Priest River boys basketball preps for season's home stretch

Believe it or not, the 1-14 Spartans could make a leap in the 3A Inter-mountain League Standings.

Seriously.

With a win over Kellogg (6-12, 2-2 IML) on Thursday night, the Spartans could force a three-way tie for second place with the Wildcats and the Bonners Ferry Badgers, who have gone 3-5 since losing junior wing Ty Bateman to injury. From there, a series of coin flips would determine seeding for the league tournament.

Still with me?

It goes without saying, but the ideal scenario is to not stay fourth in the standings. Timberlake is undefeated for a reason; meeting the Tigers in the 1-4 quarterfinal would mean a quick out in the tournament.

But the best part about this week of the season — should these games continue without any more weather-related postponements — is that the Spartans have come into form.

From purely a visual standpoint, Priest River does not look like a 1-14 team. All season long, the Spartans have had flashes of consistent, competitive play on both ends of the floor — mostly from a trio of seniors.

Since returning from injury, senior guard Robbie Anselmo has been dangerous in transition, and has made plenty of momentum-gaining plays with his passing alone. Fellow senior Keegan Hegel has settled into the 2-guard spot well; his 29-point effort against Wallace was nearly enough to give the Spartans their second win of the season on Feb. 8.

This leaves Brandon McCracken, whose energy on the glass has singlehandedly kept (or gotten) the Spartans in games.

Yet these flashes of potential have been merely that: flashes. But playing steadily this week could make for some rather hectic games later.

Buckle up. The most critical week of the season starts Thursday night at Kellogg at 7 p.m.