Silver Valley sports recap Jan.1-7
Photo by Ariana McDonald Gavin Luna goes up for 2 during the Wildcats’ 71-30 win over Timberlake last week.
Photo by Chanse Watson/ Kimmie Krous charges toward the hoop past a Bonners Ferry player. Krous led the Miner offense with 9 points.
Photo by Chanse Watson/ Angela Corey passes the ball up the court during Wallace’s recent home game against Bonners Ferry.
Kellogg, Wallace boys basketball get key wins
Kellogg boys basketball
Friday, Jan. 5
Kellogg 71, Timberlake 30: The Wildcats got back on track Friday night when they ended their losing streak and got their first Intermountain League win of the season over the visiting Timberlake Tigers.
The game began with some sloppy play from the ‘Cats, but coach Jeff Nearing settled his squad down and they easily built their 33-19 halftime lead.
Coming out into the second half, Nearing made some adjustments, particularly on the defensive side, which really stalled the Tigers from making a comeback, all the while the Wildcat offense continued their offensive assault.
“Attitude and effort,” Nearing said after the game. “When we play with the right attitude and put forth a real effort we play really well.”
Chase Jerome handled the majority of the scoring load with 17 points while Ryan Morgan and Grant Nearing pitched in 11 and 10 points respectively.
Saturday, Jan. 6
Kellogg 56, Moscow 53: The Wildcats hit the shots down the stretch that Moscow didn’t, including four free throws inside the final 20 seconds to send the Bears home empty handed.
For the second night in a row the Wildcats began the game with some sloppiness — and for the second night in a row Coach Nearing was able to settle his guys down.
But in that sloppiness came some foul trouble that really tested Kellogg’s depth as both Chase Jerome and Tyler Gibbons spent the last part of the first quarter and the entire second quarter on the bench.
Still the resilience by the Wildcats was on full display as they took a 24-23 lead into the half after Ryan Morgan hit a fast break lay-in at the buzzer.
Moscow responded aggressively in the third quarter, building a lead that grew to seven points, before the Wildcats were able to chip it down as both teams traded baskets.
The game would come down to fouls and free-throw shooting. Moscow’s offense relied heavily on 3-pointers, while the Wildcats’ relentless assault on the basket and boards led to 25 fouls committed by the Bears.
The Wildcats made 26 of their 37 free throw attempts, while Moscow only converted on four of their 19.
Ryan Morgan led the Wildcats with 13 points, while Chase Jerome and Tyler Gibbons finished with 10 and nine points respectively.
Mullan boys basketball
Thursday, Jan. 4
Wallace 79, Mullan 31: It was a night to remember for the Wallace Miners and one the Mullan Tigers will hope to forget as they fell to the shorthanded Miners at the Mullan Pavilion.
From the outset of the game both teams were in uncharted territory as they began the game with lineups that were different from their regular starters.
For the Miners it was big man Hunter Gust who is nursing a tweaked ankle, while the Tigers had a couple players serving partial suspension for disciplinary issues.
The game started the way most Wallace boys game do, with fast-paced offense and lots of scoring as they jumped out to a 20-8 lead over the Tigers.
Junior Zack Welch really pressured the Tigers as he forced multiple turnovers and converted them into baskets. The Tigers put forth a better effort in the second frame, but a lack of experience against the Miners’ heavy hitters wasn’t enough for Mullan to cut into the Wallace lead.
Despite trailing 41-18, the second half held hope that the Tigers would be able to come back in some form as they would have all of their players available to them.
Wallace quickly silenced those thoughts as they finished the game on a 28-13 run, including holding Mullan scoreless in the fourth quarter.
Wallace head coach Corey Miller was pleased with his team’s showing after not playing a game for quite some time, but is also looking forward to when he can trot out his full squad.
“I think we played pretty well tonight,” Miller said. “We haven’t played in almost three weeks and as a coach you are always nervous that your guys will come out and lay an egg after that kind of break, but we didn’t.
“It was different without Hunter (Gust) out there for us, but we adapted well. It will be really nice when we are all healthy.”
Seth Dechand led Mullan in scoring with 10 points.
Welch led all scorers with 28 points, while teammate Erik Brackebusch finished with 12 points for the Miners.
Friday, Jan. 5
Lakeside 65, Mullan 40: The Tigers struggled early against the Knights and trailed 40–21 at the half. Gryphon Todd led the Tigers with 11 points while Riley Trogden notch nine of his own for Mullan.
Kellogg girls basketball
Friday, Jan. 5
Timberlake 60, Kellogg 29: The Lady Wildcats were on the wrong end of a nightmarish 22-0 first quarter when they hosted the Timberlake Tigers. The game was played fairly evenly from that point, but that initial hole was too much for the Wildcats to overcome.
Kellogg’s Kaili Cates led all scorers with 19 points.
Wallace girls basketball
Wednesday, Jan. 3
Lakeside 43, Wallace 31: The Wallace girls struggled to score, but host Lakeside hit free throws at the end of the game to put it out of reach for the Miners.
Catie Sheppard had eight points to lead the Miners; Jen Hayman pulled down 10 rebounds.
“We came out strong, but struggled to score,” coach Nichole Farkas said. “We played much better than we have other than not being able to put the ball in the hoop.”
Friday, Jan. 5
Bonners Ferry 54, Wallace 20: The Bonners Ferry High School girls basketball team was not messing around when they paid the Wallace Lady Miners a visit last Friday.
The 3A Badgers dominated from the tip and never let their foot off the gas, handing Wallace the lopsided loss.
“They’re a very good team,” Wallace coach Nichole Farkas said. “Their physical, they’ve got good fundamentals, and good shooting.”
The first quarter, where the Miners were outscored 19-2, set the pace for the rest of the game and put Wallace in a hole that it just could not dig itself out of.
With an almost equally dominant second quarter (outscoring the Miners 13-4), the Badgers walked into the second half feeling confident
Wallace came out much stronger in the second by kicking their offense up a bit and limiting the damage, but still could not manage any sort of a comeback.
The bright points of Wallace’s effort in the game came from the determined play of Maggie Howard and Kimmie Krous, both of whom led the Miners’ offense with a combined 17 points (8 and 9 respectively).
“Maggie Howard played her best game all season,” Farkas said. “She was physical and strong.”
In all, Farkas sees this game as a learning experience and an example of how the team keeps playing even when things aren’t looking great on the scoreboard.
“Obviously our first half stunk, but our girls don’t quit and kind of figured things out (at the end). They never do give up and they’re a great group of girls to coach.”
n No information was received for Kellogg or Wallace wrestling.