Lady Cats cruise past Kellogg JV

CLARK FORK — It looks like the Lady Cats have found their groove.

After going winless in their first five games, Clark Fork has reeled off three victories in four games after taking down Kellogg JV 51-25 on Thursday night.

The Lady Cats got revenge on the Wildcats after losing to them 45-38 in Kellogg on Dec. 5. And the second game went much differently than the first as Clark Fork controlled Thursday night’s contest from the opening tip.

All but one Lady Cat that took the court scored and sophomore Katelyn Matteson led them all with 18 points, seven steals and six rebounds.

“She’s a pure shooter,” head coach Jordan Adams said about Matteson. “She’s comfortable with the ball, she gets it. When that girl is set, she does not miss very often.”

Adams was proud of the depth her team showed and praised the starters for building a big enough lead to give the younger players some playing time to build confidence.

“That’s part of what I love about where we’re at is,” Adams said, “even though were a small school the girls that do stick it out they want to be here so its pretty easy to stick them in and get them some playing time.”

Both teams struggled offensively early in the first quarter but then Matteson made her presence known by making a 3-pointer and knocking down a jumper to kick-start the Lady Cats offense. Clark Fork went on a 8-0 run after trailing 6-5 halfway through the opening quarter to grab a 15-8 lead after eight minutes of action.

The second quarter saw the Lady Cats maintain their lead despite committing several turnovers. Clark Fork led 27-17 at the half.

“The second half of the second quarter I was getting a little worked up,” Adams said. “We had four [consecutive] turnovers that were just sloppy and messy and we called a timeout and they pulled it back together.”

Coming out of the locker room to start the second half, the Lady Cats ramped up their intensity on the defensive end forcing the Wildcats to make careless mistakes and take contested shots.

Clark Fork cruised in the final 16 minutes, holding Kellogg to just eight second half points.

Senior Ellie Kiebert tallied 9 points and six rebounds while freshman Emily Myers grabbed 7 points and six boards.

The Lady Cats (3-6) host the Post Falls C team 5:30 p.m. tonight.

Kellogg JV 8 9 4 4 — 25

Clark Fork 15 12 14 10 — 51

KELLOGG JV — Karst 3, Marek 0, Vanhoose 2, Larsen 2, Erickson 5, Reed 11, Milliron 2.

CLARK FORK — Matteson 18, Valliere 4, Myers 7, Yanik 4, Hathaway 5, Kiebert 9, Hoffman 4, Staley 0.