Wampus Cats fall in first round to defending champions

NAMPA — Shaina Gustafson scored a team-high 15 points to go with four assists and five steals, and Clark Fork led after the first period, but two sisters proved too much to overcome, leading the Richfield Tigers to a 57-39 win over the Wampus Cats in the first round of the state 1A Division II girls basketball tournament at Nampa High School on Thursday.

Senior Chelsea Macumber stuffed the stat sheet for the Cats (15-6), scoring eight points to go with five steals and four rebounds, and Brocklynn Thornton had eight points and eight boards for the Cats, who shot a respectable 16-39 from the floor but committed 35 turnovers.

Celeste Komanec added nine rebounds and and grabbed three of the Cats’ 15 steals, but her team was never able to recover after being outscored 18-5 in the second quarter.

“We didn’t adjust well enough to how they ref down here; they really let you play,” said Cats coach Dexter Vogel. “The second quarter got us. We scored at will when we set up the offense, but we threw the ball away too much.”

Sisters Teenie and Sasha Kent did the bulk of the damage for the defending state champion Tigers (19-4), combing to score 43 points and drain eight 3-pointers.

Clark Fork will face Rockland, a 54-38 loser to Dietrich on Thursday, tonight at 5:15 p.m. in the consolation bracket.

Richfield    10   18   14   15 — 57

Clark Fork  12    5   11   11 — 39

RICHFIELD — S. Kent 23, T. Kent 20, Brockman 5, Revis 9.

CLARK FORK — Palmer 2, Gustafson 15, Vogel 0, McMahon 0, Kailang 2, Macumber 8, Komanec 4, Thornton 8, Johnson 0, Kinney 0, VanBuren 0, Daniels 0.