Morgan comes up big for Bulldogs at Holiday Classic

SPOKANE VALLEY — Another day, another big offensive game for Grace Kirscher, who ripped the nets for 30 points to lead Sandpoint to a 60-57 quality win over Cheney on Thursday in the second game of the Eagle Holiday Classic at West Valley High School.

After scoring 32 in the opener, Cheney employed a diamond-in-one defense with one player chasing Kirscher full time and the other four playing zone. Luckily for the Bulldogs (5-5) sophomore Maddie Morgan found her range from beyond the arc, draining five 3-pointers among her 17 points.

Cheney (5-4) owns wins over Lake City and North Central and lost by just three points to undefeated and state-ranked East Valley, prompting assistant coach Will Love to claim the win was the Bulldogs’ biggest of the season.

Dawson Driggs added eight points, and along with Ciera Bailey had some huge rebounds down the stretch as the Bulldogs erased a double-digit second quarter lead for the comeback win.

“We had our hands full,” said Bulldog head coach Duane Ward. “We kept our poise, worked through it, and got back in the game. Maddie got her shooting touch and hit some big baskets.”

Ward said with the Cheney defense concentrating so hard on Kirscher, it was huge for some of the younger players to step up, and they did. Kirscher added three 3-pointers and made 7 of 8 from the line.

“They were pretty much hammering Grace most of the night. She was able to keep her composure, keep her head about her, and it really paid off,” claimed Ward, noting the bench played a huge role in the win. “It was a good team effort, we’re hoping it’s a turnaround for us. We’ve got some depth, and it’s starting to show. They all bring value to this team.”

Sandpoint wraps up the tournament today against Deer Park at 1:30 p.m.

Sandpoint 10 17 15 18 — 60

Cheney 15 18 8 16 — 57

SANDPOINT — Bailey 3, Edwards 0, Morgan 17, Driggs 8, Kaul 0, Larson 0, Laybourne 0, Steiger 2, Kirscher 30, Petit 0.