SANDPOINT — Sandpoint took control of the game early, but Priest River battled back in the second half as the Bulldogs defeated the Spartans, 69-57 at Les Rogers Court on Monday.

Palmer Coleman started off the game for Priest River with a three-point play, but the Bulldogs would score the next 15 points and eventually led by 16 by the end of the first quarter. Sandpoint senior Parker Childs got things rolling, knocking down three of his four threes in the first.

By halftime, Sandpoint extended its lead to 22 points, 41-19, but the Spartans got hot in the second half.

Priest River sophomores Ian Lamanna and Lucas Mathews both hit a handful of three-pointers to re-energize the Spartans, who trailed by nearly 30 points at one point in the contest. However, Sandpoint hit some clutch shots down the stretch to keep the Spartans out of reach. The Bulldogs held on for a 12-point victory.

“I thought we played well in spurts,” Sandpoint head coach Brian Childs said. “We had spurts where we did good things … I thought we did a good job early on forcing turnovers, finishing plays, and extending our lead. We just didn’t keep our foot on the gas.”

Coach Childs said that although disappointed about the finish, he is thrilled to walk away with the win and believes it’s something the team will be able to build off of going forward.

Childs had a game-high 20 points and six assists for Sandpoint. Junior Emerik Jones added 19 points and nine rebounds. Sophomore Logan Roos had 10 points. Caiden Gion had nine points and seven rebounds off the bench for the Bulldogs.

Coleman had a team-high 15 points and four steals for the Spartans. Lamanna drained four three-pointers for 12 points and Mathews had 11 for Priest River.

Coach Childs said Sandpoint (2-3, 0-2) will have to be better in order to get a win over Timberlake on Thursday night. Priest River (1-4, 0-2) will play Lakeland at home Wednesday.

Priest River 8 11 16 22 – 57

Sandpoint 24 17 15 13 – 69

PTS: SPT – Childs 20, Jones 19, Roos 10, Gion 9, Chamberlain 9, Lesiy 3. PR – Coleman 15, Lamanna 12, Mathews 11, Hatten 6, Stifel 5, Staudt 4, Korff 2, Cook 2.

REB: SPT – Chamberlain 9, Jones 9, Gion 7, Roos 5, Childs 2, Leisy 2, Williams 1. PR – Korff 7, Hatten 5, Cook 5, Mathews 4, Coleman 4, Stifel 3, Kreager 2, Staudt 1.

AST: SPT – Childs 6, Jones 3, Williams 2, Leisy 1, Chamberlain 1, Roos 1, Gion 1. PR – Coleman 2, Kreager 2, Cook 1, Korff 1, Staudt 1, Mathews 1.

STL: SPT – Childs 4, Chamberlain 4, Jones 3, Williams 2, Leisy 1, Roos 1. PR – Coleman 4, Mathews 2.

BLK: SPT – Chamberlain 1, Roos 1. PR – Kreager 1.