Wampus Cats eliminated from state tournament

NAMPA — Here was the good news for Clark Fork: The Wampus Cats held Richfield to only four points in the second quarter and three in the fourth quarter.

Now for the bad news: The Cats lost defensive stopper and main scorer Dimi Kailang to injury in the second quarter, and never seemed to find a rhythm offensively.

The result: Richfield ground out a 35-26 win over Clark Fork in the consolation bracket of the 1A Division II state tournament on Friday night at Nampa High School.

Senior Brocklynn Thornton hit all four of her free throw attempts and drilled a 3-pointer among her team-high 11 points, posting a double-double by pulling down 11 rebounds as well for the Cats (12-9), who went two and out for the second straight year at state.

Kailang had three points, four rebounds, two assists and a steal before leaving the game for good early in the second half with a sprained ankle after stepping on an opponent’s foot.

“We were just starting to come around at that point and it kind of deflated the girls a little,” said Cats coach Dexter Vogel of the injury to his point guard. “It definitely had an impact.”

After trailing by just three points at half, the Cats were outscored by 10 points in the pivotal third quarter. Celeste Komanec and Jessica Driver did a nice job spreading the ball around in Kailang’s absence, but the Cats hit just 9-53 from the field.

“We just shot the ball poorly and could not get the ball in the bucket,” said Vogel, lauding the play of Richfield (19-7). “They were very aggressive and set darn good screens and moved the ball well.”

Despite losing twice at state, Vogel was proud of his team’s effort and hustle from the opening tip to the last horn.

“We just let a few things slip by and they could have turned the game right around,” he said. “As a whole, that was a great group of young ladies to coach.”

Richfield    13   4   15   3 — 35

Clark Fork  10   4    5    7 — 26

CLARK FORK — Kiebert 0, McMahon 2, Vogel 2, Driver 5, Komanec 3, Thornton 11, Taylor 0, Van Buren 0, Kailang 3, Ebel 0, Frazier 0.