BOYS

Sandpoint 69, St. Maries 59

SANDPOINT — Logan Iverson is officially a certified bucket-getter. 

The junior guard could not miss as he produced a career-high 31 points, including a barrage of eight three-pointers — four in a row in the fourth quarter — and the Bulldogs defeated a strong Lumberjacks squad by a 10-point margin Thursday night at Les Rogers Court.

Iverson, after Sandpoint compiled a 19-14 lead after one quarter of action, even converted a four-point play to start the second quarter off a dish from junior Knox Williams, who had eight points, a team-high four assists, and a tie for team-high three steals in the victory. Iverson hit another trey on the next possession, and fought through contact and converted a layup shortly after to close out a 10-0 run that gave the Bulldogs a 29-14 cushion just two minutes into the second frame. Iverson, standing at 5-foot-10-inches, then hit two-of-three free throws with 5.6 seconds left until intermission to give Sandpoint a 32-24 lead heading into the locker room.

And if it's not broke, then don't fix it.

Iverson, after three first-half three-pointers, hit five more triples in the second half. With the score sitting at 51-42, Iverson found nylon from beyond the arc to make it 54-42 ... then again to make it 57-44 ... again to push the lead to 60-44 ... and then, yes, again, to give Sandpoint a 63-47 advantage with 3:23 remaining in the contest.

"Logan works so hard and does everything that we ask, and you're just happy when kids like that are able to have great games," Sandpoint High head coach Will Love said. "One of the things we talked about after the game and throughout the season is that roles change, and they can change during a game, during a series. Tonight, we needed Logan's scoring and his teammates did what they had to do to get him the ball. It was pretty spectacular to watch and see a shooting performance like that."

Junior Derrick Chamberlain, who had six points, made a layup, and senior Logan Roos and junior Brock Yarbrough hit their free throws down the stretch to seal the deal. Roos totaled seven points, a team-high nine rebounds and a team-high three blocks while Yarbrough neared a double-double of 10 points and eight rebounds in the winning effort.

Williams had two blocks, senior Caiden Gion three points and three steals, senior Kingston Corbett four points, and Corbett, Iverson and Yarbrough each contributed three assists for Sandpoint (2-1), which went through their entire rotation on the evening and will continue their non-league slate when they open TitleOne Tip-off Classic tournament play with Shelley on Thursday morning at the Mountain America Center in Idaho Falls.

Love said the team's steal and rebounding margins, 12-10 and 34-29, respectively, surely played a factor for the Bulldogs in the non-league win.

"We just gave Lewis & Clark too many opportunities the other night, so that was a point of emphasis that we had in practice and going into this game," coach Love said specifically of winning the rebounding battle. "It's such a key stat, typically. I was pleased with the boys in regard to how they responded to the things we were asking of them and what we went over in an abbreviated practice Wednesday. They came out an executed against a really good team that will be a tough out throughout the season."

Senior JJ Yearout had 27 points, including four three-pointers, eight rebounds, four assists and five steals — all team-highs — in what was the season opener for St. Maries, favored to win the 3A Central Idaho League in a recent coaches' poll by Idahosports.com.

St. Maries 14 10 15 20 — 59

Sandpoint 19 13 15 22 — 69

PTS: SPT — Iverson 31, Yarbrough 10, Williams 8, Roos 7, Chamberlain 6, Corbett 4, Gion 3. SM — Yearout 27, J. Barta 9, Riberich 8, Harold 8, Gustaffe 4, B. Barta 3.

REB: SPT — Roos 9, Yarbrough 8, Williams 4, Corbett 3, Chamberlain 3, Gion 2, Weisz 2, Iverson 2, Williams 1. SM — Yearout 8, Gustaffe 5, J. Barta 4, Harold 3, Sloper 3, Riberich 3, B. Barta 2, Speakman 1.

AST: SPT — Williams 4, Iverson 3, Yarbrough 3, Corbett 3, Gion 1, Weisz 1. SM — Yearout 4, Gustaffe 3, J. Barta 2, Sloper 2, Harold 1, B. Barta 1, Riberich 1.

