Lady Spartans overwhelmed by Bonners Ferry in 45-17 loss

Bonners Ferry’s huge second and third quarters were too much for the Priest River Spartans, which fell 45-17 in a league game on Tuesday night.

“We had a really fantastic 1st quarter,” Priest River head coach Morgan Douglas said. “We went to the line to shoot free throws five times because the girls were being very aggressive offensively. But we could not make a shot after the first quarter other than a few free throws, finally scoring in the third.”

While the Spartans held the Badgers to only 2-8 shooting in the first quarter, Bonners Ferry came alive in the second, thanks to the efforts of Jerzie Pluid. After being shut out of the first quarter, Bonners Ferry’s senior forward scored all 10 of her 14 points in the second quarter.

Meanwhile, the Spartans only managed free throws from Makia Fitzmorris and Karah Fink — the latter of whom led the Spartans with five points. Aside from those points, Priest River went 0-12 from the field in the second quarter.

“Liann, Abby, and Karah tried hard to get fouls drawn but it just wasn’t enough,” Douglas said. “We also couldn’t shut down their post [Jerzie Pluid] and point guard [Holly Ansley]. They have a lot of talented players on their team.”

Bonners Ferry guard Holly Ansley led all scorers with 17 points. Fink and Fitzmorris led the way for Priest River with five and four points, respectively.

Bonners Ferry moved to 3-1 in league play and 13-3 overall with the win. Priest River dropped to 1-11, and will look for its first league win at home against Kellogg on Saturday.

The Spartans fell 56-27 in their first meeting on Jan. 8.

Bonners Ferry 7 18 18 2 — 45

Priest River 5 3 5 4 — 17

BONNERS FERRY — Jackson 5, Sa. Hill 0, Si. Hill 0, Villelli 2, Pluid 14, Pinkerton, Ansley 17, Liermann 2, Blackmore 2, Maas 0.

PRIEST RIVER — Martin 3, Fitzmorris 4, Barnes 0, Minish 0, Fink 5, Kren 3, Rusho 2, Palfrey 0.