Priest River boys win Battle of the Border

PRIEST RIVER – The Priest River Spartan boys’ basketball team continued to win last week, beating Newport and Grangeville at home Friday and Saturday, Jan. 31-Feb. 1.

The Spartans (5-1, 12-3) got a 56-40 Central Idaho League win against Grangeville {0-6, 4-12} Saturday. They beat Newport 53-47 last Friday.

Against Grangeville, Sawyer Staudt led all scorers with 14 points, including four 3-pointers. Nate Stifel had 13 points and Carter Cook scored 11.

Cook also led Priest River in rebounds, with nine. Palmer Coleman led all players in steals, with six and assists, with five.

Against Newport, Stifle and Ian Lamanna each scored 11 points to lead Spartan scoring. Nine of Lamanna’s points came from 3-pointers.

Newport’s Hank Kirkwood led all scorers with 15 points. He also grabbed 10 rebounds. Newport, down 19 points at the half, came back, outscoring the Spartans 18-5 in the third quarter.

Newport coach Brett Mackey says the Grizzlies were cold in the first half, but he still felt like they had a chance.

“The last five minutes of the third (quarter) was huge,” he says. “That 14-0 run got us right back into it. We just couldn’t get the game under six points. Priest River has some good players, those guys just kept making clutch plays.”

Priest River will play Bonners Ferry at home Wednesday, Feb. 5, at 6:30 p.m.