COEUR d’ALENE - The Clark Fork boys basketball team hadn’t played a game in 23 days leading up to its Class 1A DII District I championship game against Mullan.

The Wampus Cats faced some rust during the first quarter but managed to shake it off rather quickly to win the game 61-46 at North Idaho College in Coeur d’Alene.

Clark Fork advances to the 1A DII state play-in game against Timberline from Weippe at 2 p.m. on Saturday at Lake City High School.

“We started off pretty slow,” Clark Fork boys basketball coach Heath Beason said. “That delay really hurt us.”

The Tigers pulled out in front of the Wampus Cats 12-10 at the end of the first quarter.

“They were crashing the boards,” Beason said. “They had different guys step up at different times.”

Clark Fork started to kick off the rust in the second quarter; the Wampus Cats outscored the Tigers 18-11.

Clark Fork was able to keep Mullan at bay for the second half; it outscored the Tigers 33-23 in the final 16 minutes.

However, Beason noticed an improvement from the last time these teams crossed paths.

“They were playing extremely confident,” Beason said. “They 've won their last three or four games in a row. They handed it to us in the beginning, but we managed to hold on.”

Sam Barnett led the Wampus Cats with a game-high 27 points. Chase Sanroman was also in double-figures with 10.

Mullan was led by Floyd Nelson with 12 points. Luke Trogden was also in double figures with 10.

Mullan 12 11 9 14 - 46

Clark Fork 10 18 12 21 - 61

Mullan - L. Trogden 10, A. Trogden 8, Nelson 12, Zingler 6, Petit 8, Appiah 0, Knoll 0.

Clark Fork - Carter Sanroman 6, Barnett 27, Shelton 5, Chase Sanroman 10, Howard 4, Mayorga 0, Cole Sanroman 9, Reuter 0, Christofferson 0, Minken 0, Matteson 0.