GIRLS 

Sandpoint 6, Lewiston 0

SANDPOINT — A hat trick from senior Bayah Ratigan was more than enough for Sandpoint to beat Lewiston and clinch home-field advantage in the Inland Empire League District Tournament on Saturday. 

Ratigan scored the first three goals of the game for the Bulldogs against the Bengals, getting assists from junior Willow Betz and senior Jordyn Tomco. Sandpoint’s Vivian Haag added the fourth goal thanks to a ball from Aleeya Anaya and closed out the game with her second goal of the day. 

Betz capitalized on a corner kick from Ratigan to score a goal, which rounded out an impressive day for the Sandpoint offense, which was bouncing back after two scoreless performances against 6A schools.  

"They played well. It took us a little time to settle in, but once we did, the girls just picked up their groove,” Sandpoint head coach Alan Brinkmeier said. “We got to work on things that we needed to work on, and we got some people some rest that needed to rest. 

The victory closed out the Bulldogs’ regular season at 8-6-1, but they went 7-1 in league play. Sandpoint will start their district tournament run on Saturday against the winner of Lakeland vs. Post Falls, which will take place on Wednesday. 

Brinkmeier said that the week off from play will be a massive advantage for the Bulldogs, allowing them to get healthy before their most important game of the season.  

"We’re going to continue to train, but the training is going to be different than training and games,” Brinkmeier said. “I think we can kind of back off a little bit as we get closer to Saturday and give their legs a little bit more rest.” 

Sandpoint swept their matchups against Lakeland, 4-0 and 4-2, and Post Falls, 6-1 and 4-1. Brinkmeier said he wants his team to take the post-season one game at a time, but that Saturday is key as a loss would hurt their chances at making the state tournament. 

"We’re not overlooking any team,” Brinkmeier said. “We definitely need to shore down our defense, taking care of their through balls. Then also just making sure we’re finishing every chance that we have and not allowing teams to stay around in the 65th and 70th minute where it makes it more nerve-wracking than it needs to be.” 

The Bulldogs will open their IEL tournament on Saturday at 10 a.m. at War Memorial Field. 

BOYS 

Sandpoint 3, Lewiston 1

LEWISTON — Two first-half goals helped the Sandpoint Bulldogs make good on a dominant offensive day against Lewiston in their final 5A Inland Empire League game on Saturday. 

Sandpoint outshot Lewiston 28-12 and quickly found themselves up 2-0 thanks to two goals in the 13th minute. The first was scored by junior Pax Longanecker, which extended his goal-scoring streak to five games, off a ball from fellow junior Dixon Reed.  

Reed then polished off a goal of his own off a throw-in from junior Colton Dickinson to extend the Bulldogs’ lead to 2-0. 

Lewiston responded in the second half with a penalty kick that got by Sandpoint goalkeeper Landon Brinkmeier in the 51st minute. However, Longanecker closed the door with his second goal of the day thanks to an assist from sophomore Cooper Mire to seal a 3-1 victory. Longanecker’s brace is the continuation of a scorching hot streak in which he has posted 11 goals in five games. 

“I thought we failed to capitalize on our dominance and let them hang around too long,” Sandpoint head coach Dan Anderson said. “However, happy to get the win and finish out our last away game of the season. Got the job done.” 

Sandpoint will finish off their regular season on Tuesday night with their senior night game against 6A Lake City at War Memorial Field at 6:30 p.m. The Bulldogs will have home-field advantage for the IEL District Tournament, which will start for Sandpoint on Saturday at 12 p.m.