Sandpoint 73, Lakeland 39

SANDPOINT — If you happened to head over to Les Rogers Court on Friday night, Sandpoint did not disappoint.

Senior Logan Roos tallied a game-high 18 points, including two 3-pointers, seven rebounds and blocked three shots, junior Knox Williams found nylon from beyond the arc three times as he posted 13 points and dished out a season-high nine assists, and the two teamed up for an off-the-backboard slam dunk in the second half as they lifted the No. 2 Bulldogs to a 34-point win over the No. 3 Hawks in a 5A District 1-2 semifinals game at Les Rogers Court.

Junior Brock Yarbrough also had 13 points to go along with eight rebounds, three assists, and three steals and junior Derrick Chamberlain netted 10 points and used his 6-foot-7-inch frame to put down a massive and-1 slam in the second half for Sandpoint, which closed the second quarter on a 19-3 run to take a 37-16 lead by halftime. Yarbrough kept Sandpoint's lead at 21 points, 53-32, with an offensive putback as the third-quarter buzzer sounded and the Bulldogs rolled to the win the fourth, outscoring Lakeland by a 20-7 margin.

Sandpoint High head coach Will Love said despite some struggles in the first quarter, he thought his squad played some stellar defense, which set the tone for the rest of the contest.

"A big emphasis at the break was to get the ball in the paint and do it quickly," coach Love said of the offensive gameplan after just an 11-8 scoring advantage after one quarter of play. "The guys did a good job of focusing on that, and that provided us the opportunity to score and extend our lead."

Jaron Yager had 15 points, seven rebounds and three steals, Wyatt Furihman eight points, six rebounds and two steals for Lakeland (8-11), which will host No. 4 Moscow (3-19) for a 5A District 1-2 loser-out game on Tuesday night at Hawk Court. The Bears fell to the Bengals by a score of 66-43 on Friday night in their opener.

Junior Logan Iverson had nine points, including a 3-pointer, senior Kingston Corbett hauled in eight rebounds and blocked three shots, and senior Caiden Gion had four points, four rebounds, and grabbed a team-high four steals for Sandpoint (11-11), which will travel to No. 1 Lewiston (19-3) for Tuesday night's 5A District 1-2 championship game at Bengal Court.

"We have to play really well to compete with Lewiston, and it has to be for 32 minutes," coach Love noted. "They have shown if you're not ready for 32 minutes, they're going to get you — just a dynamic team, especially on the offensive end. Tonight was us doing a lot to get to a point to be prepared for that. We knew we had to do a lot to beat Lakeland, because they're well-coached and had a good plan of attack against us. As we started to gain a lead, we really talked about wanting to stay crisp and doing things well so that we're ready to compete for a regional title."

Lakeland 8 8 16 7 — 39

Sandpoint 11 26 16 20 — 73

PTS: SPT — Roos 18, K. Williams 13, Yarbrough 13, Chamberlain 10, Iverson 9, Gion 4, Weisz 2, Corbett 2, Nieman 2. LL — Yager 15, Furihman 8, Hillman 6, Hocking 5, Boardman 3, Lukey 2.

REB: SPT — Corbett 8, Yarbrough 8, Roos 7, Gion 4, Chamberlain 3, K. Williams 2, Weisz 1, Iverson 1. LL — Yager 7, Furihman 6, Boardman 5, Lukey 3, Tuskan 1, Hocking 1, Hillman 1.

AST: SPT — K. Williams 9, Yarbrough 3, Gion 2, Roos 2, Corbett 1, Weisz 1, Chamberlain 1. LL — Lukey 3, Furihman 2, Boardman 1, Hocking 1, Hillman 1.

STL: SPT — Gion 4, Yarbrough 3, K. Williams 1, Weisz 1, Roos 1. LL — Yager 3, Furihman 2, Hocking 1.

BLK: SPT — Roos 3, Corbett 3. LL — Yager 1.