Bowen, Taylor lead Wampus Cats over Bulldog JV

CLARK FORK — Brandan Bowen tallied eight points, six steals and five assists to lead Clark Fork past the Sandpoint JV on Saturday night in nonleague boys hoops at Clark Fork High School.

Nick Oas and Zach Nesbitt combined for 19 points, Tristin Bristol posted five points and nine rebounds, and Ben Bahr six points and eight boards for the Wampus Cats (3-10), who used a 15-10 fourth quarter edge to win a game that was tight from the tip off.

“Bowen had a great all around game, pushing the ball up the court,” said Cats head coach Corey Vogel, whose team made 7 of 12 attempts from the line in the fourth quarter. “It was the best we’ve played all year. It (the win) just might be the turnaround we need.”

Troy Oliver Mitton led the Bulldogs with 12 points in defeat, while Kyle Perry and Josh Loutzenhiser each scored seven points. Even though it was a nonleague game, Vogel loved how his team competed, including the aggressive defensive play of Jaden Taylor, who also sunk a key fourth quarter 3-pointer to help put the game away.

“He protects the top of the key in our zone extremely well and players never have an easy time getting through,” said Vogel. “We had a lot of rhythm going as a team. We had some good transition baskets and moved a lot on defense, with everybody contributing to the win.”

The Cats, who have had some tough nights offensively, shot nearly 50 percent from the field, and will look to carry some momentum into the final stretch of league games and the district tournament.

The Wampus Cats are at Mullan on Thursday in a North Star League tilt against one of the teams they’ll need to beat to go to state..

Sandpoint  10   10   11   10 — 41

Clark Fork  10   11   11   15 — 47

CLARK FORK — Bristol 5, Nesbitt 9, Aguirre 0, Bowen 8, Edstrom 0, Taylor 3, Anderson 0, Oas 10, Boudousquie 6, Bahr 6, Regalia 0.

SANDPOINT JV — Loutzenhiser 7, Hutchens 0, Harris 0, Coppess 3, Sundquist 6, Smith 0, Mitton 12, Perry 7.