Sandpoint 3, Lakeland 2 

SANDPOINT — In front of a packed house on senior night, the Sandpoint Bulldogs narrowly stunned the top team in the 5A Inland Empire League, the Lakeland Hawks, in five sets (25-22, 6-25, 25-10, 15-25, 15-13) on Tuesday night. 

The Bulldogs were led by a stellar night from sophomore Ali Gunter, who posted a team-high 13 kills and three blocks. Senior Marlee Lane turned around from her honorary ceremony to follow Gunter with nine kills, two blocks and three aces. 

Sophomore Darby Rust led the team with three aces and contributed 12 digs. Hailey Gion totaled a team-high 16 digs on defense. Setter Averi Mire totaled 28 assists to lift the Bulldogs over the Hawks. 

“Darby had some big moments for us last night at key times, and Ali provided some firepower that was downright brutal,” Sandpoint head coach Karen Alsager said.   

The Bulldogs also celebrated senior Deanna Resso, who played a significant portion of the game. 

Sandpoint’s dramatic five-set win over Lakeland evens the season series and lifts Sandpoint to 7-9-1 overall and 3-2 in league play. The Bulldogs are tied with Lewiston for the second-best record in the league.  

“Great to see this team have the confidence to get that done last night, but that was the worst roller coaster ride I’ve ever been on,” Alsager said. 

The tie between the Bulldogs and 12-11 Bengals will be broken when the two teams play on Oct. 15 at 7 p.m. in Lewiston for the final game of the regular season. 

Priest River 3, Orofino 2 

PRIEST RIVER — A clutch fifth set kept the Priest River Spartans’ season alive in the Central Idaho League District Tournament against Orofino on Tuesday night. 

The Spartans fell behind early and dropped the first set 25-21 before bouncing back with a dominant 25-9 second-set victory. Priest River emerged victorious in the third set, 25-20, before stumbling in the fourth set, 25-22, forcing a win-or-go-home fifth set. 

Early on, Orofino took control and jumped out to a 6-4 lead. However, Priest River battled back to take an 8-7 lead and never looked back, claiming a 15-9 win to stay alive in the CIL tournament. 

The two stars of the night were freshman Ava Griesemer and junior McKinley Burgess-Duquette, who totaled 29 kills and four blocks combined. Rylee Dixon added two blocks while Haylee Jepson-Church masterfully orchestrated the offense to the tune of 36 assists. 

Defensively, Callie Stanger led the Spartans with 37 digs while Raygn Turner added 22 and Burgess-Duquette added 21 more digs.  

The victory sends the Spartans to the CIL championship game against the top-seeded Kellogg Wildcats on Oct. 17 at 3 p.m. at Bear Den in Moscow. The Wildcats beat the Spartans both times they faced off in the regular season on their way to an undefeated season in CIL play. 

    Sandpoint senior Marlee Lane stands with her father during senior night celebrations at Les Rogers Court on Tuesday night.

    Sandpoint senior Deanna Resso stands with her parents during senior night honors on Tuesday at Les Rogers Court.