Summers scores 20 to lead Spartans past Bulldogs

SANDPOINT — Solid inside play by junior post Katlyn Summers keyed a strong second half, as Priest River notched a 62-58 win over Sandpoint on Tuesday night in nonleague girls basketball at Les Rogers Court.

Summers hit 7 of 10 field goals and was 6 for 6 from the line en route to a game-high 20 points, as the Spartans (12-7) erased a seven point halftime deficit by scoring 36 second half points. Karly Douglas added added 14 points and five assists, and the Spartans shot 51 percent from the field as a team.

Spartans head coach Gary Stewart called it a “guts game,” and felt his team had a shot after losing by 10 points to the Bulldogs in the first meeting of the season.

“We’re kind of peaking at the right time,” said Stewart, whose team also notched a big win recently over Washington power Freeman. “We had composure when we needed it.”

Nikole Alamillo scored a season-high 15 points to go with five boards to lead the Bulldogs (11-7), who might have been caught looking ahead to a big 4A North showdown with Moscow on Friday. Madi Schoening tallied 13 points and three steals, Hailey Olin four points, five rebounds and five assists and Karlee Williams eight points and five rebounds in the loss.

The Spartans scored the first eight points of the fourth quarter to take the lead for good. Williams made a three point play to cut the lead to 60-58 with one minute left, before Angel Clark made a big steal and two free throws late to ice the game.

Bulldogs head coach Bill Bender credited the Spartans with doing what they had to do to win, but felt his team played poorly overall.

“That was far and away our worst performance of the year. We didn’t do the things we do on a regular basis,” said Bender. “Even with all of that, it was there for us to take. We just didn’t have anyone strong enough to get it done.”

The Bulldogs host the Bears in the final regular season league clash on Senior Night Friday, with a chance to secure home court advantage in the district tournament with a win.

Bob Witte will call the game live on AM 1400.

Priest River  14   12   18   18 — 62

Sandpoint    18   15   14   11 — 58

PRIEST RIVER — Douglas 14, Trantum 2, Luckey 4, Weimer 5, Clark 6, Krampert 0, Carey 3, Williams 8, Summers 20.

SANDPOINT — Couch 0, Williams 8, Schoening 13, Liband 4, Olin 4, Chatburn 2, Martin 3, Delgado 4, Sundquist 0, Alamillo 15, Bluemer 5.