Packed house cheers Bulldogs to win

SANDPOINT - Junior guard Stefan Buratto was red-hot in the first half, draining five long range bombs to help propel host Sandpoint past Lakeland 63-34 Tuesday night before a packed house at festive Les Rogers Court.

Buratto, who has been hot of late, said it felt like every shot that left his hand was going in en route to a game-high 19 points.

"I hit my first shot and my confidence went sky-high," he said of his early 3-point barrage. "I was kind of in the zone."

Brandon Lawrence added six points and 11 rebounds, and Spencer Swerin had two points, nine rebounds and four assists as Sandpoint (5-6) jumped out to a 41-19 lead at half and never looked back.

Cody Moreland scored 12 to lead the Hawks (3-9), who never seemed to hit their rhythm offensively.

All of the fans in attendance left with a free coupon for a jar of Litehouse dressing as part of "Fill the Gym" night put on by Litehouse and Bulldog Bench. While the stands were never quite completely filled to capacity, the crowd chanted "close enough" and Litehouse rewarded them with coupons nonetheless.

Sandpoint hosts Lewiston on Friday.

Lakeland    8     11    6     9 - 34

Sandpoint  19    22   11   11 - 63

LAKELAND - English 2, Moreland 12, Guerber 8, Novak 7, Schweikert 1, Black 4.

SANDPOINT - Hubbard 3, Olin 7, French 8, Lawrence 6, Cafferty 2, Siegel 3, Kuhl 0, Swerin 2, Locascio 8, Salter 3, Buratto 19.