Miners down Wampus Cats at NSL Tournament

PLUMMER — A cold shooting first quarter proved costly, as the Wampus Cats dug an early hole en route to a 63-45 loss to Wallace in the opener of the North Star League Tournament on Friday night at Lakeside High School.

Wallace scored the first 12 points of the game and built a commanding 26 point lead in the second quarter, before Clark Fork finally settled in and started to play their game.

“You can’t spot them a 12-0 run in the first and expect to win many games. We were very slow off the bus,” said Clark Fork coach Corey Vogel. “Once we started playing in the second quarter, we stayed right with them the rest of the game. We were just ice cold to start, and we couldn’t dig out.”

Tristin Bristol notched a double-double to lead the Wampus Cats (1-2), scoring 10 points to go with 19 rebounds. The ultimate effort stat, Bristol averaged 15 rebounds a game as a junior, and continues to clean the glass as well as anyone in the North Star League.

Ben Bahr continues to emerge for the Cats, scoring a team-high 11 points and nabbing three steals in his second straight strong game. Nick Oas added 10 points and Jake Aguirre four points and three assists, as the Cats outscored the Miners 34-31 in the second half.

“Ben had another good all around game,” said Vogel of his 6-2 senior. “He’s playing a little bit angrier, coming out of his shell and having confidence that he can play with anybody.”

Clark Fork will play the loser of Kootenai and Lakeside today in the third place game.

Clark Fork  2   9   15   19 — 45

Wallace    16  17   18   13 — 63

CLARK FORK — Bristol 10, Aguirre 4, Bowen 5, Taylor 3, Anderson 0, Oas 10, Boudousquie 2, Bahr 11.

WALLACE — Owens 5, Little 3, Gavin Rasmussen 17, Lemieux 2, Brantley 10, Arthun 12, Browning 14.