Lewiston Bengals bounce Sandpoint Bulldogs in nonleague action

The Lewiston boys basketball team constantly brought pressure on defense en route to a 71-52 nonleague victory over Sandpoint on Saturday at Lewiston High School.

“I thought we played really well in spurts,” Lewiston coach Brooks Malm said. “Sandpoint made some shots early, and we kind of had to weather the storm, which is kind of typical of how we play. I liked the resilience of our young group.”

The Bengals (4-3) pulled in front 16-6 with a little more than three minutes remaining in the first quarter, mostly due to their press defense and timely shots from sophomores Jordan Walker and Dray Torpey.

After taking a 10-point advantage, Sandpoint (3-4) began chipping away at the Bengals’ lead with a 50-second 7-2 run, pulling itself to within 18-14 after two Emerik Jones free throws; he finished with four points.

With 5:29 remaining in the second quarter, Bulldogs’ sophomore wing Logan Roos hit a 3-pointer to pull within 26-25. He finished with eight points.

From there, the Bengals put the nail in Sandpoint’s coffin, going on a 14-5 run to finish the first half.

“I thought we gambled a little bit more and took less-calculated risks,” Malm said about Sandpoint’s early first-half run. “That’s really what it was. ... But credit to Sandpoint, they jumped up and made some shots. They have some young guys that can shoot it, and they made some shots. I thought we made them take some tough ones, but we gave them too many easy ones, and those are the ones we have to eliminate.”

Here’s what we learned in Lewiston’s final game before Christmas break:

Calculated risks, not gambles

A large part of the Bengals’ identity is the pressure they apply on the defensive end of the court.

Lewiston compiled a healthy amount of turnovers through its press, but it also gave up some open looks, especially in the first half.

The Bulldogs finished 19-of-52 (36.5%) from the field and 4-of-19 (21%) from deep.

“We just take some unnecessary risks every now and then,” Malm said. “That’s just part of the system, and the philosophy is to be aggressive on the defensive end, but we have to get better at taking calculated risks in what we do. But with that being said, I thought we did a better job in the second half of not giving up as many (open looks). They made some shots, but they were more contested. We didn’t give up open ones.”

Leading by example

The Bengals only have three seniors on their roster: forward Drew Hottinger, guard Jordan Bramlet and forward Rylan Gomez.

The trio of upperclassmen each had big plays in the clutch, combining for 37 of Lewiston’s 72 points.

“I thought those guys did a good job of showing some senior leadership and not getting too low,” Malm said. “That can happen sometimes, and they didn’t let that happen. We just weathered the storm, and we went on another run, and that was nice to see.”

The best performer of the three was Hottinger, who had a big night on the glass for Lewiston, finishing with double-digit rebounds.

He was able to reap the fruits of his labor by scoring a team-high 17 points to go along with his big rebounding night.

“We asked him to take on a much larger role this year,” Malm said. “Last year, we just had so much size and length that our rebounding was a little bit more spread out. This year, we don’t have that luxury. Everybody has to block out their guy, and Gomez and Hottinger have to go out and get it, and they’ve been doing a great job of it.”

Gomez finished with nine points, and Bramlet added 11.

Youth are starting to develop

Lewiston’s upperclassmen taking the lead allowed the younger players to play loose, as evident by sophomore guard Jordan Walker’s performance.

He matched Hottinger with a team-high 17 points and was a cool 5-of-7 from beyond the arc.

“He’s had some games,” Malm said. “He shot the ball well again tonight, and he didn’t take any bad shots, which was nice to see.”

Freshman Blaze Hepburn stood out on the defensive end, limiting Sandpoint guard Parker Childs to nine points on 4-of-9 shooting.

“He does so many things that show up on film,” Malm said. “They might not show up on the stat sheet, but he does such a good job of pressuring the ball, and he’s in the right spot. For a freshman to step up and take that challenge speaks high volumes to who he is as a competitor.”

SANDPOINT (3-4)

Luke Leavitt 0 2-4 2, Knox Williams 1 0-0 2, Derrick Chamberlain 6 1-1 13, Wil Leisy 2 1-2 6, Logan Roos 3 0-0 8, Caiden Gion 3 1-2 7, Parker Childs 4 0-1 9 Emerik Jones 1 2-2 4. Totals 23 7-12 52.

LEWISTON (4-3)

Rylan Gomez 2 5-6 9, Jordan Bramlet 3 3-8 11, Jordan Walker 6 0-1 17, Royce Fisher 0 0-0 0, Dray Torpey 3 2-4 10, Parker Bogar 2 0-0 5, Drew Hottinger 6 3-5 17, Blaze Hepburn 1 0-0 3. Totals 23 13-24 72.

Sandpoint 16 14 12 9—51

Lewiston 22 18 25 7—72

3-point goals — Roos 2, Leisy, Childs, Walker 5, Torpey 2, Bogar, Hepburn

Pixley may be contacted at (208) 848-2290, tpixley@lmtribune.com or on Twitter @TreebTalks