PREP BOYS BASKETBALL: Sloper's hoop caps St. Maries' comeback win over Kellogg

KELLOGG — Senior Xavier Sloper scored 17 points, including a tiebreaking driving layup with 3 seconds left, as the visiting St. Maries Lumberjacks beat the Kellogg Wildcats 56-54 in a key Central Idaho League clash Thursday night at Andrews Gymnasium. 

Kellogg (10-9, 4-3 CIL) had tied it at 54 on two free throws by Ty Cheney with 25 seconds left. The Wildcats had a foul to give, then St. Maries (14-3, 5-1) inbounded again and Sloper got downhill from the right wing for the go-ahead score, keeping the Lumberjacks in position to earn the top seed to the 3A District 1-2 tournament. 

"With Orofino knocking them (the Lumberjacks) off it opened the door for us to get the No. 1 seed,” Kellogg coach Mike Martin said. “Now this locks us into the 3-seed.” 

Senior Isaiah Gustaffe added 14 points and senior JJ Yearout had 13 for St. Maries, which trailed by 14 points in the third quarter.  

Yearout had a couple of steals which led to dunks during the Lumberjacks’ comeback.  

“Nobody turns defense in offense better than he does,” Martin said. “Defensively they ratcheted up the screws, and got a ton of stops.” 

Junior Porter Lewis led Kellogg with 20 points, including a 35-footer at the halftime buzzer to put the Wildcats up 34-24 at halftime. 

Senior Cayden Honnerlaw added 13 points for Kellogg on senior night. 

"Cayden had an incredible game,” Martin said. “We gave him the challenge of guarding JJ, and he was able to be a big cog for us offensively.” 

St. Maries visits Grangeville on Saturday, then plays host to Orofino (16-2, 6-1) on Tuesday to decide the league title.

Kellogg visits Priest River on Tuesday in its CIL finale. 

St. Maries     11    13    15    17    —    56 

Kellogg     15    19    10    10    —    54 

ST. MARIES — Harold 0, J. Barta 0, Yearout 13, Gustaffe 14, B. Barta 4, Riberich 6, Speakman 2, Sloper 17. 

KELLOGG — Coburn 2, Taylor 6, A. Lewis 0, P. Lewis 20, Honnerlaw 13, Cheney 8, Vindasius 5. 

Timberlake 57 

Priest River 49 

PRIEST RIVER — Senior Max Simpson scored all 15 of his points in the second half as the visiting Tigers rallied from nine points down at halftime to beat the Spartans in nonleague play. 

Senior Brant Rush led Timberlake (6-12) with 19 points. 

“We really came out the gates slow to start this game,” Timberlake coach Juston Henry said. “The kids remained calm and positive during halftime and came out with a lot of energy to start the third. They (the Spartans) played a lot of zone and Max and Brant took advantage of some good looks inside. We didn’t hit many 3s tonight but Mason (Shively) and Wade (Van Gundy) hit two 3s to tie the game toward the end of the third.” 

Ian Lamanna of Priest River (5-11) led all scorers with 21. 

Timberlake plays host to Bonners Ferry on Tuesday in a key Intermountain League game. 

Timberlake     8    8    20    21    —    57 

Priest River     15    10    11    13    —    49 

TIMBERLAKE — Shively 7, Short 0, Simpson 15, Van Gundy 7, Vallieres 3, Hiaasen 6, Rush 19, Smith 0. 

PRIEST RIVER — Matthews 12, Lamanna 21, Barth 0, Redinger 0, Best 0, Simcox 0, Collins 2, Hatten 9, Strange 5.