PREP BOYS BASKETBALL: Mitchell, Buchanan lead Lake City to Curtis tourney title

UNIVERSITY PLACE, Wash. — They got what they wanted, and the Lake City Timberwolves headed home with three wins and some hardware.

Lake City jumped on defending Washington 4A champion Curtis early, saw the tourney hosts fight back and tie it, then the T-Wolves turned it on in the fourth quarter to win going away, 77-65, in the championship game of the Curtis Winter Classic on Saturday night.

Tournament MVP Kolton Mitchell had 26 points and eight rebounds for Lake City (6-0). Teammate Blake Buchanan added 23 points, eight rebounds and four assists, and was named to the all-tournament team.

“We came out a’blazing, and now that it's over, I like how this game transpired,” Lake City coach Jim Winger said. “We hit first, and put them on their heels, then we got a little too excited and didn’t run our offense for a little bit. We knew they'd make a run at us, and they knocked us on our heels. I told kids going into the fourth quarter, ‘Let’s see who wants to win this more,’ and I thought we played a great fourth quarter and finished it off.”

Lake City jumped out to a 29-11 win after one quarter. Curtis chipped away, and tied it late in the third quarter. The T-Wolves led by two heading into the fourth, and opened it up from there.

“Kolton, he was phenomenal, and the last two Saturdays, he breaks the school record (with 39 points) vs. Owyhee, and leads us in scoring against Curtis — I think he’s proven himself quite well,” Winger said. “Blake, ever since this summer, he’s been on a mission, he’s worked his tail off on the gym floor and in the weight room. He’s just on a mission; offensively and defensively, he was just a presence.”

Nathan Hocking added nine points and Zach Johnson had eight points and six rebounds for Lake City.

Winger praised the defense of Hocking, who most of the night was responsible for guarding Curtis point guard Zoom Diallo, who is being recruited by Gonzaga, UCLA and Arizona, among others. Johnson also guarded Diallo at times. Diallo finished with a game-high 17 for Curtis (6-1).

“We did a good job applying pressure, and not getting beat off the dribble,” Winger said.

Lake City plays host to North Central on Tuesday.

Lake City 29 9 15 24 — 77

Curtis 11 14 26 14 — 65

LAKE CITY — Buchanan 23, Strawn 6, Miller 0, Kiesbuy 5, Johnson 8, Mitchell 26, Hocking 9.

CURTIS — Ahrens 5, Paulsen 13, Whitten 12, Maxwell 14, Johnson 4, El Ghalemi 0, Logan 0, Diallo 17.

Post Falls 69

Kamiak 51

UNIVERSITY PLACE, Wash. — Neil McCarthy scored 18 points, Tyras Blake 17 for the Trojans (1-7), who picked up their first victory of the season, beating the Knights (1-4) from Mukilteo, Wash., in the seventh/eighth-place game at the Curtis Winter Classic at Curtis High.

McCarthy was 4 of 5 from 3-point range, Blake 3 of 4 for Post Falls, which was 11 of 17 from deep.

“Last night, even though we lost (to Kentridge in overtime), we did more positive things than negative things,” Post Falls coach Mike McLean said. “Today we did a really good job of being in control of the game, taking the shots that we wanted. They ran an extended 2-3 zone, and we showed great composure. And we were able to handle their full-court pressure.”

Connor Carver, a freshman called up from the junior varsity just before the tournament, hit 3 of 4 3s and added nine points for the Trojans.

Josiah Pierre, a 6-5 senior, scored a game-high 30 points for Kamiak.

Post Falls plays at Ferris on Tuesday.

Kamiak 13 8 17 13 — 51

Post Falls 11 15 21 22 — 69

KAMIAK — J. Pierre 30, Loudenback 2, Strand 3, Hara 6, E. Pierre 1, Shubert 2, Rust 7, Keler 0, Park 0.

POST FALLS — McLean 3, Cameron 2, Blake 17, Bowie 10, Carver 9, McCarthy 18, Shields 6, Anderson 0, Ostlund 4.

