Bulldogs hang with talented Lake City squad

COEUR d'ALENE — Sandpoint boys basketball went toe-to-toe with the fourth ranked team in 5A for three quarters, but a slow first quarter came back to bite the Bulldogs in a 77-61 loss at Lake City on Friday night.

The Timberwolves outscored SHS 19-8 in the opening quarter.

"They are a very good team and they hit some big shots throughout the game," head coach Wade Engelson said, "and I liked how our guys battled back. Even though we got off to a rough start, nobody hung their head, we regrouped and our guys went out there and they competed."

Sophomore Arie VanDenBerg knocked down five 3-pointers and finished with 17 points. Senior Darren Bailey scored 12 points, junior Jacob Eldridge tallied 11 and sophomore Colin Roos added 8.

Engelson said his squad learned a lot from this game.

"In a game like today, we get to see where we are," he said. "Lake City is a team that can compete for a state championship at the 5A level, they are that good. And we get to come out and we play against them, and it's actually a great thing because now we see how good teams are going to defend us, we see how teams are going to attack us and then if we can be successful with that, we're going to be a good team, and that's part of it. We grew from this game."

The Bulldogs (1-2) host Timberlake in their home opener at 7 p.m. Thursday.

Sandpoint 8 18 15 20 — 61

Lake City 19 22 18 18 — 77

SANDPOINT — Roos 8, Frank 2, R. Lee 4, Eldridge 11, VanDenBerg 17, Bailey 12, S. Lee 0, Larson 3, Butler 4.

LAKE CITY — Buchanan 12, Janke 5, Irvin 10, Kiesbuy 13, Spellman 2, Johnson 8, Mitchell 15, Meredith 12, Bowman 0.