‘We can do some damage’: Bulldogs battle Burley at state

BOISE — This season for Sandpoint girls’ basketball has been one that will be remembered for years to come.

A number of memories have been sprinkled throughout it from Dawson Driggs’ game winning 3-pointer at the buzzer against Timberlake early in the season to the Bulldogs claiming a victory over Lewiston for the first time in at least 10 years to Sandpoint finishing undefeated in Inland Empire League play and taking down rival Lakeland in the district championship series to earn a trip to state. The list of moments goes on and on.

But the storybook season isn’t over yet as the team opens play in the 4A state championship in Boise at 5:15 p.m. PST tonight against Burley.

It’s been quite the journey for the Bulldogs who finished 5-15 last year but have flipped the script this season to sit at 16-7 heading into state.

And the girls on the team had a chance to reflect on that journey this past weekend and are still soaking it in.

“It’s been emotional for me,” senior Maddie Morgan said. “I look back on the film and I’m like, ‘wow that was my last game at Les Rogers Court,’ it’s a weird feeling. It’s been a long time, a lot of ups and downs and so I’ve just been trying to be grateful for all the things that have been given to me.”

For junior Kaylee Banks, this experience has been like a dream.

“I think it’s one of my favorite seasons of basketball I’ve ever played because I feel like everyone on the team gets along pretty well,” she said, “and since we were successful this year it just made everything a lot more fun.”

But how does a team turn things around so dramatically in just one year. Well one way is hunger.

When a team has a disappointing season they can either allow that to affect them the following year or turn the page and comeback with a renewed desire to take down every opponent that stands in their way. This team certainly took on the latter attitude and it has helped carry them to this point.

“I think everyone this year had that driving passion to win,” senior Dawson Driggs said. “Last year we were kind of just lagging on, we weren’t really motivated but this year I think every person on the team wanted to get to state, wanted to win our league, wanted to redeem ourselves from last year because we knew we had the potential to do that so I think everyone was on board this year.”

It also takes a lot of hard work and determination to comeback as strong as the Bulldogs did this season. From summer league to getting up for 8 a.m. practices on Saturdays, the players put in the time to improve and its something head coach Will Love has praised them for all season.

“There’s no quit in these girls and you see that through our record this year from last year,” Love said. “That’s who these girls are.”

What Love enjoys most about the character of this year’s team is they are never satisfied.

“They all want to get better and they understand they haven’t reached their zenith, they still have a long ways to go,” he said.

And all the blood, sweat and tears paid off when the Bulldogs were able to raise the district trophy last Friday night at Les Rogers Court and cut down the net on one of the baskets which is something they’ve never done before.

Love said Athletic Director Kris Knowles and the rest of the administration came up with the idea and Morgan was the first one who climbed up on the ladder and used scissors to cut down a piece of the net. Each member of the team now has a piece of the net to hang onto for the rest of their lives and they all hope it becomes a tradition for years to come.

“It was really special,” Driggs said, “and you see it on TV of teams cutting down the nets and it was cool to finally be in that position and to get to keep a part of it even, so it’s something we’re going to remember forever.”

And of course, the girls have been the stars of the school over the past few days and they’re enjoying it quite a bit.

“Everyone’s been really nice and supportive and saying ‘hey good job,’” freshman Kelsey Cessna said.

“Every time I walk into a classroom all my teachers are like congratulating me,” Banks added. “It’s cool walking through the hallways and everyone’s like ‘oh hey that girl plays basketball.’”

For Cessna, the state experience isn’t anything new as she was apart of the Sandpoint girls soccer team that claimed the 4A state title just about four months ago. In fact, the Bulldogs shouldn’t be overwhelmed by the moment one bit with the amount of experience they boast. Sandpoint’s five seniors were apart of the team’s in 2017 and 2018 that both went two and out at state.

But this time around, the Bulldogs know they can make some noise in Boise if they stay focused, keep their composure and play the way they have all season.

“I think this year we can do some damage at state,” Driggs said. “I’m really excited because this year I think we have a chance to compete with teams and give them a run for their money and win games at state.”

Love said he is looking forward to his team getting the opportunity to face some tough competition and wants them to take the tourney one game at a time and not try to shoot for a certain place at state.

The Bulldogs will certainly be tested in their opening game with Burley. The Bobcats are 15-9 this season and were the District 4 runner-up behind defending state champion Century. Burley is led by freshman point guard Amari Whiting who is averaging over 20 points, four rebounds and five steals per game. Whiting has already received a handful of Division I offers including one from BYU. Only one other player averages double figures in points for the Bobcats.

Love said Whiting is a matchup nightmare and will give the Bulldogs fits all night if they can’t slow her down.

Love added that he wants his team to take care of the ball and rebound against a Burley team that excels at doing just that.

“The one thing that’s kind of been an issue for us all year is our rebounding and so we really have to focus on that,” he said. “We’re not the tallest team but there’s some times where we’ve gotten beaten pretty bad on the boards and at state we can’t let that happen.”

Meanwhile, Sandpoint will counter with Banks, Cessna, Driggs, Morgan and junior Hattie Larson who have all shown the capability to have breakout games this season. Senior Brooklen Steiger has also given the Bulldogs valuable minutes off the bench down the stretch and can easily cause some problems for the Bobcats.

From contest-to-contest this season, it’s been a guessing game when it comes to figuring out which Bulldog is going to shine and the team takes plenty of pride in the depth they’ve shown.

“I like to think about that when we’re scouting other teams and they’re like we need to look for this person and this person,” Morgan said. “I always think man they have to look for all four of us or all five of us. Its very unpredictable but good in a way.”

Driggs said the versatility of all the players on the team makes Sandpoint hard to stop.

“Any person that comes out on the court for us is a threat and they need to be afraid of them because you don’t know who is going to go off and who is going to step up,” she said.

The experience of going to state is something all high schools athletes get excited about and for Cessna she is looking forward to building even closer relationships with her teammates on the nine hour bus ride.

“We’ve all really gotten along,” she said, “and we all have some inside jokes now and its been really fun. We just laugh so much.”

Morgan, on the other hand, is looking forward to the free food. Driggs, Banks and Cessna all nodded in agreement.

This is the final time the Bulldogs’ five seniors will put on a Sandpoint jersey and Driggs and Morgan plan on taking it all in.

Love said this group of seniors earned this trip to state and he is happy they get to enjoy this experience one last time.

“I remember them as junior high kids coming to our games,” he said, “and watching Madi Schoening and Grace Kirscher and those teams that did well, so I’ve known these kids for six, seven years and I’m excited that I get this last opportunity with them. It’s also going to be kind of sad because we’ve traveled a lot together, we’ve gone through our ups and downs so at the end I’m going to be sad because I’m going to miss these girls, but I just hope we can go out swinging.”

If you can’t make it to the game, you can listen to it on KSPT 1400 AM or 97.1 FM with Bob Witte. You can also watch the game and all the other girls basketball state tournament matchups online by purchasing a subscription to nfhsnetwork.com. Cost is $10.99 a month or $69.99 for a year.