COEUR d'ALENE - Kellogg junior guard Gus Colburn admitted that playing at North Idaho College was just like being at home.

Thanks to his team-high 18 points, the third-seeded Wildcats will move on to the next week's state 3A boys basketball tournament, beating the top-seeded and defending district champion Timberlake Tigers 52-45 in the championship game of the District 1 tournament on Wednesday night at North Idaho College's Rolly Williams Court.

"It feels great," Colburn said. "We've been working hard toward this all season. It was a great way to go out, but we're not done yet."

Kellogg (13-10), which won its second district title in three years, will face the runner-up from District 3 (Boise area) next Thursday at 2 p.m. PST at Meridian High in the first round at state.

In earlier action, Bonners Ferry pulled away late to eliminate fourth-seeded Priest River (1-20) 60-52.

Timberlake (10-12) hosts Bonners Ferry (8-8) tonight at 7 p.m. in the second-place game, with the winner advancing to a state 3A play-in game Saturday in McCall.

Kellogg 52, Timberlake 45: Colburn scored five points in the final minute for Kellogg.

"I used to go to camps all the time at NIC," Colburn said. "So it's just like a second home. It's just fun, with the new court and everything. It's a great place to play."

Kellogg used a 9-0 run at the start of the second half to stretch a 25-23 halftime lead to 34-23 before Keegan Scott ignited a 6-0 run for Timberlake to get back into the game.

"This was a huge, huge win," Kellogg coach Jeff Lambert said. "We didn't start the season that well, but kept growing as a team. This group just deserves this win. We've only got two seniors on this team.

They went down with the team a few years ago. They were there (at state), but didn't get to play. Now, they get to play."

Timberlake beat Kellogg 49-48 in Spirit Lake last Tuesday to clinch the league title and No. 1 seed to districts.

"It has been like this all year with them," said Timberlake coach Tony Hanna, who was named the Intermountain League Coach of the Year following the game. "Last week when we played them, we made a couple of shots down the stretch, and they did it tonight. It was a similar deal tonight, or it could have been a completely different game."

Scott, who was named the league MVP, finished with 22 points.

"Kellogg, they just keep getting better each game," Hanna said. "They've got some big guys and I hope to see them do well at state next week. They were competing hard and are well coached. All the credit to Kellogg. They played a fantastic basketball game. I'm proud of our guys. We got it down to seven and cut it to a one-possession game and just kept fighting."

Kellogg 15 10 13 14 - 52

Timberlake 17 6 7 15 - 45

KELLOGG - Colburn 18, Lambert 5, Easley 3, Waechter 7, deYoung 7, McDonald 4.

TIMBERLAKE - Cramer 7, Johnson 4, Scott 22, Jones 4, Allen 6, Kistler 0, Tonkin 0.

Bonners Ferry 60, Priest River 52: Wyatt Nelson scored 15 points to lead the second-seeded Badgers (8-8) past the fourth seed Spartans (1-20) in a loser-out game.

Jimmy Koch scored 25 points for Priest River.

Priest River 9 22 6 17 - 52

Bonners Ferry 15 9 16 20 - 60

PRIEST RIVER - Clark 0, Anselmo 6, Griffin 0, Linton 2, Nunley 3, Hartwig 12, MacDonald 0, Koch 25, White 0, Polfino 4.

BONNERS FERRY - Ray 0, Bennett 9, Pluid 10, Rice 9, Stone 2, Woods 13, Nelson 15, Babin 2.

ALL INTERMOUNTAIN LEAGUE TEAM

Most Valuable Player - Keegan Scott, sr., Timberlake.

TIMBERLAKE - Austin Allen, sr., Mason Cramer, sr. BONNERS FERRY - Cameron Woods, sr., Kyler Rice, sr., Josh Pluid, sr. KELLOGG - Jesse Lambert, sr., Gus Colburn, jr., Tucker Gust, sr. PRIEST RIVER - Jimmy Koch, sr.