Wampus Cats hammer Culdesac 47-16; play for a state berth today

RATHDRUM — Shaina Gustafson tallied 14 points and seven steals, and the Wampus Cats employed a stifling defense to upend Culdesac 47-16 Friday night in the opening round of the 1A Division II, District 1/2 girls basketball tournament at Lakeland High School.

Clark Fork (8-9) also got some production from post players Chelsea Macumber, Mandy Martin and Jessica Cartmell, who combined for 28 rebounds. Celeste Komanec and Cartmell each added seven points.

“They just outworked them (Culdesac),” said Cats coach Dexter Vogel of his team. “You could tell they wanted to win.”

The Cats used a 1-3-1 zone defense to give Culdesac fits, holding them to just six points in the first three quarters.

Clark Fork is now one win away from state, and will play the winner of Summit Academy and Mullan today at 1:30 p.m. at Lakeland High School. The loser will have to play another game tonight, just to earn a trip to the play-in game Tuesday in Grangeville.

“There’s a lot of incentive to win the first one,” laughed Vogel, who believes he’ll play Summit, a fairly tall team. “If we play like we did tonight, we shouldn’t have any trouble. If we win, we’re in (state).”

Culdesac      4   2    0   10 — 16

Clark Fork   6   15  18   8 — 47

CULDESAC — S. Dau 14, K. Dau 2.

CLARK FORK — Gannon 2, Palmer 2, Gustafson 14, McMahon 2, Macumber 5, Komanec 7, Thornton 2, Martin 6, Cartmell 7.