SHS girls basketball can't rally, boys drop season opener

St. Maries 61

Sandpoint 45

ST. MARIES ­— Offseason rust was apparent for the Bulldogs, as the men’s basketball team dropped its season opener 61-45 at St. Maries.

“St. Maries was better prepared to play,” Engelson said. “They took it to us during the game and executed at a higher level on the basketball court. We really got away from the things that we practiced. We need to go back and understand team defense, stopping the ball and being in good help positions. When we do that, we can be a good team”

Junior wing Ryan Roos led the way for Sandpoint with 12 points. His 10 point spurt — which included a three pointer, a jumper and finishing 5-8 from the free throw line ­­— in the fourth quarter momentarily provided a silver lining for the Bulldogs.

Sophomores Darren Bailey and Elijah Larson also had strong showings on both ends of the floor during their varsity debuts.

“[Bailey and Larson] really competed throughout the game,” Engelson said. “They took it hard to the rim, played good defense and were provided a spark for our team when they were on the court.”

For the Lumberjacks, Jackson Pritchard hit three of his first seven 3-point attempts and finished with 13 points. Tyler Lohman had eight points and eight rebounds, Eli Gibson nine points and seven rebounds and Kaden Hammond six steals and four assists for St. Maries, which hosts Prairie on Saturday.

Sandpoint (0-1) will play at Timberlake on Dec. 6.

Sandpoint 10 8 10 17 — 45

St. Maries 19 17 13 12 — 61

SANDPOINT — Roos 12, Larson 9, Niemela 5, Banks 5, Bailey 7, Jones 5, Casey 2, Vandenberg 0.

ST. MARIES — Hill 6, Pritchard 13, Becktel 2, Nelson 2, Lohman 8, Sands 9, Gibson 9, Renner 2, Hammond 2, Howard 8.

Kellogg 53

Sandpoint 36

KELLOGG — Maddie Morgan led the Bulldogs in scoring for the third straight game, but the short-handed Bulldogs couldn’t break through against Kellogg on Tuesday night.

With the loss, the Bulldogs drop to 0-3 on the season.

“It was another one of those games where we got down early,” head coach Will Love said.

But Sandpoint staged several comebacks after stumbling out the gate, making the final score not fully indicative of the closeness of the game.

The Bulldogs tied it at 19 midway through the second quarter, which forced Kellogg to burn a timeout.

But out of the timeout, Kellogg scored 7 straight to end half. Sandpoint came within eight points later in the fourth.

“We didn’t play with poise the entire game,” Love said. “There were times where we couldn’t take advantage of what Kellogg was giving us. Instead, we were settling for the long shot and they weren’t falling for us tonight.”

Aly Lish chipped in 7 points and 4 rebounds, Lily Anderson had a team-high seven rebounds and Hattie Larson dished out three assists in the loss.

Sophomores Bella Phillips and Ella Perry were out with an injury sustained from the Lake City game and illness, respecively; freshman Destiny Lyons came off the bench in their places and had a solid showing on defense.

Hailey Cheney scored 18 points and Jaron Figueroa added 15 points for Kellogg (3-0).

Sandpoint (0-3) will host Timberlake on Thursday.

Sandpoint 11 8 9 8 — 36

Kellogg 13 13 13 14 — 53

SANDPOINT — Lish 7, Stiger 4, Edwards 6, Morgan 9, Larson 3, Anderson 2, Banks 2, Petit 3.

KELLOGG — Hill 0, Bristow 0, Rauenhorst 4, VanHoose 0, Senteney 4, Sheppard 6, Figueroa 15, Cheney 18, Seymour 2, Nearing 4.