Silver Valley sports recap Jan.15-21
Photo by Josh McDonaldMiner Erik Brackebusch attempts to block Tanner Mueller's jump shot during the Wildcats' win on Friday night.
Photo by Chanse Watson Erin Van Hoose sneaks a pass to Jaron Figueroa as a Priest River defender attempts to get the steal.
Rylee Riekena fires a pass during Brawl for the Ball.
Kellogg’s Kaitlin Senteney battles for position with her much taller opponent during the Wildcats’ 55-40 win at St. Maries on Saturday.
KELLOGG BOYS BASKETBALL
Kellogg 68, Wallace 53: Whenever the Kellogg Wildcats and the Wallace Miners lock up it is treated like a special event and last Friday was no exception.
Kellogg was able to secure the 68-53 win, but unfortunately the game seemed to focus on the two officials rather than the final battle of the season between the two local rivals.
Four different technical fouls were assessed during the game (three on Kellogg and one for the Miners), which slowed down the game and made even the slightest show of frustration feel like a capital crime.
Kellogg would jump out to a big 20-7 lead after the first quarter, but Wallace would get their offense going a little bit more in the second quarter, but Kellogg would extend their lead to 33-18 as they headed into halftime.
The second half was played at a dead even pace and despite the Miners doubling their first half scoring output they couldn’t gain any ground on Kellogg.
The night was definitely a special one as Miner senior Matt Farkas made his first appearance for Wallace this season, pitching in four points and a pair of sweet granny-style free throws.
Discussing the technical fouls, Kellogg coach Jeff Nearing wasn’t giving his team any leeway even if hundreds of people watching the game didn’t agree with the situation.
“It was an emotional game for us for sure,” Nearing said. “But we need to be able to keep our composure when we run into adversity.”
Kellogg was led in scoring by Chase Jerome who led all scorers with 23 points.
Erik Brackebusch led Wallace with 18 points while Zack Welch chipped in 16 for the Miners.
Tuesday, Jan. 16
Kellogg 53, Post Falls JV 41: The Wildcats were back on the court for the first time in over a week after a flu outbreak shut down the schools (including all athletics) for the better part of a week.
Post Falls got hot early, jumping out to 18-9 lead over the Wildcats as Caden McLean knocked down several 3-pointers, but Kellogg would rally to take a narrow 27-25 lead as the first half came to a close.
Kellogg would apply their signature defensive pressure in the second half, limiting the Trojans to only 16 points over the two remaining periods while putting up another 26 points of their own.
“We were pretty rusty and it was evident in the first quarter,” said Kellogg coach Jeff Nearing, “McLean hit four 3-pointers and we just couldn’t get to him in the first quarter. Once we knocked the rust off, we started to play some good ball.”
Kellogg was led by Chase Jerome who finished with 12 points, while Ryan Morgan pitched in 10 for the Wildcats.
Saturday, Jan. 20
Kellogg 57, St. Maries 52: The Wildcats couldn’t get any offense going early and the host Lumberjacks took full advantage of it during the main event of the 2018 Brawl for the Ball event.
The game was played over a series of runs and then grinds as the Lumberjacks would go on a scoring run and then Kellogg would have to slowly grind their way back into it.
Down by as much as nine early on, Kellogg would pull within four at halftime trailing 21-17 in the uncharacteristically low scoring affair.
The second half was played much faster, but the plodding offense continued as shots seemingly refused to drop for the Wildcats, but then Brennen Atkins hit a corner 3-pointer that suddenly energized the team and ignited the Wildcat offense.
Chase Jerome was a man possessed as he found every possible way to put the ball in the basket while making sure that the Wildcat defense turned every rare opportunity into points.
It was a combination trap/steal/assist by Jerome and Grant Nearing that tied the game up with less than 30 seconds remaining.
St. Maries had a shot at the buzzer, but officials waved off a Lumberjack tip shot that didn’t get off in time to send the game into the extra frame tied at 43.
St. Maries would lose several players to foul trouble in OT, limiting their ball handlers and eliminating their top scorers.
Ironically, the Wildcats would go on to score their most points in half of a regulation quarter, including baskets from Tyler Gibbons, Ryan Morgan, Gavin Luna, Cade Finlay, and Nearing to propel the Wildcats to the win.
WALLACE BOYS BASKETBALL
Saturday, Jan. 20
Wallace 74, Clark Fork 37: The visiting Miners really only needed a half to put the Wampus Cats away, and then they let their bench handle their light work.
Erik Brackebusch led all scorers with 20 points as the Miners cruised to the win.
