Spartans notch third win over Lady Cats
Priest River's Lilly Freitas (middle) cuts through the defense and elevates for a layup over Clark Fork's Paige Valliere (right) on Tuesday night at PRLHS.
(Photo by DYLAN GREENE)
Priest River's Allyson Barton (left) fights to put up a shot over Clark Fork's Katelyn Matteson on Tuesday.
(Photo by DYLAN GREENE)
Clark Fork's Emily Myers (left) gets down in the paint while Priest River's Marley Burgess-Duquette defends her on Tuesday.
(Photo by DYLAN GREENE)
Priest River's Allyson Barton secures a rebound and looks for the putback on Tuesday.
(Photo by DYLAN GREENE)
Clark Fork's Eva Hoffman (left) has a shot attempt blocked by Priest River's Allyson Barton on Tuesday.
(Photo by DYLAN GREENE)
Clark Fork's Grace Yancey (left) looks for an open teammate while Priest River's Helena White defends her on Tuesday.
(Photo by DYLAN GREENE)
Priest River's Helena White attempts to go up for a shot between two Clark Fork defenders on Tuesday.
(Photo by DYLAN GREENE)
Samantha Pound tries to navigate the Clark Fork defense on Tuesday.
(Photo by DYLAN GREENE)
Clark Fork's Katelyn Matteson (left) tries to go up for a shot on Tuesday while Priest River's Abbey Shockey defends her.
(Photo by DYLAN GREENE)
Clark Fork's Katelyn Matteson elevates for a shot on Tuesday.
(Photo by DYLAN GREENE)
Clark Fork's Lily Reuter (right) drives toward the basket while Priest River's Samantha Pound defender her on Tuesday.
(Photo by DYLAN GREENE)
Clark Fork's Paige Valliere elevates for a layup on Tuesday.
(Photo by DYLAN GREENE)
PRIEST RIVER — After a slow start, Priest River found its groove on Tuesday night and sailed to a 50-32 victory over Clark Fork.
It was the Spartans third win over the Lady Cats this season.
Priest River was without its top two leading scorers — Hannah Palfrey and Makia Fitzmorris. But the Spartans' younger players rose to the occasion and head coach Gary Stewart was proud of their effort.
"Sometimes in your season you kind of wish for that situation where some of the ones that you rely on are gone just to see how the others respond," he said, "and so far we've responded well."
Over the past three games, Stewart said he has seen his team take huge steps forward.
"We're finally kind of getting all the pieces together at the end and we're starting to compete," he said.
Both teams were plagued by turnovers early in Tuesday's game. They combined for 28 turnovers in the first half.
The score was tied at 7-7 after the first quarter, but the Spartans began to take control and went on a 12-0 run to open the second quarter. This allowed Priest River to take a 21-13 lead into the locker room.
In the second half, the Lady Cats made a run on a three-point play by Paige Valliere and cut the deficit to six points with just over two minutes remaining in the third quarter. But the Spartans came right back and scored eight unanswered points to build a lead that was too much for Clark Fork to overcome.
Despite the defeat and unforced mistakes, Clark Fork head coach Jordan Adams said her team made some strides against the Spartans.
"They've been taking practice a little more serious and it makes a difference," she said.
Down the stretch, junior Grace Yancey became a force down low for the Lady Cats and finished with a career-high six points. Adams said she saw great things from Yancey and the rest of the team that they can build off of moving forward.
"I actually told them in the locker room, 'This is the most well-rounded we have played as a team this year, hands down,'" she said. "We had games this year where we had girls that stood out, but all around we looked like a good sound team."
Sophomore Lilly Freitas and freshman Samantha Pound shined for the Spartans.
Freitas scored a game-high 19 points and grabbed 10 steals and four rebounds.
Stewart said Freitas' knack for pickpocketing opponents comes naturally and it allows her to be menace on defense.
"She's scary," Stewart said. "You have to really pay attention when she's playing defense on you because she's so aggressive. She's got such quick hands that she can turn you over and embarrass you."
Pound tallied 13 points and Addison Kingery and Helena White each scored five for the Spartans. Allyson Barton grabbed eight rebounds.
Valliere led Clark Fork with seven points. Lily Reuter had five points and three assists, Katelyn Matteson tallied four points, 10 rebounds and three steals and Emily Myers grabbed four points and six rebounds.
Palfrey missed last Thursday's home game against North Idaho Christian and Stewart isn't sure if she'll be back this season. However, Stewart hopes to have Fitzmorris back for Thursday's game against Timberlake.
Priest River (4-14) hosts Timberlake at 7 p.m. Thursday for its regular season finale. The Spartans, the No. 4 seed, will see the No. 1 seed Tigers again at 6 p.m. Monday when they head to Timberlake for a first round matchup in the 3A Region 1 tournament.
Clark Fork (2-12) travels to the Kellogg JV team at 7 p.m. Friday.
Clark Fork 7 6 8 11 — 32
Priest River 7 14 12 17 — 50
CLARK FORK — Matteson 4, Valliere 7, Myers 4, Shelton 3, Reuter 5, Yancey 6, Hoffman 1, Mace 2, Fournier 2.
PRIEST RIVER — Rantala 2, Freitas 19, Pound 13, Burgess-Duquette 1, Thompson 0, Kingery 5, White 5, Barton 3, Shockey 2.
