Bulldog girls notch first win

SANDPOINT — Sandpoint used balanced scoring and stingy defense to secure their first win of the season, beating Mt. Baker 39-33 Monday night at Les Rogers Court.

Kim Guercio had four points and five steals, but it was her floor leadership that caught the eye of her coach.

"Kim had a great first half, the best I've seen her play in two years," said coach Jim Alsager. "She's really maturing. It looked like she had resolve, was composed, you could tell in her face she was prepared."

Guercio was able to consistently beat full-court pressure, and get the Bulldogs (1-3) into their offensive sets. Brittany Oakley scored 10, Christina Johnson eight, Lynn DiBenedetto seven and Kelsey Windju five as everyone got involved in the offense. Alissa Tenuto led the team with seven boards, and Cassandra Timblin added three points and five rebounds off the bench.

Nicole Boon led Mt. Baker with 17 in the losing effort. Alsager leaned heavily on his bench in preparation for tonight's game against Lake City, one of the best teams in the state.

"That's our best test of the year," said Alsager of the matchup with Lake City. "We're getting better. I told the girls we'll find out how far we've come."

MtB — 6 9 12 6 — 33

SPT — 9 10 9 11 — 39

SANDPOINT — Oakley 10, Frank 0, Windju 5, Fuqua 0, Guercio 4, McNeal 0, Tenuto 2, DiBenedetto 7, Timblin 3, Johnson 8.

? Mt. Baker 58, Sandpoint JV boys 53

SANDPOINT — After spotting Mt. Baker an early double digit lead, the Sandpoint JV boys played the solid varsity squad from Cranbrook, B.C. tight the rest of the way before falling 58-53 Monday night.

Ryan Armbruster and Mat Lawrence each poured in 14 points as Sandpoint was forced to play only underclassmen to stay under their season quota of varsity contests. Head coach Tyler Haynes got to take a good look at some new players in a varsity setting.

The Bulldogs had no defensive answer for 6-foot-4 Talon Jones, who led Mt. Baker (3-1) with 28 points. Sandpoint managed to keep the game close as Lawrence went to work on the blocks in the second half. A Ryan Armbruster three-pointer that would have tied it in the final minute rimmed out. The Bulldogs were forced to foul and extend the game.

Spencer Swerin scored eight, Kyle Gibson five and Alex Crossingham five to round out the scoring.

MtB — 22 7 12 17 — 58

SPT — 15 9 15 14 — 53

SANDPOINT — Armbruster 14, French 0, Gibson 6, Lawrence 14, Swerin 8, Crossingham 5, Duarte 4, Olin 0, Locascio 2.