MULLAN BOYS BASKETBALL
Thursday, Jan. 18
Mullan 68, Clark Fork 54: The Tigers looked to end a small losing skid on Thursday night when they hosted the Wampus Cats and it was on the backs of big performances from their senior trio that got the job done.
Mullan opened up a solid lead as they forced several turnovers and converted them into easy baskets as Sheldon Trogden scored 13 of his 15 points to pace the Tigers, but Clark Fork would rally to cut their deficit to 10 (32-22) at the intermission.
The second half was far more entertaining as Clark Fork used their offensive rebounding prowess to keep Mullan from getting comfortable.
Midway through the fourth quarter Clark Fork cut the Tiger lead down to one, but Mullan responded with a 20-7 run over the final four minutes to put the Wampus Cats away for good.
Seth Dechand led all scorers with 22 points, while Gryphon Todd chipped in 13 for the Tigers.
Friday, Jan. 19
Highland 63, Mullan 51: No stats were received for the Tigers’ road loss to Highland.
KELLOGG GIRLS BASKETBALL
Thursday, Jan. 18
Kellogg 71, Priest River 18: The Wildcats broke out of their four game funk and picked up a big league win in the process when they knocked off the visiting Spartans.
Senior Rylee Riekena had the best game of her career, dicing up the Priest River defense while hanging an 18 point, five rebound, three assist, and five steal stat line.
Kaili Cates and Kat Rauenhorst both flirted with double-doubles, Cates notching 12 points and nine rebounds, while Rauenhorst pitched in eight points and 10 rebounds.
Saturday, Jan. 20
Kellogg 55, St. Maries 40: Every antiquated notion in the book could be used to describe the game the Wildcats played against the host Lumberjacks on Saturday.
Literally having to play the role of giant-killers, the Wildcats were at significant size disadvantage the entire game, but that didn’t deter them in the least.
Kellogg was all over the Lumberjacks, not allowing entry passes, creating turnovers, and then making the most of each opportunity.
Holding a narrow 23-20 lead at the break, the Wildcat had a decision to make.
They could play a conservative second half lead and hope to protect their lead or they could push the pedal to the ground and see what happened …
They chose the latter.
It was run and gun with a lot of scoring and even more hustle.
Suddenly the game became more of a coming out party for the oft-maligned Wildcats as they showed that size is merely a number over the much larger Lumberjack squad.
Kaili Cates and Kat Rauenhorst combined for 30 points to pace the Wildcats, but the rest of the scoring load was so evenly distributed that coach Jana Nearing couldn’t have asked for a more balanced performance from her team.
“We flat out hustled St. Maries, we passed the ball well, and our man defense was tough to score against. These girls work extremely hard in practice and it was evident Saturday night. It’s a really good feeling as a coach when you have girls that just love to run. Several girls literally felt so good that after the game they asked if we can condition even more in practice.” Nearing said. “I hope we can continue to build on that momentum, St. Maries is a tough team, and I am proud that our girls had a chance to see what they can do when they put it all together.”
WALLACE GIRLS BASKETBALL
Tuesday, Jan. 16
Kootenai 38, Wallace 33: Kootenai made 14 of 19 free throws in the fourth quarter and went on to upend the visiting Wallace Miners 38-33 in North Star League play last week.
The game was a physical affair and both teams spent a lot of time at the free throw line Kootenai was 17 of 28 from the line while Wallace was 8 of 27.
“Both offenses were aggressive, going to the hole,” Kootenai coach Doug Napierala said. “Both teams were getting to the line, and we made ours.”
“We just needed to get a few more shots to go in,” Wallace coach Nichole Farkas said.
Maggie Howard scored 10 of her game-high 16 points in the fourth quarter for Wallace
Wednesday, Jan. 17
Wallace 43, Clark Fork 33: No stats reported
Saturday, Jan. 20
Bonners Ferry 56, Wallace 23: No stats reported
KELLOGG WRESTLING
LEWISTON – The Kellogg High School wrestling team had a solid showing a the Clearwater Classic Wrestling Tournament in Lewiston.
Taylor Bush, Juddson Hall, Jesse Campbell, and Dakota Eixenberger all took first place in their respective weight classes, which was something coach Scott Miller was particularly pleased with.
"I'm pleased with how our wrestlers performed this weekend. They are continuing to make positive strides,” Miller said. “I'm excited that Dakota Eixenberger won his first tournament and thought Taylor Bush was dominating in winning his weight class. Both Juddson Hall and Jesse Campbell wrestled very solid tournaments in very good weight classes."