PRIEST RIVER — Despite getting 17 points from senior Caden Brennan, Priest River boys basketball was unable to take down Timberlake on Saturday, falling 56-40.

The Tigers led from start to finish jumping out to an early 8-0 advantage to take control of the game.

The Spartans outscored Timberlake 14-10 in the third quarter but were never able to get within close enough striking distance to threaten the Tigers.

Head coach Kevin Wylie said his team had open looks throughout the game but were unable to knock down shots. He also added that the Spartans need to get better defensively and stop missing assignments.

“I know we are better than what we are showing and we will prove that we are,” he wrote in a text. “We did make a few runs in the second half but then we would give up a couple easy buckets. We will continue to work hard and improve in areas where we know we need to in order to win games.”

Priest River hosted Post Falls JV last Wednesday and cruised to its third win of the season topping the Trojans 68-47.

Sophomore Trentyn Kreager carried the Spartans scoring 24 points.

“I thought we put in a great team effort at both ends of the floor,” Wylie wrote. “I was proud of our guys and the way they played. We haven’t practiced since our loss against Newport due to weather and school closures so I wasn’t sure how exactly we would play.”

The Spartans controlled the game from the start and took a 32-16 halftime lead en route to their first win since Dec. 12 against Clark Fork.

Senior Jayden Hahn added 12 points and Brennan tallied 11.

Priest River (3-5, 0-1 IML) heads to Immaculate Conception Academy 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Sandpoint 7 p.m. Friday and North Idaho Christian 5 p.m. Saturday.