STL: SPT — Williams 3, Gion 3, Iverson 2, Yarbrough 2, Chamberlain 1, Roos 1. SM — Yearout 5, J. Barta 3, Harold 1, Speakman 1.

BLK: SPT — Roos 3, Williams 2, Yarbrough 1, Corbett 1. SM — Yearout 1, Gustaffe 1.

Peters, Zmuda lead Thunder to first win 

Kootenai Thunder 59, Immaculate Conception 54

COCOLALLA — Marshall Peters came away with a game-high 18 points, all of which came in the first three quarters, Jordan Zmuda drained two triples and added 15 points of his own as the Thunder used a 26-point second-quarter outburst to defeat the Cristeros in a non-league matchup held Thursday night at Cocolalla Bible Camp.

Kohen Reynolds netted 10 points, Ezra Duchow six points, and Harvey Peterson and Ben Brewer had five points each in what was the Thunder's home opener.

Junior Marcus Kuplack tallied 14 points, senior Dominic Demeyer a double-double of 12 points and 12 rebounds, junior Michael Wilhelm 12 points and eight boards for Immaculate Conception Academy, which is now 0-2 and led 18-8 after one quarter of action before the Thunder took control.

The Kootenai Thunder (1-1) will head to Pullman Christian on Saturday afternoon for their second Mountain Christian League game of the season.

Immaculate Conception 18 8 12 16 — 54

Kootenai Thunder 8 26 16 9 — 59

PTS: KT — Peters 18, Zmuda 15, Reynolds 10, Duchow 6, Peterson 5, Brewer 5, Rocke 0, Garvin 0, Kummer 0, Cole 0. ICA — Kuplack 14, Wilhelm 12, Demeyer 12, Jones 8, Lloyd 6, Abernathy 2.

GIRLS

Jensen hits season-high in Lady Spartans win

Priest River 41, Clark Fork 23

CLARK FORK — Senior Priscilla Mayorga netted a team-high eight points, freshman Vanessa Rogier tallied seven points, including a three-pointer, as the Lady Cats dropped a non-league matchup to the Lady Spartans on Thursday night at Clark Fork High.

Sophomore Gracie Stevens chipped in four points for the hosts, which were playing with just six healthy players and trailed just 24-17 after three quarters of play. Senior Piper Scarlett and sophomore Azelynn Petersen each added two points apiece on the night.

Senior Aleigha Jensen produced a season-and-game-high 17 points, which included three fourth-quarter three-pointers, and sophomore McKinley Burgess-Duquette scored 13 points of her own for Priest River, which used a 17-6 fourth-quarter scoring advantage to pull away late.

"It was close; we were within 10 about halfway through the fourth quarter," Clark Fork High head coach Chris Cavanaugh said. " We struggled to rebound and score — it's starting to come together though. Each game we're seeing more and more of our offense click. We really just have to buckle down and commit to rebounding the ball; it's what's keeping us from staying in these games and winning them."

Freshman Haley Rice recorded seven points, junior Haylee Jepson-Church four points for Priest River (2-1), whose home 3A Central Idaho League matchup with Orofino scheduled for Friday was cancelled and will be rescheduled at a later date. The Lady Spartans will be back in action on Wednesday at home for a non-league game against cross-border rival Newport.

Clark Fork (0-5) will travel to Wallace on Monday for a 2A Scenic Idaho Conference matchup.

Priest River 5 12 7 17 — 41

Clark Fork 4 7 6 6 — 23

PTS: CF — Mayorga 8, Rogier 7, Stevens 4, Petersen 2, Scarlett 2, Raynor 0. PR — Jensen 17, Burgess-Duquette 13, Rice 7, Jepson-Church 4, Cantrell 0, Whitaker 0, Smith 0, Hollett 0.

    Kootenai Thunder guard Jordan Zmuda drives past an Immaculate Conception Academy defender and scores during the Thunder's 59-54 non-league home win over the Cristeros on Thursday night.