SANDPOINT — Sandpoint girls basketball put on a show for the limited crowd allowed inside Les Rogers Court on Saturday.

After going through a 10-day quarantine, the Bulldogs came out on a mission against St. Maries and were eager to put a disappointing performance at Lake City on Dec. 11 behind them.

Sandpoint coasted to a 63-22 win over the Lumberjacks.

The Bulldogs were flying around all night and head coach Will Love said it was exciting to watch his team put it all together following an extended layoff.

“The girls were definitely ready to go,” he said.

Saturday was the first game Sandpoint has played under Gov. Brad Little's new plan for high school athletics this winter. On Dec. 30, Little released the plan, which follows guidelines outlined in his Idaho Stage 2 Stay Healthy Order. The plan allows two spectators in per athlete on each team. On Saturday, that meant 26 fans for Sandpoint and 26 for St. Maries.

"It was nice to be able to tell all the kids that they had two tickets," Love said, "so a lot of parents got to see their kids play for the first time [Saturday] in person."

The expanded crowd helped bring an atmosphere back to the gym and the Bulldogs fed off that energy.

"You could just hear a buzz in the gym that we haven't heard for a while," Love said.

In the opening quarter of the game, Sandpoint played arguably its best basketball all season.

The Bulldogs started a bit slow on offense in the first few minutes, but then kicked it into overdrive. SHS scored 25 points in the first quarter and built a 23-point lead just like that.

Senior Riley Cessna caught fire in the first quarter, knocking down a trio of 3-pointers and scoring 11 points.

It was an offensive onslaught, but just as impressive was the Bulldogs defense. SHS forced 14 turnovers in the first quarter and got after it on every possession.

The Bulldogs were swarming the Lumberjacks like sharks and that effort opened up things offensively.

That dominant first quarter propelled Sandpoint the rest of the way and allowed them to secure the 41-point victory.

In the first half, SHS held the Lumberjacks to just one basket. The Bulldogs have worked on their shooting over the last few weeks in practice and it showed Saturday. They made a season-high nine 3-pointers.

Cessna finished with 19 points and five 3-pointers, and Love was impressed with what he saw from her.

“It was really nice to see especially for a senior like Riley who has worked really hard,” he said. “The other thing is she was putting the ball on the floor too. She wasn’t just making herself a shooter, and she was probably playing the best defense that she’s played this year.”

Karlie Banks had 10 points, four steals and three assists while her older sister, Kaylee, tallied 9 points and five assists.

In the fourth quarter, the whole bench rose to their feet when Bella Phillips buried her first career 3-pointer. Coming into this season, the senior post had her sights set on knocking down a couple shots from deep and she put in the time to make it happen.

“We know that Bella can do that and it’s going to provide us some more spacing,” Love said. “I’m really proud of Bella because she’s put up a ton of shots.”

Phillips finished with 7 points and seven rebounds. Sofia Platte, Daylee Driggs and Hattie Larson each scored 6 points. Platte also had six rebounds.

The Bulldogs forced St. Maries to turn the ball over 25 times.

Everything was working for Sandpoint against the Lumberjacks and Love believes his team can build off this performance and continue to fire on all cylinders.

“Offensively that’s what I knew this team was capable of and hopefully we can save some for Tuesday night,” he said.

Sandpoint (3-4) hosts Bonners Ferry at 7 p.m. Tuesday.

St. Maries 2 8 6 6 — 22

Sandpoint 25 15 15 8 — 63

ST. MARIES — Sines 2, Jannsen 0, Badgett 0, McGreal 0, Christensen 0, Rimel 2, Spray 1, Watkins 4, Mitchell 0, Holder 12, Miller 1, Hammond 0.

SANDPOINT — Gammon 0, Driggs 6, Reinink 0, Lyons 0, Tomco 0, Cessna 19, Phillips 7, Kar. Banks 10, Larson 6, Platte 6, Kay. Banks 9.