Lakeland 77, Sandpoint 73

RATHDRUM — Even though the result wasn't a favorable one for Sandpoint High, it sure was one of the most exciting district championship games of all-time.

Junior Brecken Mire fired in 18 of her game-high 30 points in the second half, including a 3-pointer, to go along with a team-high six steals and a team-high four assists, junior Livia Driggs hit two 3-pointers and scored 15 points, also adding two assists and two steals to the stat sheet, and the No. 2 Lady Bulldogs fell just shy of the No. 1 Lady Hawks in Tuesday night's 5A District 1-2 championship game at Hawk Court.

Junior Jordyn Tomco fired in three first-quarter 3-pointers on her way to a line of 14 points, five rebounds, two assists and three steals, and senior Jasmin Laing contributed 10 points and three rebounds for Sandpoint, which led 13-4 early in the first quarter and trailed 45-36 heading into the locker room.

Late in the fourth quarter, an offensive putback by Laing, followed by a 3-point play from Mire, and then a floater from Mire not too long after, closed the gap to 63-60, but Lakeland was able to pull away down the stretch despite a gutsy performance by the Lady Bulldogs.

Sandpoint High head coach Madi Schoening said her team, which had 15 steals compared to the Lady Hawks' two, was locked in from the get-go.

"One of the better basketball games played in the state between the No. 1 and the No. 2 seeds," coach Schoening noted. "I give all the credit to the girls. They played so hard, and so well, and to the scout... we had four players in double-figures and had a lot of kids step up... there was no let down ever. Huge kudos to the girls — there was a lot of preparation that went into this and they brought it. This game gives us encouragement that we can get them later if the time comes."

Lakeland (18-4), ranked No. 1 in the state's 5A rankings according to MaxPreps, was led by Presley Fagan, who hit three 3-pointers as she poured in a team-high 20 points. Mariana Bullington had a double-double of 15 points and 14 rebounds while Karstyn Kiefer had 15 points, including three 3-pointers, and seven assists for the Lady Hawks, which led by as much 55-40 in the third quarter and punched their ticket to the 5A State Championship, set to be held Feb. 19 through 21 at both Mountain View High in Meridian and at the Ford Idaho Center in Nampa, with the victory.

Sandpoint (17-5), ranked No. 2 in the state's 5A rankings according to MaxPreps, also got two points and four rebounds from sophomore Willow Betz and junior Carly Laybourne. The Lady Bulldogs will host No. 3 Moscow (11-11), which defeated No. 4 Lewiston (7-15) by a score of 41-40 on Tuesday thanks to a buzzer-beating layup from Brooklyn Becker, tonight at 6 p.m. at Les Rogers Court for a 5A District 1-2 loser-out matchup. The winner will advance to a 5A state play-in game, set to be held Saturday afternoon at Grangeville High, against the third-place team from the Southern Idaho Conference.

"This game has us excited for what's in our near future," coach Schoening said. "Hopefully, a week-and-a-half from now, things are looking like we're headed down there (state)... I believe if we play like we did tonight, we'll be just fine getting through the next couple of games."

Sandpoint 20 16 17 20 — 73

Lakeland 23 22 16 16 — 77

PTS: SPT — Mire 30, L. Driggs 15, Tomco 14, Laing 10, Betz 2, Laybourne 2. LL — Fagan 20, Bullington 15, Kar. Kiefer 15, Hoffman 12, Bretveld 8, Bowie 5, Forsman 2.

REB: SPT — Tomco 5, Laybourne 4, Betz 4, Laing 3, L. Driggs 2, Mire 1. LL — Bullington 14, Bretveld 9, Hoffman 7, Bowie 6, Kar. Kiefer 5, Fagan 3, Forsman 1.

AST: SPT — Mire 4, L. Driggs 2, Tomco 2, Laing 1, Butler 1. LL — Kar. Kiefer 7, Bretveld 3, Fagan 2, Bullington 1, Hoffman 1, Bowie 1.

STL: SPT — Mire 6, Tomco 3, Laybourne 2, L. Driggs 2, Laing 1, Betz 1. LL — Hoffman 1, Bretveld 1.

BLK: SPT — None. LL — None.

Wallace 65, Clark Fork 42

COEUR d'ALENE — Senior Piper Scarlett hit four 3-pointers on her way to a team-high 14 points, freshman Vanessa Rogier contributed a 3-pointer of her own and scored nine of her 13 points in the second half, and the Lady Cats' season came to end with a loss to the Lady Miners in a 2A District 1-2 loser-out game held Tuesday night at North Idaho College.

Senior Priscilla Mayorga added five of her seven points in the first half, freshman Kiylah Anderson had four points, and sophomores Azelynn Petersen and Elyssa Raynor chipped in two points apiece for No. 3 Clark Fork, which trailed 32-17 at halftime and finished the season with a record of 6-12.

"I'm really proud of the girls," Clark Fork High head coach Chris Cavanaugh said. "We had low numbers and low height. They came in, worked hard to learn a new offense and defense, and came a really long way... We're going to miss Piper and Priscilla. They've been awesome kids to coach all these years — we're really going to miss them when next season rolls around."

Khepri Wood scored 17 of her game-high 23 points in the second half while Kylee Phillips added 22 points of her own, which included a 10-for-16 effort from the free throw line, for No. 2 Wallace (9-8), which used a 21-8 third-quarter scoring advantage to pull away and will face No. 1 Lakeside (10-11) in the 2A District 1-2 title match tonight at North Idaho College.

Clark Fork 4 13 8 17 — 42

Wallace 16 16 21 12 — 65

PTS: CF — Scarlett 14, Rogier 13, Mayorga 7, Anderson 4, Raynor 2, Petersen 2. WAL — Wood 23, Phillips 22, Al. Birdsell 8, Au. Birdsell 6, Voorhess 2, Stutzke 2, Hanks 2.