PONDERAY — In their last two games, the Sandpoint Bulldogs have found themselves in desperation mode in the second half, and their first game in the 5A State Tournament against No. 2-seeded Hillcrest on Thursday was no different. 

Back-to-back goals from the Knights late in the first half buried the No. 7-seeded Bulldogs in a 2-0 hole before halftime. Sandpoint needed a miracle akin to the one it managed in its state play-in game last Saturday, but it never showed itself.  

Instead, it was Hillcrest who added another goal in the second half to cap off a 3-0 win and send Sandpoint to the consolation bracket. 

"Hillcrest is a great group of girls and a great team. They got 11 seniors that, I think, just came out here and for the first 40 minutes went to everything and wanted it more than us," Sandpoint head coach Alan Brinkmeier said.  

From the jump, Hillcrest looked to overwhelm Sandpoint in the midfield and create chances. For the first 25 minutes, the Knights did exactly that but couldn't find their way past the Bulldogs' back line and goalkeeper Izzy Stark. 

Hillcrest's pressure paid off in the 29th minute as senior forward Brinley Nelson played a through ball past a diving Stark to give the Knights an early lead. The Knights parlayed that goal into another one just a minute later as Quincy Daw sent a kick that found its way in the back of the net to put Sandpoint in a 2-0 hole before they had a shot on goal. 

"I think it was the same thing with the Idaho Falls game. We gave up those easy chances in the first half, and then they lit a fire under themselves in the second half," Brinkmeier said. "Unfortunately, they were already too much ahead of us that we couldn't find that momentum." 

Out of the halftime break, Sandpoint returned to form, pushing the pace more and generating more shots through their offensive firecracker, senior Bayah Ratigan. Though the Bulldogs balanced the scales in the second half, they never took over the game, and Hillcrest fought right back with chances of their own. 

"I think that Bayah and Willow are the ones that can bring this team up by their play, Jordyn Tomco as well," Brinkmeier said. "But it takes more than that. It takes more than those three to really drive the team. So, we need more out of everybody, including the players on the bench. We just need more out of everybody next game." 

With time winding down, the Bulldogs couldn't find any more quality chances, and the Knights took advantage of their tiredness. Nelson took several more shots that went wide before she found her second goal of the day in the 77th minute to put the Bulldogs on ice. 

Sandpoint's loss moves it to the consolation bracket, where it will face the Wood River Wolverines at 9:30 a.m. at the Field of Dreams Field 2 in Ponderay. 

"We have another game to play, and we can't let this loss define the rest of our tournament," Brinkmeier said he told his team after the game. "We can still go home with some hardware if we win two more games. So that's now the goal we have to focus on, and it can't be lost." 

First half — HC, Brinley Nelson, 29:00. HC, Quincy Daw, 30:00. Second half — HC, Nelson, 77:00.

Shots on goal — Hillcrest 11, Sandpoint 5.

Saves — Hillcrest, Scarlet Whitte 5; Sandpoint, Izzy Stark 8.