St. Maries 65, Priest River 61

PRIEST RIVER — It was a back-and-forth game until the very end, but the No. 2 Lumberjacks bested the No. 1 Spartans in a 3A Central Idaho League district tournament loser-out game held Wednesday at Priest River High.

Senior Palmer Coleman did everything he could to will Priest River to a win, registering a team-high 17 points and eight rebounds to go along with four assists. Senior Brock Kreager added 13 points, including three 3-pointers, and senior Nate Stifel was a force in the paint, collecting 10 points, seven rebounds and three blocks.

The Spartans erased an early 22-14 deficit and played about one to four points behind the Lumberjacks before using an 18-14 third quarter scoring advantage to take a 52-50 lead heading into the final frame.

St. Maries, led by junior JJ Yearout, outscored Priest River 15-9 in the fourth to take home the victory. Yearout had a game-high 24 points, sunk six triples, and recorded six rebounds and six assists to lead the comeback. The Lumberjacks previously had fallen to the Spartans by scores of 54-44 and 62-50 during the regular season. They move on and will host No. 3 Kellogg today, which lost to No. 4 Orofino 55-48 in the title match Wednesday, in the district tournament second-place game with the winner advancing to a 3A state play-in.

Senior Sawyer Staudt contributed nine points and four assists, senior Carter Cook seven points and six rebounds for Priest River, which finishes the season with an overall record of 14-6.

Priest River High head coach Kevin Wylie, hired just two weeks before the start of the season, said what the team accomplished after finishing at the tail end of the league last year cannot be understated. He knew that getting his Spartans to buy into a new system and philosophy wasn't going to be easy, but they showed up and worked hard day in and day out.

"To come in this year and completely change the outcome — winning league during the regular season — that's a huge accomplishment," coach Wylie said. "Unfortunately, we had a couple of tough games. The league is so competitive and we knew it was going to be a tough district tournament. A couple of more possessions our way, a couple of more shots that drop and were on the other end of this. I just want to give credit to these kids for working so hard and embracing this new system, coaching staff."

Wylie also wanted to extend a thanks to his coaching staff, which includes Gary Stewart, Mason Clark, Jim Bob Coleman and Travis Mathews.

"They were there every day, working their butts off to help these kids succeed and I couldn't have done it without them."

St. Maries 18 18 14 15 — 65

Priest River 14 20 18 9 — 61

PTS: PR — Coleman 17, Kreager 13, Stifel 10, Staudt 9, Cook 7, Mathews 3, Korff 2. SM — Yearout 24, Gustaffe 14, L. Riberich 8, Defoort 8, Harold 6, J. Barta 3, T. Riberich 2.

REB: PR — Coleman 8, Stifel 7, Cook 6, Kreager 4, Staudt 2, Mathews 1, Lamanna 1, Korff 1. SM — Yearout 7, Defoort 7, L. Riberich 5, Gustaffe 4, Harold 2, J. Barta 2, T. Riberich 2.

AST: PR — Coleman 4, Staudt 4, Mathews 2, Korff 1, Kreager 1, Stifel 1. SM — Yearout 6, Harold 2, T. Riberich 2, J. Barta 1, Gustaffe 1, B. Barta 1, L. Riberich 1.

STL: PR — Kreager 2, Coleman 2, Staudt 1, Mathews 1, Stifel 1, Hatten 1. SM — L. Riberich 2, J. Barta 2, Gustaffe 2, Yearout 1.

BLK: PR — Stifel 3, Cook 1. SM — L. Riberich 1, T. Riberich 1.