Priest River falls short in Wallace
(Photo by KYLE CAJERO) Priest River’s Makia Fitzmorris shoots over a Bonners Ferry player during a game on Jan. 4.
WALLACE — The Priest River girls basketball team couldn’t overcome poor shooting as they fell 41-29 to Wallace on Tuesday night.
“We tried to full court press and run and gun in the first quarter so I was platooning kids to try and generate some points and it kind of backfired on us,” head coach Gary Stewart said.
Karah Fink led the way for the Spartans scoring 15 points.
But it wasn’t enough as the nine other players that stepped on the court for Priest River combined to score only 14 points.
The Lady Spartans fell behind early as they trailed 16-6 after the first quarter. They were able to cut the deficit in half in the second quarter to trail 19-14 at the half.
The third quarter saw Priest River step up on the offensive end and grab the lead. Eventually, the Miners would regain the lead to carry a one point advantage into the final quarter.
The Lady Spartans couldn’t keep up with the Miners in the fourth quarter as Wallace outscored them 15-4 to end Priest River’s hopes of an opening game victory.
“In the fourth quarter, we just didn’t have it,” Stewart said. “We ran out of energy and we had a really poor night shooting.”
The Lady Spartans will look to bounce back in their home opener 7 p.m. Saturday against Lakeside.
Priest River 6 8 11 4 — 29
Wallace 16 3 7 15 — 41
PRIEST RIVER — Maddy Rusho 3, Heather Pound 3, Karah Fink 15, Hannah Palfrey 5, Adrie Minish 3.
WALLACE — Johnson 4, House 19, Welch 3, Hill 7, Cielke 2, Bergem 6.