Wallace tops Mullan in Silver Valley matchup
Photo by CHANSE WATSON Wallace junior Kali Davis jump up to spike the ball during the Miners’ Sept. 20 match at Mullan.
Photo by CHANSE WATSON Mullan senior Sydnie Cote passes the ball during an intense rally in the Tigers-Miners matchup last week. Wallace won the road match in four sets.
Wallace quarterback Erik Bracke-busch rolls out to pass during Wallace’s loss to Potlatch. Photo by Jeff Greene
Photo by JOSH McDONALD Kellogg freshmen duo Grace Nearing and Hailey Cheney attempt to block a Priest River attack during their Intermountain League match last week.
Mullan High School
Volleyball
MULLAN — A strong performance early on by the Mullan Lady Tigers was not enough to take the win last Thursday, as they fell to the visiting Wallace Miners in four sets.
“We started out super sluggish and we had a different line up for our first set,” Wallace coach Anali Spooner said. “So that didn’t help us out. But after the first match, we really got in our groove and picked it up and had some good things happen.”
The first set was the closest of the night and featured some highlight reel moments for both teams.
Both the Miners and the Tigers traded the lead several times throughout, but it was Mullan who had that extra push to take the set 27-25.
It turned out though that this tough set loss would be the spark needed to get Wallace back in the game. With their original lineup back intact, the Lady Miners stormed out in the second set and took a commanding 25-12 win.
The Tigers, who looked a bit flat footed after the first, managed to put up better efforts in the third and fourth sets, but still fell to Wallace in both by a score of 25-17 and 25-15, respectively.
Coach Spooner pointed to the superb play of seniors Maggie Howard and Kynlie Frey as one of the main reasons for the win.
“Maggie Howard was so great. I told her where to put the ball and she listened, and it worked toward our advantage,” she said. “When Kynlie Frey came in she was hitting so well, and we really needed her kills.”
Even with the tough loss, Mullan Coach Dawn McKinnon was proud of her team’s effort. “Overall I thought they played great,” she said. “We were certainly overmatched, when you have to start 8th graders (and other lower class age students), it can be a tough situation. We came out and just played hard all the way around.”
Lakeside d. Mullan (3-0): The Knights were too much for the Tigers, who were swept in their Sept. 18 home opener.
No further information was received for this match.
Football
Kendrick 80, Mullan 40: The Tigers showed that they had guts and heart, but it wasn’t enough as they fell at Kendrick on Sept. 21 in White Star League play. Trailing the state-ranked Tigers by 20 at half, the Mullan Tigers played the second half with only seven players, but managed to keep the game relatively competitive despite the disadvantage.
“Hats off to Kendrick, they played very well,” Spooner said. “We thought our guys played a hell of a game. Especially in that first half.”
Mullan freshman quarterback Luke Trogden continued his string of impressive play, finishing with three touchdowns and no turnovers.
Mullan hosts Lakeside on Friday at 3:30 p.m.
Wallace High School
Football
Potlatch 48, Wallace 0: The host Miners weren’t able to get much of anything going as they were shut out for the second time in two weeks, losing Sept. 21 to Whitepine League rival Potlatch.
The game was a tough one as the Miners came in battling a litany of injuries, but they persevered.
Coach Jared Young wasn’t thrilled with the score, but saw a few things he liked better than last week.
“We are playing through a lot of injuries and have a lot of youth out there on the field and they are starting to get better,” Young said. “I thought we played overall much better than last week even though the score didn't show it. We had a lot of dropped passes but we showed improved in our blocking. We just need to continue to do the little things and get eight guys playing with a common goal on every play and win their one-on-one battles and do their job.”
Young and company are now in the heart of their schedule and it won’t get much easier, but that is part of trials of being in the most consistently tough conference in the state.
“The Whitepine League is a tough one again this year,” Young said. “We just have to continue to battle and play with heart and can't make mistakes, because teams will hurt you if don't play detailed football.”
The Miners will be on the road this week against Kamiah on Saturday at 3 p.m.
Volleyball
CLARK FORK — No results, stats, or information are available for this match.
Kellogg High School
Football
Asotin, Wash., 37, Kellogg 15: The Wildcats struggled to find their groove against the Panthers on Sept. 21 and it cost them a road win.
Kellogg is now just one game away from Intermountain League play and has one more game to pull their game in line before three straight games that will determine whether they get into the postseason for the second straight year.
Coach Dan Lucier is hoping that some of the adversity that his team has faced will translate into toughness on the field, but he loves their no-quit attitude.
“I am extremely proud of this young team,” Lucier said. “We have been dealt a ton of adversity and we get knocked down, but yet we still keep getting back up. My job is to be an encourager and a problem solver and keep helping us find a way. We have some real shining spots and some areas that need a bunch of improving as we go week to week.”
Lucier is leaning on his team’s leaders to continue to play well and hopefully move the Wildcats to improve.
“Our captains Raiden Rickets, Justin Waller, Gavin Luna, and Justin Lehto have been playing very well and continue to lead us in the right direction,” Lucier said. “Areas that we need to really improve are our defensive secondary and offensive line. I am excited about the improvement that we will make in the next two weeks and that when we get to league play, we are ready to roll.”
Kellogg will host Grangeville this Friday at 7 p.m.
Volleyball
Priest River d. Kellogg (3-2): The Wildcats opened up their first home match of the season on fire, but were unable to close out the Spartans who rallied and stole the match from Kellogg in five sets (19-25, 14-25, 25-23, 25-19, 15-12) on Sept. 18.
The Wildcats seemed to be cruising right along, but Priest River wouldn’t go away and in the end it was the Wildcats who looked stunned following their defeat.
Coach Stephanie Brunner is looking at the loss as a lesson for the Wildcats, who will probably use the match as a reality-check moving forward.
“Losing is never easy or fun. I feel like as a team we all made mistakes. It’s hard to lose knowing that we did focus on things that we can control such as our serving and intentional energy when we are struggling,” Brunner said. “There are lessons in losing and winning. Our approach to that is the same, to unify as one. To be a team.”
Timberlake d. Kellogg (3-0): The Intermountain League-leading Tigers beat the visiting Wildcats 25-20, 25-16, 25-23 on Sept. 20. For Kellogg, Cierra Brandt had 11 kills and three blocks, Erin VanHoose 17 digs, Hailey Cheney eight kids, Jaron Figueroa 10 digs, Kat Rauenhorst three blocks.
Soccer
Cd’A Charter 9, Kellogg 0: No stats were received for this Sept. 18 game, played in Coeur d’Alene.
Kellogg 1, Priest River 0: No stats were received for this game, played Sept. 19 in Priest River.
Cd’A Charter 11, Kellogg 0: Sarah Hines scored a hat trick and the Panthers wrapped up the Intermountain League title with a Sept. 22 victory over the host Wildcats.
Cross Country
No stats were received for the Sept. 20 meet in Priest River. The Shoshone News-Press will continue to work on getting cross country scores for publication.