Priest River pulls away from Clark Fork to secure 10th win
Priest River's Luke Butler (right) bends the corner and works his way past Clark Fork's Carter Sanroman on Tuesday at PRLHS.
(Photo by DYLAN GREENE)
Priest River's Jordan Nortz (left) tries to sneak a pass behind Clark Fork's Chris Wade on Tuesday.
(Photo by DYLAN GREENE)
Priest River's Jace Yount converts a layup during the first quarter of Tuesday's game.
(Photo by DYLAN GREENE)
PRIEST RIVER — Despite only having seven players on the bench, Priest River was able to find a way to take down Clark Fork 56-37 on Tuesday night and complete a season sweep of the Wampus Cats.
The Spartans were without Trentyn Kreager and Blake Barrett. Both are sidelined with injuries and the timetable for their return is unknown, head coach Kevin Wylie said.
"Our roster is a little thin and we playing out of our normal rotation," he said, "but I thought we played hard and we were able to get the win."
With two starters out, Jordan Nortz and Jace Yount stepped up in a big way for the Spartans. Nortz hit four 3-pointers and scored a game-high 20 points while Yount had 14 points.
"Teigan [Marinello] did a great job feeding Jace Yount the ball both in the half court and in transition," Wylie said.
The Spartans jumped out to a 15-6 first-quarter lead, but Clark Fork was down by just eight at the half.
In the third quarter, Priest River took off and outscored the Wampus Cats 18-5 to cruise to their 10th win of the season.
Cameron Garcia led Clark Fork with 14 points and Sam Barnett poured in 12.
Clark Fork head coach Heath Beason said Garcia and Barnett played extremely well, but his team needs to do a better job of getting everyone on the court on the same page.
"We can't seem to stop turning the ball over and just playing with no confidence," Beason said. "We were down by eight at the half and four quick turnovers cost us about 12 points."
Travis Mathews also scored 10 points for the Spartans.
The Spartans (10-5) head to Wallace at 7 p.m. Friday, before traveling to Bonners Ferry on Monday for a key Intermountain League matchup.
"We need to get healthy and be ready for the final push before the district tournament," Wylie said.
Clark Fork (1-11) plays the Kellogg JV team at 7 p.m. Friday.
Clark Fork 6 11 5 15 — 37
Priest River 15 10 18 13 — 56
CLARK FORK — Garcia 14, Sanroman 4, Reuter 3, Barnett 12, Shelton 4, Wade 0.
PRIEST RIVER — Marinello 2, Butler 5, Thompson 0, J. Nortz 20, Yount 14, Mathews 10, D. Nortz 5.
