Lake City overwhelms Bulldogs

SANDPOINT - Lake City's size and experience were simply too much for the very young Sandpoint girls team, as the Timberwolves kept the accelerator down the entire game, dropping the Bulldogs 100-23 in the season opener for both teams Friday night at Les Rogers Court.

Sydney Butler scored 21 points to lead Lake City (1-0, 1-0 IEL), which tallied 32 steals and 26 assists as a team. Katie Baker had 20 points, eight rebounds and six steals, and Gina Mitchell and Brianna Duran each had eight assists as the Timberwolves ran the fast break from start to finish.

"We were hitting on all cylinders," said first year coach Royce Johnston. "The teamwork was unbelievable up and down the court. That's the style we'll play."

 Sophomore post Natasha Roop had nine points and six rebounds to lead Sandpoint (0-1, 0-1 IEL), which lost four of its top returning players this year for various reasons. Returning starter Christina Johnson scored seven to go with eight rebounds, and provided a spark with her customary all out style of play.

"Christina pretty much set the tone for how these younger girls need to play. In the fourth quarter she was still diving after balls and giving it her all," said first year girls coach Lance Bruce, praising Johnson for sticking around when many of her teammates from last season opted not to. "She could have taken the easy route and not played, but she decided to step up and take on the challenge. I respect her as much as any player I've ever coached."

Freshman Alex Bucholtz ripped down a rebound and fired a half court pass to fellow freshman Mackenzie Jones for a score and one of the Bulldogs' highlights. Sophomore Charissa Chatburn swished a three pointer and sophomore Jesse Mead had a nice shot block as many of the Bulldogs were indoctrinated to varsity basketball against one of the top teams in the state.

Sandpoint plays at Post Falls on Tuesday, then at Coeur d'Alene on Thursday, concluding a brutal early season spate of games against arguably three of the top five teams in the entire state.

Lake City   24  25  30   21 - 100

Sandpoint   6    7    7     3 - 23

LAKE CITY - Duran 12, Butler 21, Smith 12, Kacaleck 7, Ross 6, Johnson 3, Kerr 4, Mitchell 5, Ball 11, Baker 20.

SANDPOINT - Johnson 7, Adams 0, Chatburn 3, Mead 0, Bucholtz 0, Heer 0, Thomas 2, Jones 2, Roop 9.