Palmer, CdA hand Bengals first loss

Matt Palmer had a game-high 20 points as Coeur d’Alene held Lewiston to 33 percent shooting from the field and handed the second-ranked Bengals their first loss of the season, a 73-62 Inland Empire League setback at Lewiston on Saturday.

Palmer hit three 3-pointers, while teammate Nate Clinton had 18 points, including 5-of-7 shooting from behind 3-point arc. The Vikings (7-7, 2-4), who also got 13 points from Nate Bligh, shot 50 percent from the floor and were 12 of 23 overall from 3-point range.

Lewiston (14-1, 6-1) got 16 points from Bo Gregg and 11 points from Chris Butler.

In other IEL action, Spencer Pingel was 8 of 11 from 3-point land and finished with a game-high 28 points as Post Falls (10-4, 4-3) beat Sandpoint 63-40 at Sandpoint. Post Falls led 39-10 at halftime. Chase Lowther led the Bulldogs (8-7, 3-4) with 15 points.

•Matt Rice finished with a game-high 22 points and added four steals as Bonners Ferry (9-5, 4-0) held off Kellogg 63-51 in a battle of the Intermountain League’s top teams at Bonners Ferry. Spenser Behrens added 12 points and four rebounds, and Josh Hawk chipped in with eight points and four steals for the Badgers. Jacob Conboy had 12 points and Jeremiah Big Spring 10 for Kellogg (10-4, 3-1). … In other IML action, Cody Jones finished with 18 points and Levi Powers added 12 as Timberlake (3-12, 1-3) made eight 3-pointers and held off St. Maries 64-54 at St. Maries. The Lumberjacks (2-11, 0-4) were led by the 11 points, 12 rebounds and four blocked shots of Tucker Baker.

•Danny Anderson had a game-high 18 points as Post Falls Christian (11-0, 6-0) forced 27 Clark Fork turnovers en route to a 64-44 rout of the Wampus Cats (6-9, 4-4) in North Star League action in Post Falls. David Park added 10 points for PFC, while Tyler Broggi had 12 points to lead Clark Fork. … Nick Arthun had a game-high 24 points as Wallace (4-8, 1-4) led 18-6 after one quarter and coasted to a 50-36 win over Lakeside (Plummer) at Wallace. Darrick Holmquist added 13 points, shooting 6 of 6 from the field, for Wallace. The Knights (1-11, 1-5) were led by the seven points of Jeremiah Brunelle.

•Cody Smith was 3 of 4 from the free-throw line in overtime – Priest River’s only points in the extra period – as the Spartans (7-6) outlasted Freeman (8-7) 40-39 in non-league action at Priest River. Zack Petersen’s layup with 12 seconds left put Priest River up by three, but Andrew Dresbach hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to send the game into overtime. Smith finished with a game-high 18 points for the Spartans. Dresbach had a team-high 10 points for the Scotties.

Girls basketball

Kendal Burt finished with a game-high 12 points and hit a shot with 30 seconds left that gave Sandpoint a lead it wouldn’t relinquish as the Bulldogs held off Post Falls 41-38 in an Inland Empire League matchup at Sandpoint. Ashleigh Mire didn’t score, but did most everything else, finishing with five assists and four steals for Sandpoint (7-10, 3-6). Jenny McVeigh led the Trojans (9-9, 6-5) with 11 points. … Deanna Dotts had 10 points, seven rebounds, three steals and a pair of blocked shots as Coeur d’Alene (13-5, 8-2) earned a 58-27 win at Lewiston (7-12, 2-9). Lindsay Stark added 13 points and five steals for the Vikings. … Kayla Stiegemeier went 4 for 4 from the free-throw line and had 14 points, but it wasn’t enough as Moscow (7-10, 6-4) beat Lakeland (13-6, 5-6) 45-35 at Moscow.

•Katie Poston did it all for Bonners Ferry (12-5, 6-0), hitting four 3-pointers, eight free throws and finishing with 26 points and seven rebounds as Bonners Ferry held off a tough challenge from Kellogg 50-45 in Intermountain League play at BF. Steph Cantrall led the way for the Wildcats (10-9, 4-3) with 16 points. … Lindsey Powers was 15 of 16 from the free-throw line and finished with a game-high 27 points as Timberlake (5-13, 1-5) got its first league win of the season by beating St. Maries 56-51 in North Star League action at St. Maries. Sam Siron had 16 points, eight in the fourth quarter, to spark St. Maries (7-9, 1-5), which had 24 points through three quarters and scored 27 in the fourth.

Jolene Meredith had six points, nine rebounds and six assists to lead Clark Fork (4-11, 4-3) to a 73-30 win over Post Falls Christian (4-10, 1-6) at Clark Fork. Tiffany Van Buren added 17 points for the Wampus Cats, while Grace Bishop had 14 for Post Falls Christian.

•Jessie DePell was 6 for 8 from the floor, including 3 of 4 from 3-point range, and shot 4 of 4 from the free-throw line to finish with 19 points and lead Freeman (13-2) past Priest River 60-47 in non-league action at Priest River. The Scotties also got 13 points from Claire Moberg. Lacey Hopkins led the Spartans (9-8) with 14 points.

Wrestling

Joey Fio, Chad Spade, Jerod Morris and Sheldon Cramer all took first place in their respective weight classes, leading Sandpoint to a second-place team finish at the Clearwater Classic at Lewis-Clark State in Lewiston. Fio took the 125-pound class, Spade won at 130 pounds, Morris at 171 and Cramer at 215 as the Bulldogs finished with 143.5 team points, 11.5 behind first-place Eastmont. Lewiston, which got a first-place finish from Mark Skogrand at 275 pounds and second-place finishes from Nick Hobson (125) and Cody Ensley (171) took fourth, finishing with 128 points, .5 behind third-place Clarkston. Post Falls, led by Bobby Kuber’s victory at 140 pounds, took sixth with 116 points, while Moscow, led by a fourth-place finish from Alex Thompson at 135 pounds, was 17th with 22 team points.