Silver Valley Sports Wrap

By JOSH MCDONALD

Staff Reporter

Wallace boys basketball

WALLACE — It became very apparent on Saturday night that right now the Silver Valley’s best hoops are being played in Wallace.

After beating St. Maries the night before in an overtime thriller that saw the Miners lose Carter Bailey for (presumptively) the rest of the season, as well as the physical nature of the game in and of itself, Wallace had every reason to phone it in against Kellogg.

They did not.

Instead, they unleashed a second half offensive onslaught on Kellogg that the Wildcats were completely unable to stop.

Even after starting senior guard Hunter Stutzke left the game with a broken wrist, it didn’t matter.

The Miners just kept pouring it on.

Wallace took a 24-13 lead headed into the break, which felt a lot closer based on how both offenses had struggled up until that point.

Instead of both teams coming out offensively rejuvenated, Wallace turned the game into a three-point shooting contest with themselves and ran away from the Wildcats for the second time in eight days.

Many folks began wondering when the last time it was that Wallace beat Kellogg twice in one season, or even in back-to-back matchups.

No one can remember, but it’s a guarantee the players involved will.

Perhaps no moment summed up the Miners’ dominance better than when in the second half, after picking up a technical foul, Wallace senior Erik Brackebusch wasn’t in the mood to hear any of the remarks from the Wildcat bench and simply looked at them and pointed at the scoreboard.

The undefeated Miners were led by Zach Welch and Triston Neubauer, who each chipped in 15 points; Logan Brantz finished with 11; and Brackebusch and Logan Hull each had nine.

Kellogg was led in scoring by Brennan Atkins who had 15 points to lead the Wildcats.

Wallace — 70

St. Maries — 67 (OT)

WALLACE — Erik Brackebusch converted on a late basket and free throw to give the Miners the lead for good in overtime, and Wallace downed the Lumberjacks at Kirby Krulitz Court.

Zack Welch scored 19 points and Logan Hull added 13 points for Wallace.

Eli Gibson scored 15 points and Jackson Pritchard added 12 for St. Maries.

St. Maries 16 17 11 13 10 — 67

Wallace 18 18 9 12 13 — 70

ST. MARIES — Hill 5, Pritchard 12, Nelson 2, Lohman 4, Sands 9, Gibson 15, Hammond 10, Howard 8.

WALLACE — Welch 19, Brackebusch 22, Stutzke 12, Neubauer 0, Brantz 2, Bailey 2, Hull 13.

Kellogg boys basketball

Tuesday, Dec. 4

Kellogg — 53

Lakeland — 49

KELLOGG — Senior Brennen Atkins scored 18 of his 23 points in the second half, including 10 in the fourth quarter, as the host Wildcats rallied to beat the Hawks in nonleague play at Andrews Gymnasium.

Kellogg trailed by 13 points at halftime, then Atkins and Raiden Rickets combined for 15 points in the third quarter.

Atkins made four of his five 3-pointers in the second half.

“He kinda heated up in the second half, and that started the comeback,” Kellogg coach Jeff Nearing said. “I didn’t really tell him to (heat up), but when he did, I didn’t tell him to stop.”

Rickets also had five steals for Kellogg.

Josiah Haaland, a 6-9 senior, scored 11 of his 16 points in the first half for Lakeland (1-2).

Jeret Taylor added 10 points and 6-7 Jalen Skalskiy added seven.

“They’re huge,” Nearing said of Lakeland. “They just ate us up on the boards in the first half; they had a lot of second-chance points.”

Lakeland 16 14 12 7 — 49

Kellogg 7 10 19 17 — 53

LAKELAND — Taylor 10, Zubaly 6, Seay 6, Munyer 0, N. Haaland 0, Strietzel 0, Skalskiy 7, Derrick 0, Neilson 4, J. Haaland 16.

KELLOGG — Waller 2, Rickets 12, Atkins 23, Oertli 2, Nearing 5, Miller 0, Davis 5, Jerome 2, Luna 2.

Mullan boys basketball

Wednesday, Dec. 5

Mullan — 47

Clark Fork (Mont.) — 44

ALBERTON, Mont. — Riley Trogden hit two free throws with 7.3 seconds remaining, scoring 30 points to lead the Tigers past a co-op between Superior and Alberton High late Tuesday.

Thursday, Dec. 6

Mullan — 42

Lake City ‘C’ — 37

MULLAN — Luke Trogden scored 13 points and Riley Trogden added 11 as the Tigers defeated the Timberwolf ‘C’ team at the Mullan Pavilion.

Mullan, which has just five players, got a scare early when Luke Trogden, the freshman point guard, picked up three fouls in the first quarter.

But Tigers coach Paul Elston said Trogden managed to not commit a foul the rest of the game.

“He did a great job out there for us, running the point,” Elston said.

Mullan has played with just five players all season.

Elston is optimistic a sixth player will be eligible in a week or so.

“The kids get a little tired, but they look over at the bench and there’s no other option,” he said.

Kanyon Fitzsimmons led the Lake City ‘C’ team with eight points.

“Lake City moved the ball very well,” Elston said. “They were skipping the ball well, attacking the zone with a pass and then kicking it out. I was impressed — for a ‘C’ team, they’ve got some kids that can really play.”

Lake City ‘C’ 14 8 7 8 — 37

Mullan 9 10 14 9 — 42

LAKE CITY ‘C’ — K. Condon 4, Norris 4, Jones 2, Wolfe 3, Fitzsimmons 8, Sakae 2, McCarthy 6, Heston 8.

MULLAN — L. Trogden 13, Holling 8, Hess 6, R. Trogden 11, Haning 4.

Kellogg girls basketball

Tuesday, Dec. 4

Lakeland — 45

Kellogg — 42

KELLOGG — The visiting Hawks led 14-0 after the first quarter, then weathered a Wildcat comeback before escaping with the nonleague victory at Andrews Gymnasium.

Kellogg pulled within one point in the waning moments, before two free throws by Taylor Elpers gave the Hawks some breathing room.

Hailey Cheney scored 12 points to lead Kellogg.

Lakeland 14 16 7 8 — 45

Kellogg 0 13 13 16 — 42

LAKELAND — Boyer 2, Cooper 4, Kime 0, Cooley 3, Elpers 8, Loutzenhiser 7, Kirk 10, Ryan 10, Pruitt 0, Neff 1.

KELLOGG — Rauenhorst 0, VanHoose 0, Senteney 7, Sheppard 8, Figueroa 9, Cheney 12, Seymour 0, Nearing 0.

Friday, Dec. 7

Kellogg — 30

Moscow — 51

MOSCOW – The Wildcats’ offense stalled out in this rematch from Kellogg’s season opener.

No further stats were received.

Wallace girls basketball

Tuesday, Dec. 4

St. Maries — 54

Wallace — 27

ST. MARIES — Madison Cordell had 14 points, four assists, three steals and two blocks for the Lumberjacks in a nonleague win over the Miners.

Maggie Howard scored seven points for Wallace (1-4), which hosts Bonners Ferry on Tuesday.

Wallace 8 6 4 9 — 27

St. Maries 10 17 17 10 — 54

WALLACE — Welch 0, Johnson 2, Frey 0, House 6, Sheppard 2, Moren 4, Hill 0, Howard 7.

ST. MARIES — Suchoski 0, Wilks 2, Crawford 0, Haeg 11, Cordell 14, Baird 4, Davenport 0, Holder 9, Rimel 2, Hammond 10, Koser 2, Badgett 0.