Silver Valley Sport Recap Dec.4-10
Courtesy photos Erik Brackebusch attempts a lay-in during the Miners double overtime loss to St. Maries on Friday.
Above: Jesse Campbell was the lone championship winner for Kellogg during the George Wild Tournament. Left: Judson Hall took second in his weight class.
Miner Jen Hayman launches a 3-pointer during Wallace’s game with Kellogg.
Miners fall in double-OT thriller
WALLACE — A budding rivalry between the Wallace Miners and the St. Maries Lumberjacks turned into a full fledged war on Friday night when the Miners fell to the Lumberjacks 89-83 in double overtime.
St. Maries opened up a big lead early and really kept the Miners at bay for the first half.
Lumberjack Jackson Pritchard couldn’t miss as he shot 100 percent from the floor en route to 20 of his team high 25 points in the first half.
Wallace trailed 39-26 headed into the half, but that is where things got really REALLY interesting.
The Lumberjacks continued their offensive assault on Wallace, turning their 13-point lead into a 20-point lead just a few minutes into the third quarter, but then WHS junior Zack Welch came alive.
Welch showed his range from deep and over a four-minute span proceeded to score 14 points of his own to cut into the Lumberjack lead.
But, the high intensity play the Miners used came with its problems as foul trouble plagued them for the entire second half.
The Miners took advantage of St. Maries’ own foul troubles as well converting 28 of their 37 free-throw attempts to help keep their comeback alive.
An Erik Brackebusch 3-pointer tied the game at 64, forcing the first overtime.
In the first OT Wallace continued to attack the basket and get to the foul line, fouling out the Lumberjacks’ two best ball handlers in the process.
With 20 seconds left the Miners held a 4-point lead as St. Maries’ Tristan Sampson stepped to the line for two shots, he connected on the first one, missed the second one, and then somehow ended up with the rebound in the corner where he banged home a 3-pointer to send the game into a second OT.
Overtime No. 2 was played at a more deliberate pace as both teams were relying on reserve players and non-ball handlers to orchestrate their offenses, but Tyler Lohman of St. Maries scored the final nine points for the Lumberjacks to put the game out of reach for Wallace.
Welch led all scorers with 26 points, but was followed by freshman Carter Bailey who had 17 of his own, while Brackebusch chipped in 14.
Eight players fouled out during the contest.
Wallace head coach Corey Miller liked what he saw from his team in terms of intensity and willingness to compete, but didn’t like how limited he was at the end of the game.
“I thought we played real hard, but we started to run out of players towards the end,” Miller said. “We were down by as many as 20 in the third and just kept playing one possession at a time and rallied back. Zack Welch hit some real big shots for us down the stretch.”
Tuesday, Dec. 5
Bonners Ferry 63, Wallace 53: The Miners got behind early and couldn’t recover as the host Badgers got out to a hot start. Wallace was led by Zack Welch with 19 points.
MULLAN BOYS BASKETBALL
Tuesday, Dec. 5
Mullan 61, Clark Fork 50: Seth Dechand and Riley Trogden combined for 31 of Mullan’s 61 points during their game at Clark Fork. Mullan led by as much as 25 points, but Clark Fork wouldn’t go away.
“This was a great win for the Mullan boys in Clark Fork,” coach Dan Fritz said. “We still have a lot to work on and clean up, but a solid win. Clark Fork battled back well and forced us to put the press back on. They have a ton of hustle.”
KELLOGG BOYS BASKETBALL
Friday, Dec. 8
Shadle Park 53, Kellogg 51: The Kellogg Wildcats came up just short but showcased their ability to play with the bigger schools out of Washington on Friday when they went on the road against the Highlanders.
Chase Jerome finished with 19 points for the Wildcats while Tyler Gibbons chipped in 14 points of his own.
KELLOGG GIRLS BASKETBALL
Wednesday, Dec. 6
Post Falls JV 56, Kellogg 35: Kellogg girls couldn’t get their offense going against the host Trojan JV squad.
Kellogg’s JV beat the Post Falls freshmen 37-35.
Saturday, Dec. 9
Kellogg 34, Wallace 23: The Wildcats made it a clean sweep of the Miners for the season as they picked up their third win of the year over Wallace.
Kellogg was without leading scorer Kaili Cates, which changed the strategy for both teams.
After one half of play the score was a competitive 21-15 in favor of the Wildcats, but Kellogg’s defense clamped down in the second half.
“Defensively, we had a much better game against Kellogg than in our previous two times,” Wallace head coach Nichole Farkas said. “We held them to 34 points (the past 2 times they scored 50+ points on us.) But we had way too many turnovers and couldn’t get much going offensively.”
Hayley Oertli led the Miners with 12-points.
No stats were received for Kellogg.
Kellogg’s JV beat Wallace 42-15.
KELLOGG WRESTLING
George Wild Tournament, Dec. 8-9
KELLOGG — The young Wildcats had a decent showing at their signature home tournament, finishing eighth out of 15 teams with six wrestlers placing inside the top six of their respective divisions.
Jesse Campbell (132) was the lone champion to emerge for the Wildcats while Judson Hall (126) and Taylor Bush (120) each finished as the runner up.
Head coach Scott Miller was pleased to see his young team compete well in the tournament and liked the effort he saw from them throughout the event.
“We are a young team but we felt we wrestled well at times, which is to be expected at this time of year,” Miller said. “Our kids worked hard this weekend and gave a good showing of themselves.”
Miller was excited for Campbell, who needed some momentum after a tough start to his season.
“I’m really happy for Jesse Campbell. He had a tough week last weekend, but since then has reeled off 10 straight and is wrestling well. He earned his title.
“Taylor Bush and Judson Hall wrestled well this weekend.”
Among the other Wildcat grapplers competing Dakota Eisenberger, Austin Stepro, and Austin Manty had solid showings in their weight divisions as well.
This event is a special one for the program as they remember and honor the late George Wild.
“I want to thank everyone involved in putting together and running this tournament this weekend,” Miller said. “It's a big endeavor and we want to do it right because George Wild was such an important supporter of wrestling and all sports in the Silver Valley. It's always wonderful to get to see Delilah Wild, who always comes and supports us this weekend. It's a great way to start our season.”
Final Team Scores:
1. Post Falls 207.5; 2. Orofino 179.0; 3. Clearwater Valley 168.5; 4. Eureka 148.5; 5. Lakeland 147.0; 6. Bonners Ferry 135.0; 7. Potlatch 134.0; 8. Kellogg 114.0; 9. Priest River 106.5; 10. Coeur d’Alene 59.0; 11. Sandpoint 45.0; 12. Grangeville 31.0; 13. Wallace 24.0; 14. Timberlake 22.0; 15. Prairie 20.0