Priest River girls end losing skid, still winless in league play
(Photo by DYLAN GREENE) Senior Cassidy Prudek looks to put up a shot last Thursday against North Idaho Christian.
(Photo by DYLAN GREENE) Senior Maddy Rusho prepares to elevate to put up a shot over a Royals defender last Thursday.
(Photo by DYLAN GREENE) Junior Makia Fitzmorris drives just outside the paint and puts up a shot over two Royals defenders last Thursday.
The Priest River girls basketball team put an end to a four-game losing streak last Thursday. But with a 65-21 loss to Timberlake on Tuesday night, the Lady Spartans finished the regular season winless in Intermountain League play.
The Tigers, one of the best 3A teams in the state, had already wrapped up the league regular season title and the No. 1 seed to the 3A District I tournament prior to Tuesday’s game. They will host the No. 4 Spartans at 5:30 p.m. Monday in the opening contest of the regional tourney.
Priest River lost to Timberlake by a combined score of 131-32 plus in two regular season matchups.
The Spartans hosted Bonners Ferry in a league game Saturday and fell 62-33.
The Badgers were hard to stop as they shot 50 percent from the field and 3-point range in the game.
Its hard to keep up with any team that knocks down shots at that rate and Priest River was unable to, shooting 30 percent in the game.
However, the Spartans did convert 12 of 15 free throw attempts and head coach Gary Stewart was encouraged by what he saw from his team as they experimented with different sets and defenses in preparation for the league tourney.
“Our press break was better this time around,” Stewart wrote in an email, “but we still have stretches where fatigue and lack of focus causes us to turn the ball over and create easy opportunities.”
Junior Hannah Palfrey led the team with 11 points while senior Karah Fink added 10.
Priest River stopped a four-game losing skid Thursday at home against North Idaho Christian, beating the Royals 47-44 in overtime.
It was a game that became a thriller after early on it looked the Spartans were going to maintain control throughout, taking a 13-7 first quarter lead.
But an onslaught of turnovers by Priest River in the second half allowed North Idaho to climb back into it and capture their first lead of the game, 25-24, at the end of the third quarter.
While battling foul trouble, the Spartans were tasked with trying to complete a comeback. Early in the fourth quarter, things weren’t looking good as the Royals stretched their lead to four but NIC was unable to convert free throws down the stretch and left the door open for Priest River.
The Spartans took advantage as Palfrey knocked down a handful of key free throws to help force overtime with the score tied at 33-33.
In overtime, Fink inserted her will on the game and the Spartans held off a scrappy Royals team.
Foul trouble hampered the Spartans most of the night as Adrie Minish, Makia Fitzmorris and Palfrey all fouled out in the fourth quarter or overtime.
“Every game it seems like we’re in that situation where I’ve got two, three starters that are in foul trouble,” Stewart said after the game. “Our problem is we don’t have a lot of post players. That puts a ton of pressure on us when [Fink] gets fouls and [Minish] gets fouls.”
Priest River had 33 turnovers in the game. Fink had 27 points, 13 rebounds, five steals and four blocks while Palfrey tallied 13 points.
Stewart was proud of the fight his team showed for never giving up, but said the Spartans might have took their opponent lightly.
“We were real fortunate to come out of that game with a win,” he said. “We gave them every opportunity to come back and they actually did take control of that game.”
The Spartans (4-14, 0-6 IML) host Genesis Prep in their final regular season game for senior night at 7 p.m. Friday before taking on Timberlake in the district tourney Monday.