Road warrior Spartans fall short at Kellogg
(Photo by DYLAN GREENE) Senior Caden Brennan elevates for a layup during a game at Sandpoint last Friday.
The Priest River boys basketball team had a jammed pack week of games including playing three games in three days.
The Spartans made it through the grueling road schedule with a 2-2 record. The team’s latest game came Tuesday night at Kellogg where Priest River fell to 0-2 in Intermountain League play with a 60-35 loss to the Wildcats.
Saturday night, Priest River picked up their fifth victory of the season with a thrilling 42-41 win at North Idaho Christian.
Senior Cole Thompson was the hero, scoring the go-ahead basket on a goaltending call with a minute and a half left.
Sophomore Trentyn Kreager led the team with 15 points and senior Jayden Hahn added 10.
It was nice bounce back win for the Spartans after suffering a 32-point loss at Sandpoint on Friday.
In that game, Priest River struggled early on committing three straight turnovers to start the contest and five in the first four minutes as they fell behind 15-0.
In the second quarter the Spartans made a run cutting the Bulldogs’ lead down to 8 points before Sandpoint stretched its advantage back to 15 at halftime.
“One thing we’ve talked about lately has been our slow starts ... so we knew that was going to happen,” head coach Kevin Wylie said after the game, “but second quarter turned out a little bit better. We started to find some gaps, getting some easier buckets and then we were getting stops on defense.”
In the second half, Priest River came out focused and determined to break down Sandpoint’s zone defense and once again they cut the Bulldogs lead in half. Unfortunately, the Spartans were unable to sustain it and before they knew it the game was out of reach.
“I’ve told these guys all year, we have the athleticism to play with anybody it’s just more we got to stay focused for 32 minutes and understand that this game is a game of runs,” Wylie said after.
Senior Caden Brennan led the team with 12 points and six rebounds while Kreager tallied 10 points.
Wylie said his team has shown signs of greatness throughout the season, but has lacked consistency.
“We’ve struggled the last two years in our program,” he said, “and that’s what I told the guys tonight, rebuilding a program to get a positive and winning mentality is tough to do so if these guys stick with the process and allow it to just develop, we’ll be fine.”
Priest River kicked off the week of road contests last Thursday with a 57-45 win over Immaculate Conception Academy.
Brennan, Kreager and freshman Jace Yount each scored in double figures.
The Spartans (5-7, 0-2 IML) host North Idaho Christian 7 p.m. Thursday and Bonners Ferry 7 p.m. Saturday.