Bulldogs unable to contain potent Lake City attack
Junior Daylee Driggs drives toward the basket during a game earlier this month at home at Les Rogers Court. Driggs scored 12 points for the Bulldogs in a win over the Kaveman in the opening round of the Timber-Lion Tournament at Borah High.
(Photo courtesy of JASON DUCHOW PHOTOGRAPHY)
Destiny Lyons saves a ball from going out of bounds Tuesday.
(Photo courtesy of JASON DUCHOW PHOTOGRAPHY)
Tru Tomco hits a 3-pointer during Tuesday's game.
(Photo courtesy of JASON DUCHOW PHOTOGRAPHY)
SANDPOINT — A 3-point barrage was the difference in Tuesday's 5A-4A Inland Empire League battle at Les Rogers Court.
Lake City knocked down 10 3-pointers en route to a 63-35 victory over Sandpoint girls basketball.
The 10-0 Timberwolves, the second ranked team in the state, had four players drill a shot from long range and head coach Will Love said that ability to stretch the floor put a lot of stress on the Bulldogs' defense.
"It's really tough because it's not like it's one of them that's a really good shooter," he said. "With this Lake City team, they have weapons all over the place."
In the first half though, Sandpoint hung around and kept things interesting. After one quarter, the Bulldogs were only down 18-11.
But the Timberwolves used a 11-1 run in the second quarter to separate themselves and take a 17-point lead into halftime.
The scoreboard was lopsided, but the play on the court in the first half said something different. SHS was controlling the tempo as best as they could and getting quality looks on the offensive end thanks to their patience.
The Bulldogs even got Lake City in a bit of foul trouble, but they were unable to make the Timberwolves pay. Sandpoint was 1 of 9 from the free-throw line in the first half.
"We were actually doing some great things, we just weren't able to reward ourselves in the first half from the free-throw line," Love said.
Lake City continued to add to its lead in the second half and it seemed like every time Sandpoint was building a smidge of momentum, the Timberwolves answered with a 3.
The Bulldogs were determined to slow down the game against the Timberwolves and Love said his team executed that part of the game plan really well.
This is the most points Sandpoint has scored against a 5A IEL opponent this season. It wasn't a win, but Love was pleased with the effort from his squad.
"They really had to expend a lot of energy on the defensive end," he said, "and so for them to come down and be able to get some baskets was a great thing."
The Bulldogs showed plenty of improvement from the first matchup between these two squads on Nov. 18 when SHS lost 65-21 at Lake City.
Anna Reinink led the team in scoring with 8. Tru Tomco and Sofia Platte each had 7, Destiny Lyons added 6 and Kelsey Cessna finished with 4 points, five assists and three rebounds. Daylee Driggs also grabbed five rebounds.
"It was nice to see the kids were looking for each other," Love said.
Sandpoint (2-5, 0-3 IEL) will carry some confidence into Friday's matchup with Lewiston at Les Rogers Court. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. It's the Bulldogs last league game against a 5A school.
Lake City 18 17 17 11 — 63
Sandpoint 11 7 10 7 — 35
LAKE CITY — Ke. Pickford 16, Ka. Pickford 11, Bowman 0, Zufelt 10, Waddington 11, McKellips 5, Reynolds 10, Zimmerman 0.
SANDPOINT — K. Cessna 4, De. Driggs 0, Da. Driggs 1, Reinink 8, P. Cessna 0, Tomco 7, Richardson 0, Owens 0, Strock 0, Lyons 6, Platte 7.
