Bengals top Vikings, stay perfect
Dave Cornelia stopped just short of apologizing after his Lewiston High boys basketball team rallied to knock off a spirited, but young Coeur d’Alene 80-74 in overtime Tuesday.
“I think I lost about 12 pounds and three years after that baby,” said Cornelia, whose second-ranked Bengals improved to 12-0 overall and a league-leading 4-0 following the key Inland Empire League game played before an estimated crowd of 600 at Elmer Jordan Court.
“We didn’t deserve to win. I thought Kent’s (CdA coach Kent Leiss) kids did a great job of preparing. That’s definitely not our style – the way they shot in the first half. They got so much transition stuff up the sideline.”
The Vikings outscored Lewiston 26-15 by making 8 of 10 shots from the field and causing seven Bengal turnovers.
After Lewiston built its first first-half lead at 26-20, the Vikings (5-6, 1-3) closed out the second quarter on a 21-6 run for a 41-32 lead.
A baseline jumper by John Latorre gave the Vikings their biggest lead, 43-32, seconds into the third quarter. But Lewiston fought back, forging a 45-all tie when Bo Gregg hit a 3-point with 4 minutes to go in the period.
A putback by Cody Smith with 38 seconds left in the third allowed CdA to go into the final quarter with a 49-47 lead.
Perhaps the most critical point in regulation came when CdA junior wing Nate Bligh, with his team leading 61-58, missed a breakaway layup with 2:52 to go.
He compounded his mistake by committing his fifth foul in a scramble for the ball seconds later.
“I think a big key was Bligh fouling out,” Cornelia said. “He’s an emotional leader for them. He’s pumping the fists and he’s good in the (fullcourt pressure).”
Smith hit the front end of a 1-and-1 bonus to extend CdA’s lead to 64-60 with 43 seconds to go. But Smith was called for a foul on a long rebound 2 seconds later, sending Shane Moser to the foul line for a one-and-one opportunity. Moser, who made 9 of 10 free throws in the final 12 minutes, made both shots.
Gregg stole an inbounds pass and hit a driving basket as he was fouled. He missed the free-throw shot, and CdA had a final chance to win in regulation.
But an awkward shot by Smith and jumper by Matt Palmer would fall in the final 5 seconds.
Lewiston used a 7-0 spurt to open the extra period, and CdA couldn’t recover.
The taller Bengals moved their offensive attack inside with purpose in the second half, and a defensive switch to a 1-3-1 zone allowed Lewiston to slow down the Vikings.
“We (switched) just so we could fly to the wing and guard them,” Cornelia said. “Somehow, some way we rallied and had enough to get over the top. I told our kids in overtime, ‘We got a second chance, we maybe didn’t deserve one, but let’s do something with it.’ They made free throws down the stretch.”
While disappointed that his team lost – all of CdA’s losses have been tightly contested games – Leiss couldn’t fault his team’s hustle.
“I’ve got my small munchkin sophomores (four at times) out there. They played their butts off,” Leiss said.
“I have a hard time faulting them for the turnover (late in the fourth quarter). I thought we played extremely hard. We executed our game plan exactly the way we wanted.”
Each team had four players score in double figures. Gregg led Lewiston with a game-high 26 points. He also had four rebounds, four steals and three assists. Moser had 20 points and posts Beau Blewett and Andrew Packwood had 12 and 10 rebounds, respectively.
Nate Clinton led CdA with 15 points. Palmer had 14 to go with a team-high seven rebounds.
CdA returns to action Friday when it entertains Lake City in the annual Fight for the Fish spirit doubleheader.