Thunder boys and girls teams wrap up season

| February 16, 2013 6:00 AM

SANDPOINT — The Kootenai Thunder boys wrapped up a successful season with a third place finish at the season-ending Mountain Christian League tournament recently at the Hub in Liberty Lake.

The Thunder (14-5) started the tourney by taking down the North Idaho Christian School Royals 46-31, led by Taylor Jensen with 18 points. Andrew Spayth, who commanded double and sometimes triple teams, added 12 points, Shayne Jensen five, Jimmy Soderberg four, Jason Roop three and Curtis Roop and Joel Smith two points each.

In the second round the Thunder faced the No. 2 seeded Logos Knights, falling 67-55. Taylor Jensen once again led the way with 20 points, Spayth dropped in 18, and Shayne Jensen and Jason Roop added eight apiece in defeat.

The Thunder boys then faced Pullman Christian School for third place, pulling out a close game in the final seconds to win 41-39. Spayth finished with 22 points, Taylor Jensen added eight, Shayne Jensen and Curtis Roop four and Jason Roop three. Spayth and Taylor Jensen each earned a spot on the Mountain Christian League All-League first team.

In the regular season finale, the Thunder boys dispatched Christian Heritage School on Senior Night, beating the Patriots 82-43. Spayth finished with 31 points, 22 rebounds and 11 blocks for yet another triple double. Taylor Jensen stuffed the stat sheet with 17 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists, just missing his own triple double, a rare feat at the high school level.

Justin Puryear scored six points and pulled down 11 rebounds, Roop scored 17, Joel Crosby eight, Tevin Perry two and Jimmy Soderberg one.

The Thunder girls lost 47-26 to the Christian Heritage School Patriots in their regular season finale. Scoring for the Thunder were Joyce Blair with 15 points, Josie Saganski and Taryn Osman with four points each and Carly Johnson with three. They finish the regular season 2-14 in league play and headed into the Mountain Christian League tournament as the 8th seed.

The Thunder girls struggled to find offense in the MCL tournament, losing 52-8 to No. 1 seed Patriots, 59-16 to the Jaguars and finally 30-10 to the Oaks.