Wampus Cats come close, but fall to Badgers

BONNERS FERRY—- The Wampus Cats girl varsity basketball team came within five of the Bonners Ferry Badgers junior varsity team in the last minute of the game, on Jan. 14, but then the Badgers sank a three-pointer and took the win over Clark Fork 48-40.

The Wampus Cats came back from an 11 point deficit in the fourth quarter with only four minutes left in the game.

“We have the tendency to start slow in the first quarter, it is something we are working on,” Clark Fork head coach Jordan Adams told the Daily Bee.

Adams said a key for the Wampus Cats to be successful is having their defense show up in the beginning of the game and executing more on offense. By the end of the game the team digs deep and finds holes to drive. The goal is to get this happening earlier.

Amari Printz-Hay locked down the defense for Clark fork and nabbed a lot of rebounds, Adams said.

Prints-hay had several key defense rebounds that kept the Badgers at bay in the last minutes of the game. She also had several steals in the fourth quarter, as the Wampus Cats picked up momentum.

“Lilly Rueter shot the ball well and kept us in the game,” assistant coach Chris Cavanaugh-Bafus said.

Rueter led Clark Fork with 13 points and made three three-pointers that inspired Wampus Cats offense.

Rylie Kimball, for Bonners Ferry, was the lead scorer of the game with 20 points.

The Wampus Cats enter league play next week and the team is looking forward to it, Adams said.

“It is always nice to go back into league play, especially after playing larger schools,” she said.

She added playing larger schools in the area gives the Wampus Cats a leg up against the competition.

Clark Fork 7 13 3 17–40

Bonners Ferry 11 14 10 13—48

Clark Fork: Leadbetter 0, Myers 9, Shelton 7, Rueter 13, Printz-Hay 0, Herrick 0, Matteson 2, Scarlett 0, Thompson 9, Berscheid 0.

Bonners Ferry: Cartwright 0, Petesch 9, Baisden 7, Kimball 20, Jollay 3, Koehn 2, Mierke 2, Thomson 2.