Schoening leads Bulldogs to road win over Spartans

PRIEST RIVER — The Sandpoint Bulldogs went on the road and picked up a 43-39 nonleague win over Priest River after erasing an early 11 point deficit by outscoring the Spartans 31-11 in the second and third quarters.

Sandpoint (2-3) trailed 13-2 nearing the end of the opening period before finding a rhythm to the game through their defense, which forced Priest River into 21 turnovers.

“It seemed we hadn’t got off the bus yet,” Sandpoint coach Bill Bender said about his team’s slow start. “We’re beginning to learn that turnovers really impact us, but I thought we did very good at adjusting and playing to our level.”

Freshman Madi Schoening led the way with 12 points for the Bulldogs, leaking out on defense and generating fast break buckets that helped her team get back in the game.

Hailey Olin added 10 points, four rebounds and four steals, and Cassie Young scored eight points to go along with six rebounds and three steals for Sandpoint, which hosts Colville on Saturday at 4:15 p.m.

“I’m real proud,” coach Bender said. “We came in with some specific goals and I thought our shot selection was good, we rebounded well, and our defense had good anticipation.”

The coach went on to point out the leadership of Olin, excellent minutes from Schoening, and solid post play from Young and Nikole Alamillo as keys to the victory.  

Priest River’s senior point guard Steffie Pavey led all players with 16 points and had outscored the Bulldogs 12-11 by the midway point of the second quarter.

Kelsie Fink scored 15 points and recorded six big blocks for the Spartans (2-1), who travel to the Northwest Christian Academy on Thursday with a 7 p.m. tip.

Sandpoint  5  16  15   7   —   43

Priest River 13  9  2  15  —   39

SANDPOINT — Schoening 12, Corless 2, Liband 2, Young 8, Alamillo 4, Speelmon 2, Williams 0, Martin 1, Olin 10, Delgado 2.

PRIEST RIVER — Douglas 2, Luckey 0, Weimer 6, Trost 0, S. Pavey 16, A. Pavey 0, Deal 0, Bradbury 0, Summers 0, Fink 15.