Sandpoint fights back, escapes Priest River with victory

PRIEST RIVER — The Spartans held the lead for three quarters, but Sandpoint battled back in the final eight minutes to escape Priest River with a 52-50 victory on Tuesday night.

The Spartans led 42-37 entering the fourth quarter. Slowly but surely, the Bulldogs chipped away at the advantage and halfway through the frame, they grabbed their first lead of the night at 45-44.

Priest River's Jordan Nortz buried a 3-pointer just about a minute later to knot the game at 47-47. But Sandpoint rode a Max Frank steal-and-score with 2:21 left the rest of the way to complete the comeback.

Both teams struggled to execute down the stretch and turnovers were being committed up and down the court. It was far from perfect, but Sandpoint head coach Mike Roos was proud of his team for fighting back and finding a way to win.

"They kept battling and again, I think that's going to be the theme of the season," he said. "We got to battle every night and take every game as our No. 1 game."

Priest River head coach Kevin Wylie said he felt like the Spartans let one get away.

"We just got to close it out and we just got to stay disciplined," Wylie said. 'We gave up a lot of offensive rebounds and then we had some turnovers that were really unforced turnovers. We got to be more calm and collected in situations like that."

Priest River went toe-to-toe with the 4A Bulldogs, and Wylie was proud of the Spartans' effort.

"We don't compare school sizes, we just know we're a talented team," he said. "We know we can compete with anyone, so I'm very happy about it just because it's a 4A school and we competed, and really had the win."

The Spartans were all over Sandpoint early and jumped out to a 13-2 lead thanks in large part to Nortz, who scored seven of the team's first nine points.

Sandpoint's Darren Bailey knocked down a 3-pointer in the closing seconds of the first quarter to cut the deficit to six, but Priest River fended off the Bulldogs in the second to take a 24-17 lead into the locker room.

The Bulldogs came out in the second half with a focus on feeding Colin Roos in the post, and it worked. Just over two minutes into the third quarter, Sandpoint tied the game at 26-26. But Priest River went on a 12-3 run to separate themselves once again.

The difference in the fourth quarter was Sandpoint's ability to rebound, Mike Roos said.

"I think we had seven to eight defensive rebounds right in a row," he said. "We did not let them get the second-chance points like we've been doing in the past, and we had three guys going up. Arie VanDenBerg was rebounding, Max Frank was rebounding and Colin Roos was rebounding."

Given the youth the Spartans have, Wylie said he expects his team to make mistakes, but they need to avoid getting rushed late in games. He added that his boys aren't satisfied with the loss.

"Hats off to them," Wylie said about Sandpoint. "They played hard and they came out with a better gameplan in the second half."

Nortz led all scorers with 19 points, and he also grabbed six steals.

Wylie said Nortz has a high basketball IQ and his range from the outside is limitless, making him a tough guard for any team.

"Jordan's always huge," Wylie said. "His defense is just nice because it brings a spark and he's sprinting back on defense and when they think they got a layup or they got an easy transition point, he just comes in and deflects the ball and gets a steal. That energy is uncoachable."

Trentyn Kreager had 14 points and Blake Barrett added eight points and four rebounds for the Spartans.

Colin Roos led the way for Sandpoint with 18 points and 18 rebounds. Bailey finished with 12 points and Frank, a freshman, added 10 points and six rebounds.

"He tore some rebounds down that were great to see from a freshman," Mike Roos said about Frank, "so he was being very aggressive on the defensive end and the offensive end."

Mike Roos said the Bulldogs' inexperience playing in close games showed down the stretch, and they learned a lot from this back-and-forth contest.

"We haven't really played in a real tight game all year where it's within one or two points ... and so we didn't play consistently well through that and we had way too many turnovers, but that's pressure," he said.

The Bulldogs shot just over 43 percent from the free-throw line.

Sandpoint (4-6) plays Coeur d'Alene at 7 p.m. Thursday at Les Rogers Court, while Priest River (7-3) hosts St. Maries at the same time at PRLHS.

Sandpoint 7 10 20 15 — 52

Priest River 13 11 18 8 — 50

SANDPOINT — Roos 18, Pettit 4, Frank 10, R. Lee 0, Eldridge 1, VanDenBerg 0, Bailey 12, S. Lee 2, Larson 2, Lane 2, Butler 1.

PRIEST RIVER — Mathews 2, Butler 3, J. Nortz 19, Kreager 14, Marinello 0, Barrett 8, D. Nortz 2, Thompson 0, Yount 2.