Lewiston 70

Sandpoint 37

LEWISTON — The visiting Bulldogs fell behind 34-14 at the half in a nonleague loss to the Bengals.

Parker Childs scored 14 points, Rusty Lee 11 for Sandpoint (3-4).

Carson Way scored 17 points, Jordan Bramlet 15 for Lewiston (5-1).

Sandpoint 9 5 16 7 — 37

Lewiston 16 18 21 11 — 70

SANDPOINT — Pettit 6, Lee 11, Frank 3, VanDenBerg 0, Eacret 1, Dickinson 0, G. Jones 0, Childs 14, Lane 0, Bopp 0, E. Jones 2, Hindberg 0, Leisy 0.

LEWISTON — Gomez 10, Way 17, Knewbow 0, Bramlet 15, Cushman 4, Mader 4, White 0, Wren 2, Bensching 2, Wottinger 8, Lawrence 11.

Priest River 52

Genesis Prep 39

PRIEST RIVER — Jace Yount, a 6-4 senior center, scored 20 points as the host Spartans beat the Jaguars in the championship game of the Santa Shootout.

Luke Butler added 14 points, Zach Engelson 13 (with three 3-pointers) for Priest River (4-2), which used an 18-8 second-quarter run to build a 32-20 halftime lead.

“They had a good inside-out combination,” Genesis Prep coach Lon Morast said. “And we didn’t take care of the ball initially against their press.”

Donovan Daniels scored 11 points for Genesis Prep (2-4), which returns to action Jan. 5 at home vs. Rogers.

Priest River 14 18 12 8 — 52

Genesis Prep 12 8 13 6 — 39

PRIEST RIVER — Butler 14, Marinello 5, Engelson 13, Yount 20, Mathews 0, Staudt 0, Korff 0, Kreager 0, Cook 0, Soloman 0.

GENESIS PREP — Farrell 4, Daniels 11, Russworm 7, Rubert 8, Nichols 2, Tosh 7, Martin 0, Bateman 0, Young 0, Earley 0, Wood 0.

N.I. Christian 74

Clark Fork 65 (OT)

PRIEST RIVER — Larry Fendich scored 24 of his game-high 38 points in the second half and overtime, and the Royals overcame a 14-point halftime deficit to beat the Wampus Cats in the consolation game of the Santa Shootout at Priest River High.

Fendich, who scored 10 points in overtime, hit six 3-pointers for North Idaho Christian (6-4). Carson Malinauskas added 19 points for the Royals, including two free throws in the waning seconds that sent it to OT.

Nathan Shelton led Clark Fork with 17 points.

North Idaho Christian plays Pullman Christian on Monday at the HUB Sports Center in Liberty Lake.

Clark Fork 22 19 8 11 5 — 65

N.I. Christian 14 13 12 21 14 — 74

CLARK FORK — W. Callen 0, Sanroman 4, Stevens 0, Matteson 0, E. Howard 9, Bailey 11, Mintken 8, Montgomery 10, B. Howard 6, Shelton 17, Christofferson 0.

NORTH IDAHO CHRISTIAN — Fendich 38, Barnett 0, Smith 8, Ca. Malinauskas 19, Scott 0, Antone 7, Thacker 0, Co. Malinauskas 2, Winde 0.

Christian Center 43

Spokane Class. Christ. 39

POST FALLS – Colton Smith scored 21 points for the Lions in a Mountain Christian League win over Spokane Classical Christian at The Courts in Post Falls.

Christian Center (4-1, 4-1 MCL) faces Spokane Athletic Co-op on Monday at the HUB Sports Center in Liberty Lake.

S. Class. Christ. 11 13 9 6 -- 39

Christian Center 8 8 15 12 -- 43

SPOKANE — Aidan 0, Nate 13, Jared 0, Nick 7, Conlan 8, Sam 11, Andrew 0.

CHRISTIAN CENTER — Smith 21, Jones 3, L. McWhorter 0, C. McWhorter 4, Marshall 6, May 4, Siers 0, Tesky 5, Wymer 0, Stark 0, Mametieff 0, Cyrus 0.