Bench points, patience will help guide Spartans to tourney success

The coin has spoken.

Priest River lost a coin flip to determine the 3A IML boys basketball seeding. So instead of playing against 3-seed Bonners Ferry — a team the Spartans have beaten before — Priest River will play top-seeded hosts Timberlake on Wednesday at 5:30 p.m.

Although playing a team that beat the Spartans by double-figures twice seems like bad news, there is a silver lining: Should the Spartans lose and win out in the consolation bracket, a game against the runner-up with a state berth on the line.

Here are a few keys for a successful Spartans’ tourney run.

1. What’s the rush?

It’s no secret that the Spartans play the best offense when they’re patient in the half-court sets. And it’s also no secret that when the Spartans run their offensive sets, they usually get phenomenal open looks.

Now this isn’t to say the Spartans are bad in transition — Robbie Anselmo has been known to drop cross-court dimes in transition — but deliberate passes and smart shot selections will be crucial in thie tournament. that slim, A quicker approach would only be most effective against teams with thin benches and average athleticism.

Those two phrases do not describe Timberlake.

2. Contain Gardom and Kistler

Timberlake lives and dies by its two stars: senior Chase Gardom and Sheldon Kistler. The former is an atheltic wing, while the latter is a space-eating forward that’s skilled around the rim.

Although sometimes it’d behoove the Tigers to run the offense through Kistler, who is good at getting to the line, the Tigers’ most effective play comes courtesy of Gardom who, by the way, can dunk.

This lob play usually involves the Tigers overloading the high post and the ball-side wings, some screen action to give Gardom an open runway to the basket from the other wing. Not only that, the Tigers have perfected the timing of these twenty-plus feet lob passes, making it practically unbeatable. Look for these lob plays whenever the Tigers go cold.

My words don’t do the play justice; don’t be surprised when Gardom gets going.

3. Get help from the bench

Two. That’s the number of bench points the Spartans have gotten in the past two games.

That figure is decidedly not great. Tournaments with quick turnarounds favor deeper teams, so this means players like Trentyn Kreager and Jantzen Lucas — who has been the Spartans’ spark-plug when he comes off the bench — will be vital.