Bulldogs fall to Bonneville, play Caldwell for third place
(Photo courtesy of JASON DUCHOW PHOTOGRAPHY) Junior Hattie Larson drives toward the basket during the first half of Friday night’s 4A state semifinal game against Bonneville.
(Photo courtesy of JASON DUCHOW PHOTOGRAPHY) Freshman Daylee Driggs battles for a loose ball with a pair of Bonneville players Friday night.
(Photo courtesy of JASON DUCHOW PHOTOGRAPHY) Senior Maddie Morgan attempts a 3-pointer during the second half of Friday’s state semifinal game against Bonneville.
(Photo courtesy of JASON DUCHOW PHOTOGRAPHY) Senior Dawson Driggs goes up for a rebound against Bonneville on Friday night.
BOISE — Sandpoint girls basketball saw its run at their first 4A state title come to an abrupt end Friday night as the Bulldogs fell to Bonneville 48-26 in the semifinals.
Sandpoint will now play Caldwell in the third place game at 10 a.m. PST Saturday at Timberline High School.
Head coach Will Love told his team after the game that they still have plenty to play for Saturday morning.
“We still have an opportunity to finish third in the state which I think would be fitting for this team,” he said. “Caldwell is not going to make it easy, they’re going to want to do the same thing, but I think the big thing is that we can still cement our legacy if we can pull off the win.”
Turnovers plagued the Bulldogs in their loss to the Bees as they had 20 including seven in the first quarter.
Despite just scoring 5 points in the opening quarter, Sandpoint only trailed by 4 entering the second quarter. Freshman Kelsey Cessna converted back-to-back baskets early in the second to pull the Bulldogs within 1 point of Bonneville.
The Bees would then stretch their lead out to 13-9 midway through the second forcing Love to take a timeout. Following the timeout, junior Kaylee Banks drilled a 3-pointer and freshman Daylee Driggs got a steal and a basket to give Sandpoint a 14-13 lead for the first time in the game.
Then the Bees silenced the Bulldogs for the final three minutes of the first half going on a 15-0 run to take a 28-14 lead into the locker room. Bonneville’s Sadie Lott scored 9 points during that stretch and finished with 24 on the night.
Love said the Bulldogs got away from their offensive game plan — which was to limit Bonneville’s possessions — late in the second quarter. That allowed the Bees to pull away.
“Bonneville did a good job of getting our defense on one side of the floor,” Love said, “and when they did that they were able to put Lott over on the backside. They got some nice skip passes to her and she showed why she’s one of the best players in the state of Idaho.”
Things wouldn’t get better for Sandpoint in the second half as the Bees extended their lead to 22 points with just under two minutes left in the third quarter. The Bulldogs went scoreless for a nine minute stretch spanning the second and third quarter. Junior Hattie Larson broke the scoring drought with 1:33 left in the third when she knocked down a pair of free throws.
The Bulldogs shrunk the Bonneville lead to 14 points with a pair of quick baskets in the fourth but it was too late for a rally.
After Sandpoint took its only lead of the game in the second quarter, the Bees outscored Sandpoint 35-12.
Despite the loss, Love felt the Bulldogs (17-8) went toe-to-toe with a 26-0 Bonneville team for stretches of the game.
“I’m really proud of our kids effort tonight,” he said. “[The girls] played really hard for all 32 minutes and if it wasn’t for a three minute stretch there, we might have been in a position to get a win. The kids didn’t give up and we were trying to make the most epic fourth quarter comeback ever in the history of Idaho high school basketball but it just didn’t work out.”
Senior Dawson Driggs led the team with 9 points. Banks finished with 7 and Cessna added 6.
Sandpoint 5 9 4 8 — 26
Bonneville 9 19 8 12 — 48
SANDPOINT — Cessna 6, Day. Driggs 2, Morgan 0, Daw. Driggs 9, Edwards 0, Steiger 0, Phillips 0, Larson 2, Banks 7.
BONNEVILLE — Harker 0, Lott 24, Ehlert 0, Ma. Sorensen 9, Cunningham 2, Faulkner 0, Jardine 2, Hunt 4, Leishman 5, Harrigfeld 0, Pettingill 2.