PREP BOYS BASKETBALL: Bonners Ferry catches on, downs Timberlake

BONNERS FERRY — Early on, it worked.

By the end of Tuesday’s opening game in the best-of-3 3A District 1 championship series, Timberlake was happy, but still has work to do to catch top-ranked Bonners Ferry.

Senior Braeden Blackmore scored 14 of his team-high 18 points in the first quarter for the Badgers, who shot past the Tigers 74-57 at Bonners Ferry High.

“We came out in zone and left Blackmore open a few times and got into a hole,” Timberlake coach Mike LaFountaine said. “We were right with them and made it a three-point game at halftime (33-30), but they got a few second-chance points in the third. They came out and got on a roll in the fourth quarter and we couldn’t crawl back into it. I like what we did tonight and hopefully we can put a full game together on Thursday.”

“Timberlake executed well,” Bonners Ferry coach Nathan Williams said. “I thought they played well. Hats off to them. I’m going to review our sets and offenses. I’m glad we had a close game with them. They’re a good team and tough.”

Game 2 is Thursday in Bonners Ferry. If the Badgers (20-1) win, they advance to the state tournament starting March 2 at Meridian High. If Timberlake (8-13) wins, a deciding third game will be played in Bonners Ferry on Friday.

Sophomore Asher Williams scored 23 points for Bonners Ferry.

Timberlake 16 14 13 14 — 57

Bonners Ferry 24 9 18 23 — 74

TIMBERLAKE — Olivieri 17, McLuskie 7, Yetter 2, Vallieres 11, H. Higgins 11, V. Higgins 2, MacArthur 6.

BONNERS FERRY — R. Williams 4, E. Blackmore 2, Henslee 15, Petesch 4, A. Williams 23, Th. Bateman 2, Tr. Bateman 6, B. Blackmore 18.

Genesis Prep 74

Wallace 45

COEUR d’ALENE — Senior Joey Specht hit four 3-pointers in the first half, six in total for the second-seeded Jaguars in a win over the third-seeded Miners in the semifinals of the 1A Division I District 1 tournament at North Idaho College.

Senior Cooper Russworm added 14, sophomore Ethan Martin had seven points and 10 rebounds for Genesis Prep (10-10), which made 13 3-pointers.

“We played really unselfish and were able to hit some 3-point shots,” Genesis Prep coach Lon Morast said. “We were doing a good job of moving the ball and finding the open man. Ethan had a great effort on the boards tonight.”

Genesis Prep will face Lakeside (14-3) in Thursday’s championship game at North Idaho College, with the winner advancing to state starting March 2 at Vallivue High in Caldwell.

Senior Brad Tesky scored 27 points for Wallace, which finished 5-16.

Wallace 15 11 13 6 — 45

Genesis Prep 24 19 12 19 — 74

WALLACE — Ritchey 3, D. Davis 8, Tesky 27, J. Davis 3, Hasz 2, Schmidt 2, Morden 0, Guardipee 0, Cleveland 0.

GENESIS PREP — Farrell 9, Martin 7, Daniels 10, Russworm 14, C. Rubert 3, Nichols 3, Young 4, Specht 22, B. Rubert 2, Schultz 0, Early 0, Tosh 0, Wood 0, Yesmenko 0.

Mullan 62

Kootenai 28

COEUR d’ALENE — The second-seeded Tigers outscored the third-seeded Warriors 38-8 in the second half to pull away in a 1A Division II District 1 semifinal at North Idaho College.

“Kootenai came out to play and we did not,” said Mullan coach Paul Elston, whose team led 24-20 at halftime. “The kids made the adjustment and we played much better in the second half.”

Junior Austin Zingler scored 20 points, senior Floyd Nelson 18 for Mullan (8-9), which faces top-seeded Clark Fork (10-7) on Thursday in the championship game and lone berth to state starting March 2 at Caldwell High.

Sophomore Christopher Moore scored 17 points for Kootenai, which finished 0-15.

Kootenai 14 6 5 3 — 28

Mullan 14 10 24 14 — 62

KOOTENAI — Addington 2, J. Moore 0, Ausman 7, C. Moore 17, Myers 0, Hodges 2.

MULLAN — Nelson 18, Trogden 10, A. Zingler 20, T. Zingler 3, S. Petit 2, Rupp Connors 4, L. Petit 2, Appiah 0, Imes 0, Knoll 0, Ayers 3.