Bulldog girls claim 4A IEL title

SANDPOINT — Hailey Olin totaled 13 points, six rebounds, three assists and two steals as the Sandpoint High girls basketball team won its first outright league title since 1996, beating the Moscow Bears 48-38 on Friday night at Les Rogers Court to capture the 4A Inland Empire League title.

Sandpoint (12-7, 4-0 4A IEL) trailed Moscow (2-17, 2-2) 23-18 at halftime, before outscoring the Bears 30-15 in the second half.

“A sluggish start, in part from the emotional sendoff of 11 seniors, the third quarter saw the Bulldogs come together, gain their sea legs and take control over a valiant effort by the Moscow Bears,” second-year Sandpoint coach Bill Bender said.

Sandpoint, which shared the league title with Moscow last year, will be the No. 1 seed to this year’s streamlined 4A Region 1 tournament at North Idaho College. No. 2 seed Moscow will play No. 3 Lakeland (3-16, 0-4) on Monday, Feb. 10 at 8 p.m. in a loser-out game. The winner plays Sandpoint on Wednesday, Feb. 12 at 8 p.m. in the championship game for the region’s lone berth to state, scheduled for Feb. 20-22 at Mountain View High in Meridian.

Sandpoint, which won 35-30 at Moscow two weeks ago, last qualified for state in 2004.

Maryah Delgado added nine points for Sandpoint, and Karlee Williams had eight points and 13 rebounds. The ’96 league title came when the IEL consisted of Sandpoint, Lake City, Lewiston, Post Falls and Coeur d’Alene.

Jada Simpson led Moscow with nine points.

Moscow     11    12    7    8    —     38

Sandpoint     8    10    13    17    —    48

MOSCOW — Nolan 4, McDaniel 2, Engberg 2, Burnette 4, Stephens 7, Hill 2, Sprenger 6, Simpson 9, Davis 2, Klocke 0.

SANDPOINT — Couch 0, Williams 8, Schoening 6, Liband 0, Olin 13, Chatburn 5, Martin 0, Delgado 9, Sundquist 1, Alamillo 6, Bluemer 0.