Sandpoint girls tipoff season tonight against St. Maries

It’s that time of year again.

That’s right, basketball is back and the Sandpoint girls team tips off their season tonight against St. Maries at home.

And the Bulldogs won’t get a chance to ease into the season. Sandpoint will play three games in five days to ring in a new season.

Sandpoint head coach Will Love said it will be a tough opening week for the team but they are eager to get on the court and show everyone how much they improved from last season.

“My hope is that we’re competitive and understanding what we want to do on the offensive and defensive ends of the floor,” he said.

The good news is once the Bulldogs get through this week, they have a whole week off next week due to Thanksgiving where they can work on whatever they struggled with in their first three contests.

After finishing 5-15 season, Love is looking for his team to take a step forward with another year of experience under their belt. Love said the Bulldogs started to turn the corner last December and he is hoping they can build off that success.

“Last year we were at a level defensively where we could compete to get to state,” he said.

The Bulldogs return eight players from last year’s squad including five seniors. Love is also excited about a pair of freshmen, Kelsey Cessna and Daylee Driggs, who he believes can have an immediate impact on the team this season.

Sandpoint will open with a St. Maries team that already played its first game of the season. The Lumberjacks fell 58-36 at home to Bonners Ferry in their nonleague season opener.

Last year, St. Maries swept Sandpoint in a pair of games beating them 53-33 at home and 40-36 in Sandpoint. The Bulldogs will certainly be looking for revenge Tuesday night.

Sandpoint has three major goals this season: claim the regular season league title, win the regional championship and be in contention to play for a state title.

Tipoff for tonight’s game is set for 7 p.m. at Les Rogers Court.