Lewiston 69, Sandpoint 55

LEWISTON — It's not the way any team wants to end the season, but Sandpoint certainly put up a fight Thursday night at Bengal Court.

Sophomore Knox Williams drained two 3-pointers and totaled 11 points and five assists, senior Emerik Jones had 10 points and four assists as the No. 2 Bulldogs fell short of the No. 1 Bengals in game two of the 5A Inland Empire League district tournament best-of-three series.

With Sandpoint dropping the first game that means Lewiston, in their first year since dropping down a classification, are winners of the 5A IEL district title. The last time Lewiston clinched a state bid was during the 2016-2017 season when they were still in the state's highest classification.

The Bulldogs trailed 41-26 at halftime, but came out hot in the third and closed the gap to 44-39 after a 13-3 run that was capped off by a Logan Roos alley-oop dunk, assisted by Williams.

"We needed to a find a way to get them out of rhythm — they were getting anything they wanted," Sandpoint High head coach Brian Childs said. "We gave them a different look, they missed some shots, and we made some of ours."

Lewiston, led by junior Royce Fisher's 28 points and four 3-pointers, ballooned the lead back to 12 midway through the fourth and held on for the win. Senior Parker Bogar had 13 points, sophomore Blaze Hepburn 11 points, nine of which came from downtown, and junior Jordan Walker dished out eight dimes for the Bengals.

"The district tournament isn't where you're looking for moral victories, but we won the second half," Childs said. "We had some fight in us and didn't quit. Lewiston's a good team and they have guys that play their roles really well and are fundamentally sound. Overall, I was pleased with our second half and proud of our effort."

The Bengals improve to 20-4 on the year and will advance to the 5A state tournament set to be held Thursday, Mar. 6 through Saturday, Mar. 8 at Rocky Mountain High in Meridian.

Rounding out the top contributors for Sandpoint were Roos, who finished the game with eight points, nine rebounds and three steals, sophomore Brock Yarbrough, who netted nine points, and sophomore Derrick Chamberlain, who had eight points in the loss.

Playing in their fourth straight IEL district championship, something Childs says he is most proud of, Sandpoint finishes the season with an overall record of 11-12.

"We scheduled tough for a reason this year; we knew we were going to have a team that could compete," coach Childs said. "I thought we persevered through a lot of injuries this season and we put ourselves in a position to play for the district championship again. We have a lot of things we can be proud of and take away from this season."

Sandpoint 17 9 16 13 — 55

Lewiston 24 17 13 15 — 69

PTS: SPT — Williams 11, Jones 10, Yarbrough 9, Chamberlain 8, Roos 8, Gion 4, Leisy 3, Wolff 2. LEW — Fisher 28, Bogar 13, Hepburn 11, Torpey 8, Walker 4, Alldredge 3, Way 2.

REB: SPT — Roos 9, Jones 5, Yarbrough 5, Williams 3, Chamberlain 2, Gion 1, Leisy 1. LEW — Fisher 6, Hepburn 6, Bogar 5, Torpey 2, Alldredge 2.

AST: SPT — Williams 5, Jones 4, Roos 3, Chamberlain 1, Yarbrough 1. LEW — Walker 8, Fisher 4, Torpey 3, Hepburn 2, Alldredge 1, Bogar 1.

STL: SPT — Roos 3, Chamberlain 1, Yarbrough 1, Iverson 1, Jones 1. LEW — Torpey 3, Bogarr 2, Hepburn 1, Walker 1, Fisher 1, Alldredge 1.

BLK: SPT — Leisy 2, Jones 1, Roos 1. LEW — Alldredge 1.