Gritty Bulldogs post huge league win
(Photo by JASON DUCHOW PHOTOGRAPHY) Audrey Mattila leaps high with teammates celebrating a wild win Thursday night at SHS, with the Bulldogs capping a perfect league season with a wild overtime win.
(Photo by JASON DUCHOW PHOTOGRAPHY) Grace Kirscher drives for two big points, helping the Bulldogs erase a 13 point second half deficit and secured home court throughout the district tournament.
Golder, Bailey lead big 13 point comeback
SANDPOINT — A raucous and energetic crowd, high stakes and high drama all helped make the 4A Inland Empire League clash between Sandpoint and Moscow one of the best games of the season on Thursday night at Les Rogers Court.
The Bulldogs (12-8, 4-0 4A IEL) never once had a lead in regulation, including trailing by 13 points early in the third quarter, before staging a wild comeback and notching a huge 62-56 win to earn the coveted No. 1 seed and home court advantage throughout the playoffs.
Trinity Golder poured in a team-high 17 points, including four 3-pointers daggers in a huge fourth quarter, and Ciera Bailey added 16 points, including a three-point play and two free throws in overtime to seal the win.
“The girls showed a lot of guts, a lot of courage. As the game wore on, they played harder and harder,” described Bulldog head coach Duane Ward. “Ciera, the girl has no fear. She made some key baskets and got us going, and Trinity hit some big shots.”
Moscow (7-10, 2-2 4A IEL) came out firing, knowing that a win by more than four points could earn them the tie-breaker and home court advantage for the upcoming regional tournament.
Gracey Meyer scored a game-high 22 points, and the Bears used a 10-0 run at the start of the third quarter to build a 32-19 lead before seven straight points from Bailey stemmed the tide and cut the lead to six. Moscow owns a win over Lake City, and looks like a team that has played up often in the schedule.
Golder’s fourth 3-pointer of the final quarter with eight seconds left tied the game at 51-51, after Moscow led the entire game to that point. Grace Kirscher added 10 points and was excellent passing out of double teams to create looks for teammates, and Maddie Morgan hit all three of her 3-pointers in the second half. All told, the Bulldogs hit 11 long range bombs and were 10-13 from the foul line.
“Almost every kid on the floor made a big play. What I liked is when we scored, the whole bench came up cheering those kids on,” said Ward, who felt his team tried too hard early in the game. “We hang our hat on defense and team camaraderie.”
Sandpoint will await the winner of the 4A Region 1 tournament opener on Wednesday, at North Idaho College.
Moscow 12 11 14 14 5 — 56
Sandpoint 7 12 12 20 11 — 62
MOSCOW — Broyles 4, Watson 0, S. Carscallen 13, Meyer 22, Pilcher 0, Waters 0, Jung 6, Kitchel 11, Raugh 0.
SANDPOINT — Bailey 16, Mattila 0, Morgan 9, Driggs 6, Kaul 0, Laybourne 2, Golder 17, Kirscher 10, Petit 2.