PREP GIRLS BASKETBALL: Coeur d'Alene's Wallis steps up on senior night

By JASON ELLIOTT

Sports writer

COEUR d’ALENE — It’s easy to get caught up in the emotion sometimes. 

It’s a rivalry game. 

It could be the final time against a life-long friend, and a school that you’ve been trained to root against for the last four years. 

It inspired Coeur d’Alene senior Karisa Wallis on Thursday. 

Wallis scored a season-high 14 points, hitting four 3-pointers for the Vikings in a 78-50 win over the Lake City Timberwolves in a 6A Inland Empire League game at Viking Court. 

Lake City led 11-0 with 3:58 remaining in the first quarter before Coeur d’Alene scored its first basket on the night by junior Brookeslee Colvin, who scored all 10 points in the first for the Vikings. 

“I think we came out excited and needed to slow down and play at our own pace,” Wallis said. “It’s a good rivalry and I get fired up to play them every time. I know all those girls and I really enjoy playing against them. It gets me fired up, especially at home.” 

Wallis, who has signed with NAIA University of Providence in Great Falls, Mont., hit four 3-pointers, including a shot to tie the game at 15-15 early in the second quarter, the Vikings first lead of the night. 

“Our kids executed so well in that first quarter,” third-year Lake City coach David Pratt said. “We did a really good job with the game plan, being physical and keeping the ball out of Brookeslee’s hands as much as possible. And I’m really proud of them.” 

Wallis had three of her four 3s in the first half for Coeur d’Alene, which outscored Lake City 32-11 in the second quarter. 

“It was her senior night, and she came into the game with the mentality of it’s now or never,” second-year Coeur d’Alene coach Stacy Boyd said. “Senior night only comes once, and then it’s over. I called a timeout and told her she was playing a little lax. And she told me she was going to step it up and she did that tonight.” 

“When they come in a zone, our coach says ‘toes on the line’ and if you’re open, shoot it,” Wallis said. “We’ve all got the green light to shoot it. So if we’re open, shoot it. Tonight was a good night to shoot 3s.” 

Colvin finished with 35 points, 19 in the first half for Coeur d’Alene (17-2, 3-0 6A IEL), which hosts Post Falls on Saturday. 

Junior Ella Pearson scored 16 points for Lake City (7-10, 0-3), which travels to Sandpoint on Tuesday before concluding the regular season at Post Falls on Jan. 30. 

“That second quarter was the deciding factor,” Pratt said. “We hung in there with them in the third and fourth quarter. We knew what they were capable of doing and tried to take away their best part. And we gave up some things. That second quarter, they just did a really nice job and we turned the ball over a boatload. I was proud of the three quarters we played, but you need four quarters against a team like that.” 

Coeur d’Alene has won 11 straight games. 

“For the most part, we’ve had a good season,” Wallis said. “We’ve had a lot of away games, and hit a little bit of a bump a few weeks ago, but we’re getting it straightened out. We’re practicing hard and working hard, and it’s showing.” 

Lake City        15    11    13    11    —    50 

Coeur d’Alene    10    32    14    22    —    78 

LAKE CITY — Kolden 2, Hiltenbrand 2, Pearson 16, Baltzell 14, Brouse 0, Johnston 10, Johnson 4, Molinari 0. 

COEUR d’ALENE — Yates 0, Wheeler 10, Brown 5, Wallis 14, Colvin 35, Shafer 0, Semprimoznik 8, Reardon 3, Robertson 0, Stevens 0. 

Lapwai 65 

Timberlake 60 

SPIRIT LAKE — Junior Macy Murphey scored a team-high 18 points for the 4A Tigers, who were outscored 23-9 in the fourth quarter by the 2A Wildcats in a nonleague loss at Timberlake High. 

“I thought we played hard, and if we score 60 points in a game, it should be enough,” Timberlake coach Matt Miller said. “But we need to be better on the defensive end. We’ve got to defend and rebound to win games.” 

Senior Malia Miller scored 14 points for Timberlake (9-6), which hosts Grangeville tonight. 

Skylin Picard scored 19 points for Lapwai (13-1). 

