BATTLE FOR THE PADDLE

BOYS BASKETBALL

Sandpoint 51, Lakeland 49

SANDPOINT — It was a night to remember for Sandpoint High senior Wil Leisy.

With zeros on the clock and the game tied 49-49, Leisy's offensive rebound off a missed 3-pointer turned into a fadeaway mid-range jump shot to right of the free throw line — he made it. Shortly after, he was swarmed by his teammates near the baseline.

That wasn't all Leisy did, however, as the Bulldogs outscored the Hawks 15-9 in the fourth quarter to capture the 5A Inland Empire League victory. He finished with 12 points, including three 3-pointers, but it was his 3s that came in a timely fashion. With roughly five minutes to go, Leisy hit a 3 to give the Bulldogs a 43-42 lead, and then hit another with 3:30 to go to put his team up 48-46. He scored nine of Sandpoint's final 11 points.

"We were having a hard time scoring and Wil came through," Sandpoint High head coach Brian Childs said. "They were playing towards Emerik (Jones) and Logan (Roos) and the opportunity presented itself — and he was ready. It's nice to see seniors respond like that when the opportunity knocks... he's had a concussion, was sick, missed five games and didn't get to play in Arizona with us. I'm awfully happy for him."

Also key for the Bulldogs, who overcame some free throw troubles in the win, were junior Logan Roos, who scored a team-high 15 points, including three 3-pointers, and senior Emerik Jones, who netted 14 points; the pair each pulled down five boards as well.

Peyton Hillman had 14 points, including four 3-pointers, and Brayden Carrel 13 points and eight rebounds for Lakeland, which came into the contest fresh off a 91-90 triple overtime victory over Flathead that solidified a five-game win streak, which was snapped Friday night.

Sandpoint (5-7), which has won four in a row, will look to continue to rally when they travel to Lewiston on Friday for another league matchup.

Lakeland 12 14 14 9 — 49

Sandpoint 12 13 11 15 — 51

PTS: SPT — Roos 15, Jones 14, Leisy 12, Corbett 6, Iverson 2, Yarbrough 2. LL — Hillman 14, Carrell 13, Harris 6, Roth 6, Yager 5, Hensley 5.

REB: SPT — Roos 5, Jones 5, Leisy 4, Corbett 4, Williams 2, Gion 1. LL — Harris 8, Carrel 6, Taylor 4, Hensley 3, Roth 1, Cook 1, Hillman 1.

AST: SPT — Roos 2, Corbett 2, Jones 2, Yarbrough 2, Williams 1, Gion 1. LL — Taylor 6, Harris 3, Hensley 2, Yager 1, Hillman 1.

STL: SPT — Yarbrough 3, Williams 2, Roos 1. LL — Taylor 2, Roth 1, Hensley 1, Harris 1.

BLK: SPT — Williams 2, Corbett 2, Jones 1. LL — None.

GIRLS BASKETBALL

Lakeland 49, Sandpoint 41

SANDPOINT — Sophomore Brecken Mire scored 14 of her team-high 16 points in the second half, but the host Lady Bulldogs' late surge wasn't enough as the Lady Hawks took home an 8-point 5A Inland Empire League win on Friday at Les Rogers Court.

The lone blemish for Sandpoint was the second quarter, where they were outscored 13-2. Lakeland, which led 24-10 at halftime, got back-to-back 3-pointers from returning league MVP Landree Simon and another 3 from fellow senior Karstyn Kiefer as they charged out in front.

"The first quarter I was pleased with how we were playing, we just missed some really good looks in the second and our offense was discombobulated," Sandpoint High head coach Will Love said. 

Love and his Lady Bulldogs brushed it off and put together a strong third quarter, a point of emphasis for Sandpoint this season, and hopes began to rise among the crowd. Sandpoint rallied to cut the lead to 46-41 with 1:30 remaining in the contest, but Simon had other ideas.

A senior, Simon, who netted a game-high 22 points and five 3-pointers, hit a 3 with 55 seconds to go to ice it.

"I thought we played three really good quarters," Sandpoint High head coach Will Love said. "I think we played great defense and was pleased with how we responded in the second half — we came out with a lot of life. Credit to Lakeland, they hit some big shots and some timely 3s. We were trying to scratch at that lead, but just were in too big of a hole. Disappointed with the loss, but we have an opportunity to build on tonight's second half."

Kiefer added nine points, seven assists and three steals to the stat sheet while sophomore Mariana Bullington controlled the paint with nine points, eight rebounds and four blocks for Lakeland, which improves to 11-4 and has now swept the regular season series between the two teams.

Sophomore Jordyn Tomco and senior Chloe Laybourne both recorded nine points and Tomco pitched in three steals on the defensive end for Sandpoint (7-10), which was outrebounded 31-16 in the contest.

Sandpoint travels to Timberlake on Tuesday. The Lady Tigers, as of Friday night, are 14-1 and ranked No. 1 in the state's 4A classification.

Lakeland 11 13 9 16 — 49

Sandpoint 8 2 12 19 — 41

PTS: SPT — Mire 16, Ch. Laybourne 9, Tomco 9, D. Driggs 4, Thaete 2, L. Driggs 1. LL — Simon 22, Kiefer 9, Bullington 9, J. McMurray 6, Bretveld 3.

REB: SPT — Tomco 4, Ch. Laybourne 3, D. Driggs 3, L. Driggs 2, Mire 2, Thaete 1, Ca. Laybourne 1. LL — Bullington 8, Kiefer 6, Bretveld 5, J. McMurray 5, Simon 4, Forsman 3.

