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Don Gronning
PRIEST RIVER – The Priest River girls’ basketball team beat Central Idaho League opponent Orofino 41-30 Saturday, Dec. 14 in their first league game.
Spartan coach Tyler Douglas said most of the games this year have been close, and this one was no exception.
The Spartans trailed 21-17 at the half before rallying in a big third quarter, where they outscored Orofino 10-4 to take the lead.
“Desi (Humphrey) hit six free throws at the end,” Douglas says. Humphrey ended up with 10 points and nine steals on the night. Aleigha Jensen led Spartan scoring with 15 points, including three 3-pointers. She also grabbed the most Spartan rebounds, 11.
Monday night, Dec. 16, the Spartans were at home where they beat Riverside 56-46 in a non-league game.
Lizzie McCracken led all scorers with 25 points, including five 3-pointers. The Spartans led start to finish, although Riverside made a run in the fourth quarter when they outscored Priest River 17-10.
Humphrey had 16 points for Priest River. Paityn Yount had seven steals in the game to go with nine rebounds, a pair of blocks and six points.
Thursday, Dec. 12, the Spartans had their only loss of the season, a 42-40 squeaker against Genesis Prep. It was the second time the teams played this year. Priest River won the first contest. This game came down to a couple of baskets at the end, Douglas says.
Douglas said there are only 11 girls on the team. He’s happy with their 6-1 record.
“But it’s still early, there’s a long way to go,” he says.
Next up for Priest River is the West Valley Holiday Classic Tournament in Spokane Valley Friday, Dec. 27, where they’ll take on East Valley at 10:30 a.m. They play Medical Lake the following Monday at 10:30 a.m.
