Clark Fork outruns Sandpoint JV, 44-30

Clark Fork girls basketball controlled the tempo and put the clamps down on a fast-paced Sandpoint JV team in a 44-30 home win on Friday night.

“Sandpoint’s JV team was very young and they were very quick,” Clark Fork head coach Jordan Adams said. “It was great for our team to get to play against that quickness and it brought out a speed on our team that made our girls think on their feet. It was an excellent game with good sportsmanship on both ends of the floor.”

For a player like Clark Fork senior Brooke Stevens, whose scoring and propensity for causing turnovers makes her a double-double threat on any given night, the opportunity to play a fast-paced game was too good of an opportunity to refuse.

From the onset, however, it appeared that Sandpoint comfortable controlling the game with its up-tempo style of play. The Lady Cats didn’t attempt a field goal — much less advance the ball inside the three-point line — for the first 90 seconds. But Sandpoint couldn’t take cash in on the early turnovers it forced.

Then the floodgates burst.

Stevens led the charge by fighting her way through the lane, drawing contact and sinking her free throws. The Lady Cats turned defense into offense, setting up baskets for Ellie Kiebert and Lily Simko. A pair of Stevens layups off steals later, and the Lady Cats had gone on a 10-0 tear in one minute, 44 seconds.

“The girls’ ball movement on offense was beyond awesome and they pushed the ball well,” Adams said. “Defensively they moved, transitioned, and recovered just like they should, quickly and efficiently.”

Things were clicking for Clark Fork on defense too: They forced 25 turnovers in total and recorded more than 15 steals as a team for the third-straight game. Sandpoint tried returning the favor by implementing a press of their own, but Clark Fork passed over the press often, leading to plenty of breakaway layups.

But Sandpoint responded by working the ball inside to sophomore Bella Phillips, who wound up scoring all five of the Bulldogs’ first-quarter points. Phillips’s interior scoring and rebounding helped keep the Bulldogs within striking distance: Her seven points and five rebounds in the first half set the tone for her team-high 14-point, 12-rebound effort.

If there was a bright spot for the Bulldogs, it was team rebounding. The aforementioned Phillips and freshman Katie McGregor (zero points, 12 rebounds) helped Sandpoint out-rebounded Clark Fork 20-11 in the first half. Getting the extra possessions finally paid off when the Bulldogs outscored Clark Fork 10-9 in the third quarter, but the Lady Cats’ fast start was too much to overcome. Clark Fork’s lead ballooned to 17 early in the fourth quarter on a Tessa Sutton three and a basket from Simko, which put the game away for good.

Stevens led all scorers with 20 points, while nearly missing a triple-double with her eight steals and seven turnovers. Kiebert’s nine rebounds were a team high for Clark Fork. Phillips, meanwhile, led Sandpoint with a 14-and-12 double-double, and Miranda Neeley added six points, three rebounds and two steals.

Clark Fork (7-4, 3-2 NSL) will play at Lakeside on Jan. 28 at 7 p.m. The game was scheduled for Jan. 22, but was canceled due to weather.

Sandpoint 5 7 10 8 — 30

Clark Fork 12 13 9 10 — 44

SANDPOINT — Cessna 3, Gammon 0, Lyons 1, Neely 6, Phillips 14, McGregor 0, Williams 0, Hewitt 2.

CLARK FORK — Stevens 20, Lambert 3, Kiebert 3, A. Sutton 3, T. Sutton 3, Simko 7, Hathaway 5.