AST: SPT — L. Driggs 3, Ch. Laybourne 1. LL — Kiefer 7, Simon 2, Forsman 1, Bretveld 1.

STL: SPT — Tomco 3, L. Driggs 2, M. Driggs 1, D. Driggs 1, Mire 1, Thaete 1, Ch. Laybourne 1. LL — Kiefer 3, J. McMurray 1.

BLK: SPT — None. LL — Bullington 4, Simon 1.

BOYS/GIRLS WRESTLING

Lakeland 50, Sandpoint 29

SANDPOINT — Six Bulldogs won their weight classes as Sandpoint fell shy of the visiting Hawks in a 5A Inland Empire League dual held Friday at Les Rogers Court.

Ty Wood (98) won by decision to start the match off and four matches later, Ashlei Hawkins (132) won by a 14-4 major decision, but the Bulldogs found themselves at a 50-7 disadvantage after Lakeland swept the middle weights.

However, Sandpoint did string together four straight wins to finish things off. Charlie Becker (175) won by a 14-0 major decision, Jorden Tyler (190) by forfeit, Jackson Holman (215) by a pin in the first period and Gavin Walters (285) with a second period pin.

In what was the first time girls wrestling made an appearance at Battle for the Paddle, Sandpoint's Summer Birch (107) pinned Teagan Patrick and Sandpoint's Sylvia Becker (165) pinned Shariece Vandever, both in the first round, in a pair of exhibition matches.

98 — Ty Wood, Sandpoint, d. Zach Teal, 9-3. 106 — Caleb Adams, Lakeland, by forfeit. 113 — Kade Knopp, Lakeland, by forfeit. 120 — Carson Leonard, Lakeland, p. Zak Wood, Sandpoint, 2:07. 126 — Jaren Knopp, Lakeland, tf. Conner Brown, Sandpoint, 17-0.132 — Ashlei Hawkins, Sandpoint, md. Justin Baxter, Lakeland, 14-4. 138 — Cash Lund, Lakeland, p. Gage Martin, Sandpoint, 5:00. 144 — Jaren Knopp, Lakeland, p. William Gish, Sandpoint, 1:00. 150 — Austin Howell, Lakeland, tf. Eli Taylor, Sandpoint, 18-0. 157 — Kalab Hammer, Lakeland, p. Colter Cates, Sandpoint, 1:10. 165 — Thayer Sabatke, Lakeland, md. Daniel Holman, Sandpoint, 18-5. 175 — Charlie Becker, Sandpoint, md. Peyton Sardinha, Lakeland, 14-0. 190 — Jorden Tyler, Sandpoint, by forfeit. 215 — Jackson Holman, Sandpoint, p. Daemon Huddleston, Lakeland, 1:00. 285 — Gavin Walters, Sandpoint, p. Zane Gray, Lakeland, 2:37.

BOYS BASKETBALL

Coeur du Christ 69, Clark Fork 57 

COEUR d'ALENE — Junior Owen Howard collected his sixth double-double of the season with a team-high 21 points and 18 rebounds, but the visiting Wampus Cats were downed by the Saints at the Holy Family Catholic School on Friday.

In addition to his double-double, Howard also blocked four shots. Sophomore Mateo Cruz chipped in 19 points and five steals, junior Westin Caven eight points, four assists and six steals for Clark Fork, which trailed just 45-44 after three quarters.

Coeur du Christ was paced by Ben Connelly, who had 33 points and sunk six 3-pointers.

Clark Fork (1-7) hosts Genesis Prep for a 2A Scenic Idaho Conference matchup on Tuesday.

Clark Fork 14 15 15 13 — 57

Coeur du Christ 14 16 15 24 — 69

PTS: CF — Howard 21, Cruz 19, Caven 8, Yanik 7, Montgomery 2. CDC — Connelly 33, Clemens 20, Je, Cools 10, Conaty 2, Hayes 2, Denke 2.

REB: CF — Howard 16, Montgomery 6, Cruz 5, Caven 3. CDC — N/A.

AST: CF — Caven 4, Montgomery 4, Howard 3, Cruz 2, Yanik 1. CDC — N/A. 

STL: CF — Caven 6, Cruz 5, Montgomery 3, Howard 1. CDC — N/A. 

BLK: CF — Howard 4. CDC — N/A. 

BOYS WRESTLING

LEWISTON — Priest River's Colm McLaimtaig (144) and Caleb Grow (215) both won three straight matches to reach the semifinals of the Clearwater Classic Invitational, which started Friday and finishes today at Lewiston High.

McLaimtaig defeated Kaleb Kessinger of Orofino, Benjamin Johnson of Potlatch and Prestyn Holley of Newport, all by way of first period pins. Grow pinned Blake Barton of Tri-Valley in the first period, Theodore Engle in the second, to clinch the semis.

Gunnar Eversole (190) picked up two wins in the consolation bracket and Orion Grimes (126) went 3-1, picking up a win by a 15-6 major decision in the championship round and two by pin in the consolation bracket — the two remain alive and will look to continue to work their way through the consolation rounds for Priest River, which sits in 12th out of 26 teams with 53 points.

    Sandpoint High sophomore Brecken Mire finishes a layup during Friday night's contest against Lakeland.

    Sandpoint High senior Ashlei Hawkins makes a move on Lakeland's Justin Baxter during Friday night's wrestling match.