Brewer helps Sandpoint hold off Trojans
What a difference a half makes.
The Sandpoint Bulldogs piled it on Post Falls in the first half and then held on for a 54-53 Inland Empire League boys basketball victory on Tuesday night at Post Falls.
Senior post Mike Brewer, who had 12 of his team-high 18 points in the first half, said the win helped the Bulldogs exorcise a demon or two.
“We were coming off a really tough loss against Moscow, so it was good to be able to come back together and get a win,” said Brewer, who also led SHS with eight rebounds. “It’s definitely something we can build on, and we really needed that.”
Sandpoint (3-1 IEL, 6-5 overall) came out firing in the first half, chasing down nearly every loose ball and hitting 8 of 11 from the field in the first quarter to take a 16-10 lead. The Trojans came out flat, committing seven of their 10 turnovers in the half and falling behind by as many as 14, at 33-19, just before the break.
But Post Falls (1-3, 7-4) – and junior guard Spencer Pingel in particular – regrouped at the half and tied the game at 41 on Steve Hudec’s rebound and putback with 20 seconds to go in the third quarter.
Pingel, who had 21 of his game-high 27 points in the second half, hit a 3-pointer to tie it at 50 with 3 minutes to go in the fourth.
After some physical back-and-forth action, Pingel again came up big, driving the lane for a kiss off the glass that put Post Falls within one with 10 seconds to go.
After a quick foul, Bulldogs wing Brian Shultz missed the first half of a one-and-one. The Trojans, with 8 seconds left, stormed down the court and got the ball in the hands of leading scorer Kyle Turpin under the basket. But Turpin’s attempt was blocked. The ball was then awarded to Sandpoint, which inbounded it as time ran out.
Sandpoint coach Tyler Haynes praised his team’s effort on defense and breathed a sigh of relief.
“I think that we did a really good job defensively and we communicated very well, which is something we didn’t do against Moscow,” Haynes said. “We were fortunate to get out to that 11-point lead at the half – we definitely needed that.
“We’re playing at Post Falls, and you just know they’re going to make a run – and they did.”
Post Falls coach Dave Stockwell said the first-half doldrums have been a recurring theme for the Trojans.
“We’ve had this problem a couple of games where the guys just seem like they don’t know the difference of being mentally prepared,” Stockwell said. “Then when a team jumps on them like that, it catches them off guard – the four losses that we’ve had have all been the same thing.
“It could be due to some youth that’s in there, guys being put in leadership positions that aren’t ready for it, or it could be coaching – maybe I haven’t done a good job of preparing them for the game.”