Bulldogs unable to seal top seed to regionals
Junior Daylee Driggs attempts a shot while falling to the floor during Saturday's game against Lakeland at Les Rogers Court. She scored a career-high 23 points.
(Photo courtesy of JASON DUCHOW PHOTOGRAPHY)
MOSCOW — Sandpoint girls basketball was unable to seal the deal Tuesday night at the Bear Den.
Moscow spoiled the Bulldogs' hopes of locking up the No. 1 seed to the 4A Region 1 tournament with a 39-33 Inland Empire League win over SHS.
The victory by the Bears sets up a pivotal game between the two rivals Friday at Les Rogers Court with the winner earning the top seed to regionals. Sandpoint and Moscow are both 2-5 in IEL play.
The Bulldogs had an opportunity to earn a road win late, but the Bears found a way to get it done.
"Moscow came out and they played discipline basketball the entire time," head coach Will Love said, "and when we were able to kind of make some runs, they did a good job of countering."
The Bulldogs got off to a bit of a rocky start, falling behind 10-3 five minutes into the game. But Kelsey Cessna kept Sandpoint afloat by scoring 8 points in the first quarter.
The score was knotted at 10-10 entering the second quarter. The two league foes traded the lead several times before the Bears created some separation to take a 20-16 lead into the break.
The Bears built a 7-point advantage heading into the fourth quarter and the game appeared to be slipping away from the Bulldogs. However, SHS found life.
A bucket by Aliya Strock about a minute and a half into the fourth allowed Sandpoint to crawl within a single point at 29-28.
Unfortunately, Moscow regained control with a couple lay-ins and did enough down the stretch to close things out.
In the final minutes, Love said Moscow made a simple adjustment and the Bulldogs didn't have an answer.
"We were doing a good job," he said, "and then they switched to a zone [defense] and I thought we ran some good stuff against it, but it kind of turned into some turnovers and some quick shots that we weren't able to execute."
Cessna scored a game-high 13 points. Strock had 7 points, Daylee Driggs 6 and Destiny Lyons.
"The big thing that killed us all night was giving up offensive rebounds," Love said, "and then just missing some shots that were really, really good looks, they just didn't fall in."
Love said his team wasn't at full strength, but they still left it all out on the court.
"I give the kids a lot of credit because they had to battle hard the entire night," he said, "and we were in position with a couple minutes left to go that if we hit a couple shots or grab a couple rebounds, then maybe we walk away with the win."
Sandpoint (9-8) hosts Moscow at 7 p.m. Friday to conclude the regular season. Love is glad the Bulldogs get to play the crucial game on their home court.
"I think you got to feel confident because they got to make the long trip," he said. "It should be a battle."
Sandpoint 10 6 6 11 — 33
Moscow 10 10 9 10 — 39
SANDPOINT — Cessna 13, Driggs 6, Reinink 2, Tomco 0, Owens 0, Strock 7, Lyons 5, Platte 0.
MOSCOW — Knott 0, A. Lassen 4, Heynes 7, Shreshtha 6, Watson 8, Thompson 3, J. Lassen 2, Johns 9.