Lapwai    8    17    17    23    —    65 

Timberlake    17    11    23    9    —    60 

LAPWAI — A. Yearout 0, Samuels 6, Picard 19, Oatman 9, P. Yearout 14, Bisbee 17. 

TIMBERLAKE — Murphey 18, Young 8, Archer 0, Miller 14, Milligan 2, Jones 8, Holecek 10. 

Kootenai 62 

Mullan 13 

MULLAN — Sophomore Brooklyn Charles had 16 points and 16 rebounds for the Warriors in a North Star League win over the Tigers at the Mullan Pavilion. 

Sophomore Harleigh Dutton had 13 points and 10 rebounds for Kootenai (5-4, 1-0 NSL), which hosts Wallace on Monday. 

Freshman Laycie Morris scored six points for Mullan (2-5, 0-1), which travels to the Sandpoint C team on Tuesday. 

Kootenai    22    18    13    9    —    62 

Mullan        4    5    0    4    —    13 

KOOTENAI — J. Stevenson 5, Loucks 0, H. Charles 7, H. Stevenson 4, S. Davidson 10, B. Charles 16, D. Davidson 4, Dutton 13. 

MULLAN — Crandall 0, Tirabasso 0, Morris 6, Blankenship 0, Ullrich 0, Kostelich 2, Elliott 5. 

Lakeside 63 

Wallace 33 

WALLACE — Senior Kyleigh Wolfe scored a game-high 29 points for the Knights, who clinched the 2A Scenic Idaho Conference title with a win over the Miners at Kirby Krulitz Court. 

Sophomore Laila SiJohn scored 17 points and senior Kimberly Pluff added 13 points for Lakeside (9-10, 3-0 SIC), which hosts Lapwai next Thursday. 

"We put out a great effort and worked well as a team," Wallace coach Nichole Farkas said. "Lakeside is an excellent team and is tough to stop. I thought both teams showed great sportsmanship."

Senior Aubrey Birdsell scored 14 points for Wallace (6-7, 2-2), which travels to Kootenai on Monday. 

Lakeside    19    19    18    7    —    63 

Wallace    4    20    4    5    —    33 

LAKESIDE — Gorr 0, Pluff 13, Wolfe 29, SiJohn 17, Hodgson 2, Stensgar 2, Peone 0, Abrahamson 0. Thompson 0, Matheson 0. 

WALLACE — Au. Birdsell 14, Voorhees 4, Madore 2, M. Stutzke 4, K. Stutzke 3, Depatto 0, Petersen 2, Hanks 4, Al. Birdsell 0.  

Moscow 66

St. Maries 16

MOSCOW — No other information was available.

N.I. Christian 42 

Pullman Christian 37 

PULLMAN, Wash. — Senior Chelsey Cate had 23 points, 10 rebounds and three blocked shots for the Royals in a Mountain Christian League win over the Eagles at Pullman Christian School. 

Senior Madison Salaiz had 11 points, six assists, six steals and seven rebounds for North Idaho Christian (8-10, 6-3 MCL), which faces Spokane Classical Christian at the First Church of the Nazarene in Spokane tonight. 

Sophia Cofer scored 11 points for Pullman Christian. 

N.I. Christian        11    11    11    9    —    42 

Pullman Christian    16    11    4    6    —    37 

NORTH IDAHO CHRISTIAN — Ellis 0, Peterson 0, Cate 23, Salaiz 11, Collins 0, Jordan 4, Smith 4. 

PULLMAN CHRISTIAN — Merwin 0, Carrier 5, C. Anderson 0, Mennecol 0, E. Anderson 6, Fitzgerald 6, Cofer 11, Rajasekaran 9, Johnson 0. 

    JASON ELLIOTT/Press Lake City junior Maggie Hiltenbrand drives to the basket as Coeur d'Alene sophomore Bree Reardon defends during the first half of Thursday's 6A Inland Empire League game at Viking Court.
  

    JASON ELLIOTT/Press Coeur d'Alene's Bree Reardon and Lake City's Courtney Johnson battle for a loose ball in the fourth quarter of Thursday's 6A Inland Empire League game at Viking Court.