GIRLS

Sandpoint 65, University 36

SPOKANE — From the opening tip-off, it was all Sandpoint in this one.

Junior Livia Driggs scored immediately after the jump on her way to a tied for team-high 18 points, junior Jordyn Tomco tallied 18 points of her own, and the duo both had a pair of three-point buckets as the Lady Bulldogs cruised to a 29-point victory over the Lady Titans of the Greater Spokane League on Friday night at University High.

"Livia has been quietly consistent this season and it was exciting to see she put 18 up, along with Jordyn — each of them having pretty big games was awesome," Sandpoint High head coach Madi Schoening said. "The real exciting part is that we have a lot of options on offense and don't have to rely on just one athlete. Pretty great to see we had four players in double-digits."

Tomco added a team-high four steals, dished out four assists and tracked down three rebounds while Driggs pulled down four rebounds and had two steals of her own in the winning effort. Junior Brecken Mire contributed 13 points, including three three-pointers, a team-high eight assists, six rebounds, three steals and two blocks to cap off an all-around day for Sandpoint, which led 33-11 at intermission.

Senior Jetta Thaete was the beneficiary of a highly efficient press break as she chipped in 11 points and six boards. Sophomore Willow Betz rounded out the scoring totals with two points, also adding three steals, four rebounds and four assists to the stat sheet for the Lady Bulldogs, which secured their fourth straight victory with the dominant performance.

"We took them out of their press quick, and they were struggling with ours," coach Schoening noted. "We're sharing the ball well and a lot of our buckets were from following each others shots — they're crashing the boards and finishing. In the first half, we highlighted that some our best plays were coming when Jetta either had the ball or touched the ball and we continued to find her."

Junior Carly Laybourne pulled down six rebounds in the victory while senior Jasmin Laing continues to be a key defensive force as she tallied three steals and two blocks. Laybourne also had two steals for Sandpoint, which out-assisted University by a margin of 19-7 and used their press to accumulate 17 steals in total.

Lilly Heaton had a team-high nine points and Kenna Ashton had a game-high five blocks in what was the season opener for University.

Sandpoint (4-0) will turn their attention to Timberlake (2-2), who they will host on Tuesday night at Les Rogers Court for a non-league game.

"We're excited for it; it's always a serious battle for us," coach Schoening said. "It's always a fun game to play in."

The Lady Tigers, 21-4 and winners of the 4A state tournament third-place game a year ago, come into the game having recently beat 5A Inland Empire League foe Lewiston by a score of 55-52.

Sandpoint 17 16 21 11 — 65

University 6 5 14 11 — 36

PTS: SPT — Tomco 18, L. Driggs 18, Mire 13, Thaete 11, Todd-Murray 3, Betz 2. UNI — Heaton 9, M. Handran 7, Hubble 5, Ashton 4, Skinner 4, Thomas 4, K. Handran 3.

REB: SPT — Mire 6, Thaete 6, Laybourne 6, Betz 4, L. Driggs 4, Tomco 3, Laing 2. UNI — K. Handran 8, Heaton 6, Ashton 6, Skinner 6, M. Handran 4, Hubble 1, Owens 1.

AST: SPT — Mire 8, Tomco 4, Betz 4, Thaete 2, Loutzenhiser 1. UNI — K. Handran 4, M. Handran 1, Heaton 1, Hubble 1.

STL: SPT — Tomco 4, Mire 3, Betz 3, Laing 3, Laybourne 2, L. Driggs 2. UNI — K. Handran 3, M. Handran 1, Ashton 1, Heaton 1, Owens 1.

BLK: SPT — Mire 2, Laing 2. UNI — Ashton 5.