Clark Fork 80, Kootenai 26

COEUR d’ALENE — The Wampus Cats took care of business Thursday night at North Idaho College, defeating Kootenai 80-26 to bring home yet another 1A D2 District 1 North Star League Title.

Clark Fork led 24-4 after one quarter, and 48-11 at halftime, dominating the Warriors on all fronts.

“Today we focused on our mindset and put the pedal to the metal,” head coach Heath Beason said. “We tried to cut down on turnovers, control the boards, and move the ball as fast as we could — I thought we did a great job with that in the first quarter. I then started to put in our JV players later on and even then we still kicked it up a notch.”

Owen Howard, who led the way with 14 points and nine rebounds, was one of four Wampus Cats who scored in double-figures. Chase Sanroman added 12 points, Evrett Montgomery 11, and Westin Caven 10 for Clark Fork. Cole Sanroman contributed nine points while posting team-highs in assists with six, and steals with five.

“Chase, Cole, and Owen — they were phenomenal tonight,” Beason said. “No matter what, I wanted to make sure we played up-tempo due to the fact that I did not want us to be complacent heading into our next game (state play-in game). We flipped that switch, and hopefully things are kicking in when it counts.”

Clark Fork assisted on 22 made baskets, compiled 15 steals, and out-rebounded Kootenai 35-9.

Christopher Moore scored a game-high 21 points for the Warriors, who notched their first postseason win since 2017 against Mullan on Tuesday.

Clark Fork (12-6) will face off against North Gem (17-8) in a 1A D2 state play-in game at Cascade High on Saturday.

“North Gem is a really well-coached team, they’re very disciplined,” Beason said. “From watching film, we know what we're going to do — we know what their tendencies are. We have to use our strengths against their weaknesses, and they don’t have a lot of weaknesses. That means we need to play a flawless game and I think we can do that … I know their boys want it, our boys want it, it’s going to be a tough game.”

Kootenai 4 7 6 9 – 26

Clark Fork 24 24 20 12 – 80

PTS: CF – O. Howard 14, Ch. Sanroman 12, Montgomery 11, W. Caven 10, Co. Sanroman 9, S. Caven 8, Christofferson 8, Cruz 5, E. Howard 3, Yanik 0, Stevens 0, Holderman 0, Adams 0. K – C. Moore 21, Hodges 3, Strobel 2, Addington 0, Braz 0, Unger 0.

REB: CF – O. Howard 9, S. Caven 6, Co. Sanroman 4, Christofferson 4, Cruz 3, Ch. Sanroman 2, Montgomery 2, E. Howard 2, Yanik 1, Stevens 1, Holderman 1. K – C. Moore 4, Hodges 4, Addington 1.

AST: CF – Co. Sanroman 6, W. Caven 4, E. Howard 4, Montgomery 2, Ch. Sanroman 2, S. Caven 1, Christofferson 1, Yanik 1, Adams 1. K – Hodges 1.

STL: CF – Co. Sanroman 5, Ch. Sanroman 3, W. Caven 2, Holderman 2, O. Howard 1, Christofferson 1, S. Caven 1, E. Howard 1. K – C. Moore 3, Unger 2, Braz 2, Addington 1, Hodges 1.

BLK: CF – O. Howard 1. K – C. Moore 2.