Priest River stays alive

COEUR d'ALENE — Micah Smith scored 23 points to lead Priest River over Timberlake 50-48 Wednesday night at North Idaho College. They'll play the winner of tonight's game between McCall-Donnelly and Weiser in state play-in action Saturday in Grangeville at 2:30 p.m.

"This is a game (the loser-out game) we've lost three years in a row," said Spartan coach Bill Ryan. "We got over the Kellogg hump last night and I love these kids for putting in all the hard work to make this happen."

Bonners Ferry won the outright IML title on Tuesday, and will take their 18-4 record to Meridian in search of state hardware.

A win Saturday by the Spartans would ensure the Panhandle is well represented at state.