Sinclair 7, Kasun 5, McVeigh 7, Fetters 2, Mathewson 2, Moreland 2, Topp 4, Arnone 11, Feasline 0, Geuin 0.

SANDPOINT — Carne 4, Free 5, James 17, Oakley 5, Smith 2, Allmaras 0, Burt 5, Mire 16, Swerin 4, Taylor 0.