PREP BOYS BASKETBALL: Whittaker shines as Vikings ease away from Moscow

COEUR d’ALENE — Junior Davis Whittaker tossed in 21 points and the Coeur d’Alene Vikings nabbed their first victory of the season, pulling away from the Moscow Bears 56-36 on Saturday at Viking Court. 

“Davis played extremely well for the second game in a row,” Coeur d’Alene coach Kent Leiss said.  

It was also the first victory in the second stint at Coeur d’Alene for Leiss, who coached the Vikings from 2004-13.

Whittaker had 17 in his first varsity game, Wednesday at University. 

Caden Symons, the Evansville commit in his first basketball action after suffering a broken collarbone in football season, added 18 points for the Vikings. 

Coeur d’Alene led by two points at halftime, then outscored Moscow 32-14 in the second half. 

“The first quarter was pretty good. The second quarter was an absolute disaster,” Leiss said. "The second half, we just continued to play really good defense. We got out in transition and got some easy baskets, and ran our offense harder.” 

Jonas Mordhorst led Moscow (0-3) with 10 points. 

Coeur d’Alene plays Star Valley of Afton, Wyo., on Thursday at 1 p.m. PST in the first round of the TitleOne Tipoff Classic at the Mountain America Center in Idaho Falls. 

Moscow    10    12    11    3    —    36 

Coeur d’Alene     15    9    19    13     —    56 

MOSCOW — Godfrey 5, Frei 9, Couch 2, Brown 3, Pike 2, Fitt 5, Maxcer 0, Mordhorst 10. 

COEUR d’ALENE — McCall 2, Fagan 2, Braga 4, Stern 7, Gentry 0, Rasor 0, Gatten 0, Whittaker 21, Symons 18, Priebe 2. 

Kendrick 67 

Kellogg 30 

KELLOGG — If the 2A Tigers — winners of five straight state football titles — still had some tired legs from a long football season, it didn’t show on Saturday night. 

The Tigers jumped out to a 41-20 halftime lead and senior Ralli Roetcisoender scored a game-high 19 points in a win over the 3A Wildcats at Andrews Gymnasium in the Silver Valley Tournament. 

“They won state (basketball) last year for a reason,” Kellogg coach Mike Martin said. “It didn’t take them very long to ditch any rust from a long football season. They shot the ball really well and got their guys free. We didn’t do enough to keep them off balance and got into some foul trouble. We just didn’t have what we needed against a team like that.” 

Kendrick is 2-0. 

Sophomore Porter Lewis scored nine points for Kellogg (2-1), which travels to Lakeland on Tuesday. 

Kendrick    25    16    18    8    —    67 

Kellogg        9    11    6    4    —    30 

KENDRICK — M. Kirkland 13, Silflow 7, Roetcisoender 19, Koepp 1, Tweit 4, Hix 0, Sneve 4, Kimberling 2, Morgan 2, H. Kirkland 13, Boyer 2, Anderson 0. 

KELLOGG — Coburn 0, Roach 0, A. Lewis 0, Desmarais 0, P. Lewis 9, Honnerlaw 0, Reed 4, Cheney 4, Vindasius 6, Kimstayton 7. 

Wallace 82 

Genesis Prep 17 

KELLOGG — Sophomore Cooper Miller and junior Simon Sodbat scored 17 points each for the Miners in a nonleague win over their Scenic Idaho Conference foe Jaguars in the Silver Valley Tournament at Andrews Gymnasium. 

Wallace (1-2) travels to Timberlake on Tuesday. 

Senior Trevor Walsh scored seven points for Genesis Prep (0-2), which travels to Lakeside on Tuesday in a Scenic Idaho Conference game. 

Wallace        24    24    19    15    —    82 

Genesis Prep    0    8    5    4    —    17 

WALLACE — Miller 17, Sodbat 17, Larson 4, Darg 4, McGillivray 4, Rose 6, Radford 9, Strange 3, Williams 16. 

GENESIS PREP — Harris 6, Green 2, Arambula 0, W. Hernas 0, M. Hernas 2, Cosner 0, Siahaya 0, Van Meeteren 0, Walsh 7, Martin 0. 

    MARK NELKE/Press Coeur d'Alene senior Caden Symons (24) puts up a shot against Moscow on Saturday at Viking Court.