Bulldogs lose heartbreaker on buzzer beater

MERIDIAN — The Sandpoint Bulldog girls basketball team achieved a lot of goals during the season.

First district/regional title since 1982.

Back at the state tournament for the first time since 2004.

And they were oh so close to achieving that third goal — playing for a trophy on Saturday.

Chelsee Baker, who missed a pair of free throws with 4.8 seconds left, gave the Burley Bobcats a 48-47 win when her 3-pointer at the buzzer dropped, ending the Bulldogs run in the state 4A tournament on Friday at Mountain View High in Meridian.

Nikole Alamillo, who scored 10 points, gave Sandpoint a 47-45 lead with 8.8 seconds remaining, but the Bulldogs were unable to force a stop in the final possession.

“Credit Burley for the patience to get the play in,” second-year Sandpoint coach Bill Bender said. “We had it set up, and we froze. She (Baker) made a great shot. That’s why you play this game. Someone has to make the play, and they did today.”

Sandpoint finishes 13-9. Burley (16-10) will face Nampa (16-10) in the consolation championship game today at Mountain View High.

Sandpoint trailed 39-30 with under five minutes to play, but rallied behind points from Hailey Olin and Madison Schoening, who scored 17 points each. Schoening also pulled down a team-high eight rebounds.

“That’s what they’ve been all year,” Bender said. “They play well with each other and off of each other and make the rest of their teammates better. They’ve got an awareness of how to get their teammates involved and that’s just who they are. That’s the highest credit you can pay a basketball player is that they find a way to make their teammates better.”

Olin also had three rebounds and three steals in her final game as a Bulldog.

“It’s been an amazing season,” Olin said. “These are tears of joy. It was very fun and we worked so hard to get here. It’s amazing what we accomplished, even though we didn’t get a win. Nobody wil forget it and we made a lot of memories this weekend.”

“Some of them were Kindergartners when the team was last here,” Bender said. “For that part, it was an experience and that was a goal, to play on Saturday. We came up a touch short, but what we learned about what it takes to win is valuable information for years to come.”

Burley         10   15   11   12 — 48

Sandpoint   4    15    9   19 — 47

BURLEY — Bowers 4, Villanueva 2, Robbins 6, Hutchinson 14, Pope 2, Villa 0, Baker 16, Noble 2, Carpenter 2. Totals 14-39, 18-25, 49.

SANDPOINT — Williams 0, Schoening 17, Liband 0, Olin 17, Chatburn 0, Martin 0, Delgado 3, Sundquist 0, Alamillo 10, Bluemer 0. Totals 18-41, 8-16, 48.