Star Valley 70, Sandpoint 69 (OT)

IDAHO FALLS — It wasn't quite the finish Sandpoint was hoping for, but it was certainly a game to remember.

Junior Brock Yarbrough had a team-high 15 points and nailed four three-pointers, three of which came during crucial moments in the fourth quarter, as the Bulldogs came back to force an overtime but fell just short of the Braves of Afton, Wyo. in an unforgettable TitleOne Tip-Off Classic semifinals game held Friday night at the Mountain America Center. 

Tied 30-30 coming out of halftime after a high-scoring first quarter that saw a combined nine three-pointers from both teams, the Bulldogs, which outrebounded the Braves 45-25, used a 6-0 run and held Star Valley scoreless for nearly four minutes to take a 36-30 lead midway through the third frame.

The Braves, however, fueled by a game-high 38 points from senior Cooper Lancaster, used a 7-0 run of their own and scored in the final moments of the third for a 45-43 advantage heading into the final quarter.

Down 49-43, it was senior Logan Roos, who tallied a double-double of 14 points, 16 rebounds and swatted away three shots, that threw down a two-handed putback slam with authority to give Sandpoint some much-needed momentum. Minutes later, it was then a Yarbrough trey, and Roos and Gion, who had a season-high 13 points in the contest, that converted late to keep Sandpoint within two points, 54-52, with 3:28 remaining in regulation.

The Braves pushed the lead to 60-52 with under two minutes to go, but Yarbrough, who also had nine rebounds, seven assists and two steals to boot, drained a trey from way downtown to pull the Bulldogs within five points. After some defensive stands, Roos and Gion then converted key baskets down low once again to bring Sandpoint to a score of 60-59 with roughly 30 seconds on the clock.

That's when Yarbrough made his magic happen.

Lancaster hit a pair of free throws for Star Valley, and with six ticks left, Yarbrough hit a pump-fake triple from the top of the key to tie the game at 62-62, which stood until time expired.

In a back-and-forth overtime that saw Roos score the first four points and junior Logan Iverson two of his own on a mid-range floater from the charity stripe, the Bulldogs couldn't quite hold on. On a try with 0.6 seconds left after Star Valley committed a foul trying to inbound the ball on the previous possession, a lob from junior Knox Williams to junior Derrick Chamberlain fell shy after some contact near the rim.

"We talked about three things — effort, attitude and toughness," Sandpoint High head coach Will Love said of the mantra assistant coach Chris Taylor came up with before the game. "We wanted to bring all three tonight because we knew Star Valley was a heck of a team. We checked off all three of those, but unfortunately, it ended in a loss. The kids showed a lot of grit out there."

Lancaster, who had 26 points in Star Valley's 30-point season-and-tournament-opening win over Coeur d'Alene, also had eight rebounds and five steals for the Braves, which are now 2-0.

Chamberlain had nine points in the contest while senior Tyler Weisz was highly efficient as he registered a season-high 11 points, including two three-pointers, and seven rebounds. Roos chipped in three blocks and four assists in addition to his double-double while Williams had five points, six rebounds and three assists for Sandpoint (3-2), which will look to get back into the win column when they face the loser of Boise-Vallivue in the tournament's third-place match on Saturday afternoon.

"It was quite the performance by Brock and the rest of the team," coach Love noted. "They stayed together, never backed down, and kept believing, understanding that we can control what happens each play... the kids did a great job on a play that they suggested there at the end. What we saw tonight were players willing to compete for each other and willing to sacrifice for each other. They competed hard for each other and for Sandpoint. We gave them a gameplan and they followed it as well as a coach can ask."

Star Valley 20 10 15 17 8 — 70

Sandpoint 18 12 13 19 7 — 69

PTS: SPT — Yarbrough 15, Roos 14, Gion 13, Weisz 11, Chamberlain 9, K. Williams 5, Iverson 2. SV — Lancaster 38, Thompson 11, Shumway 8, Liddiard 8, Linford 3, Kleeman 2.

REB: SPT — Roos 16, Yarbrough 9, Weisz 7, K. Williams 6, Iverson 3, Chamberlain 3, Inge 1. SV — Lancaster 8, Shumway 4, Kleeman 3, Liddiard 3, Linford 3, Thompson 3, Lawson 1.

AST: SPT — Yarbrough 7, Roos 4, K. Williams 3, Gion 2, Iverson 1, Chamberlain 1, D. Williams 1. SV — Liddiard 5, Lancaster 4, Lawson 3, Thompson 2, Shumway 2.

STL: SPT — Yarbrough 2, Iverson 1, K. Williams 1, Roos 1. SV — Lancaster 5, Shumway 3, Linford 2, Thompson 1, Kleeman 1, Lawson 1.

BLK: SPT — Roos 3, Yarbrough 1. SV — Lancaster 2, Linford 1, Liddiard 1.

Duchow’s career-high 17 propels Thunder to win

Kootenai Thunder 60, North Idaho Christian 52

COCOLALLA — Ezra Duchow racked up a career-high 17 points, which included a three-pointer, a three-point play, and an 8-for-11 effort from the charity stripe, and recorded five rebounds, three steals and two assists as the Thunder put together a complete game in an eight-point defeat of the Royals on Thursday night at Cocolalla Bible Camp.

Marshall Peters tallied 15 points, six of which came from beyond the arc and 12 of which came in the second half, while Jordan Zmuda scored 15 points of his own, including a three-pointer, and came away with three steals for the Thunder, which used a 22-point fourth quarter to capture their first Mountain Christian League victory of the season.

Ben Brewer was the fourth player to reach double-figures as he collected 11 points and seven rebounds on the night for the Thunder. Coming into the game, North Idaho Christian had posted wins over The Oaks, Spokane Classical, and Spokane Co-op.

Eli Rocke chipped in two points for the Thunder (2-3), which will look to carry the momentum into their next MCL matchup at Spokane Classical on Monday.

PTS: KT — Duchow 17, Peters 15, Zmuda 15, Brewer 11, Rocke 2.

REB: KT — Brewer 7, Duchow 5, Peters 4, Zmuda 3, Rocke 1, Peterson 1, Kummer 1.

AST: KT —  Duchow 2, Zmuda 1, Rocke 1, Brewer 1.

STL: KT — Duchow 3, Zmuda 3, Peters 1.

BLK: KT — Peters 1.

    Kootenai Thunder forward Ezra Duchow muscles his way down low while guarded by two North Idaho Christian defenders during the Thunder's 60-52 Mountain Christian League win over the Royals on Thursday night at Cocoalla Bible Camp.