Short-handed Bulldogs can't keep up with Prosser
SPOKANE — Hampered by a litany of injuries and illnesses, Sandpoint and its thin bench fell 64-53 to Prosser (WA) in the first game of the Eagle Holiday Classic at West Valley High School.
As if a short bench wasn’t enough of an obstacle, the Bulldogs had another slow start, which came back to haunt them as they cut the Mustangs’ 16-point lead to single digits late in the fourth quarter.
“We struggled out of the gate and we weren’t ready for the intensity of a team like [Prosser],” Sandpoint head coach Will Love said. “We were playing on our heels to start and it took a while for us to get going. Unfortunately, that put us into a hole that we kept trying to get out of.”
In fact, both teams struggled at the onset. Prosser senior Abby Rodriguez scored the game’s first points at the 5:58 mark, then Sandpoint’s Dawson Driggs hit a three to put the Bulldogs on the board 20 seconds later. But fouls and turnovers from both teams hampered any semblance of rhythm in the first quarter until the Mustangs fired off a 6-0 run in 27 seconds with under two minutes to play. Meanwhile, Driggs carried Sandpoint by herself by scoring the Bulldogs’ first six points of the quarter.
Luckily for Sandpoint, fouling hampered Prosser’s star point guard Melissa Cortes, who was held to one first-half point and sat the entirety of the second quarter. Despite this, the Mustangs’ press harassed the Bulldogs into 11 first-half turnovers, which quickly led to transition opportunities. As a team, Prosser only shot 9-19 from the field, but relied on second-chance points to extend the lead.
“We really missed Brooklen [Steiger] and Lily [Anderson] because those are two girls who love getting rebounds, getting in position and being physical,” Love said.
Prosser extended its 28-19 halftime lead with a Marissa Cortes-led 6-2 run in the first three minutes of the third quarter, leading to a quick timeout from Love.
With time on their side and Prosser quickly racking up more fouls in the second half, Driggs and Hattie Larson fought their way into the paint in the third quarter. Their efforts — including a season-high 17 points from Larson — eventually cut Prosser’s lead to single-digits in the fourth, yet the Bulldogs only went 17-30 (57 percent) from the free throw line.
Prosser’s Hallie Wright led all scorers with 20 points; Driggs wasn’t far behind with 18.
Larson’s six rebounds led Sandpoint, Maddie Morgan’s 11 points notched her sixth double-figure scoring game and Bella Phillips chipped two points and five rebounds.
Sandpoint (2-6) will finish its stint in the Eagle Holiday Classic against Cheney (WA) at 9 a.m.
Prosser 13 15 14 22 — 64
Sandpoint 10 9 11 23 — 53
PROSSER — Mar. Cortes 9, Wright 20, Olivarez 0, Yeager 2, Rodriguez 13, Mal. Cortes 6, Taylor 7, Harris 7.
SANDPOINT — Driggs 18, Morgan 11, Edwards 2, Larson 17, Petit 0, Lish 0, Phillips 2, Banks 3.