Wampus Cats swept by Lakeside, host Kootenai in district loser-out game Monday

PLUMMER — Clark Fork boys basketball wrapped up the regular season Thursday night with a 89-36 loss at Lakeside.

The defeat dropped the Wampus Cats to 2-6 in North Star League play. No. 4 seed Clark Fork will host No. 5 seed Kootenai in a loser-out game in the 1A Division II District 1 tournament at 6 p.m. Monday. The Wampus Cats swept the Warriors in regular season action. If Clark Fork wins that game, they would face No. 1 seed Lakeside in a semifinal matchup 6 p.m. Tuesday at North Idaho College.

In a pair of regular season contests, the Wampus Cats have lost to Lakeside by a combined score of 183-67.

Thursday’s game couldn’t have started much worse for Clark Fork. They fell behind 48-10 at halftime. The Wampus Cats were able to hold their own in the second half but by then it was too late.

“We struggled from the start of the game,” head coach Heath Beason wrote in a text. “Shots wouldn’t fall, we couldn’t rebound and turnovers killed us. Our team fought to the end, just couldn’t get in sync. We knew it was going to be a tough game to win and we had to be on our A game and we just struggled.”

Junior Cameron Garcia scored 23 points while the rest of the Wampus Cats combined for just 13. Sophomore Carter San Roman tallied 5 and senior Paul Bopp added 4.

The game was originally scheduled to be played at Clark Fork this past Tuesday but the Wampus Cats (5-13) offered to play the game at Lakeside so the team could hold a senior night.

“I thank the Clark Fork coaches for making that happen,” Lakeside head coach James Twoteeth said. “They didn’t have to do that; it was much appreciated.”

Clark Fork 6 4 12 14 — 36

Lakeside 18 30 23 18 — 89

CLARK FORK — Garcia 23, J. Bopp 0, P. Bopp 4, San Roman 5, Reuter 3, Abbott 2, Matsutaro 0, Bailey 0, Constantin 0, Shelton 0, Steele 0.

LAKESIDE — Brown 16, Abuan 7, Higgins 6, White 14, Twoteeth 20, Spotted Horse 19, Matt 4, Arroyo 3.