Lewiston suffers first loss of the season to Bonners Ferry in Avista Holiday Tournament battle of unbeatens

With 2.9 seconds left in regulation, Lewiston’s Royce Fisher found the ball in his hands. Lewiston drew up the perfect inbound play to get him wide open up the left wing, but Fisher’s shot rattled off the rim and the final buzzer awoke the Bengals to the rude reality of a loss.

Their first of the season.

In a bout of undefeated Idaho boys basketball programs, the Bonners Ferry Badgers beat the Bengals 58-55 in an Avista Holiday Tournament first-round thriller at the P1FCU Activity Center in Lewiston.

Just three minutes earlier, Fisher grabbed a loose ball, sprinted down the court and sunk the fastbreak layup to cap a 7-0 Lewiston fourth-quarter run and give the Bengals a seven point lead.

Bonners Ferry (7-0) channeled a couple of clutch 3-point shots, including the go-ahead trey from Eli Blackmore with 22.9 seconds left to surmount the deficit.

Thomas Bateman led Bonners Ferry with 19 points and Asher Williams added 15

Fisher — the P1FCU Prep Athlete of the Week and a usual force from beyond the arc — led the Bengals (8-1) with 15 points.

A thrilling finish

The Bengals and Badgers traded baskets and turnovers from the opening tipoff to the final buzzer.

Fisher scored eight of his 15 points in the first half, Drew Torpey scored 12 points, 10 of which came in the first half, and Blaze Hepburn posted 11 points, missing just one shot.

The two Titans were knotted at 16 after eight minutes, Lewiston led by five at the break and Bonners Ferry took a two-point lead into the fourth quarter.

Lewiston, known for making 10 or more 3-pointers in some games, was relatively cool from long range, making just six of its 22 3-point attempts.

Torpey had a pair of triples in the first half, Hepburn made one in the first quarter and Brady Rudolph, Jordan Walker and Parker Bogar each sank critical fourth-quarter 3-pointers.

Rudolph’s shot made it a one-point game with under six minutes to play, Walker’s shot gave the Bengals a two-point lead at the 4:51 mark and Bogar’s trey was sandwiched between Fisher points in Lewiston’s late 7-0 run.

Bogar’s fourth-quarter trey came less than 10 seconds after he stripped a Bonners Ferry Badger of the ball.

Fisher followed Bogar’s shot with his steal and score to put Lewiston up 55-48 with 3:09 left in the game.

“It was scary, to be honest,” Bonners Ferry coach Nathan Williams said. “I knew we had it in us, but it was scary to think that we might lose our first game of the year.

“I knew it was gonna be close down the stretch. I knew it was gonna come down to probably free throws or a last-second shot, as it did.”

Visiting fans dominate tournament atmosphere

The annual New Year’s week high school hoops tournament on the campus of Lewis-Clark State College attracts schools from across the L-C Valley, Palouse communities and the region.

The Badgers drove about three-and-a-half hours on Thursday morning to get to Lewiston and they brought a sizable crowd with them.

Parents, family members and supporters packed the section immediately behind Bonners Ferry’s bench. They demonstrably argued foul calls, whooped and hollered after every Badger basket and made the hometown gym sound like a Bonners Ferry home game with deafening “defense” chants at some of the game’s most pivotal moments, particularly in the game’s final minute with the Badgers protecting a two-point lead.

Nathan Williams, who led the Badgers to a 3A state championship last year, said that these midseason tournaments prepare his team for the postseason.

“It’s games like this that test our legs, our lungs and our heart,” Nathan Williams said. “Do we have enough to get it done down the stretch? And tonight, we did. I just don’t like being in that situation. We haven’t had very many close games. How are we gonna respond?”

Bengals’ brand of basketball

Despite the result, Nathan Williams walked off the floor knowing that his team did not play its best basketball.

“Lewiston had a lot to do with that,” Nathan Williams said. “A lot of guard play, a lot of dribble penetration, a lot of 3s, and they execute. They hit screens really well. I thought they did a great job with that.

“They’re feisty. I mean, hats off to Lewiston. They’re well-coached.”

The Bengals created Badger turnovers, aggressively pursuing the ball and quickly moving it downcourt to capitalize on the takeaways.

“It’s what we do,” Lewiston coach Brooks Malm said. “Try to get up and pressure the ball, pressure where the ball is going. That’s our style.

“I thought there were good moments of it tonight. I thought it hurt us a couple of times, but overall, I thought it was effective.”

Fisher exemplified this aggressive approach with his fourth-quarter fast-break layup after a steal.

Despite the trademark aggression, Malm said the Badgers beat the Bengals in the paint.

Both teams feasted off of each other’s mistakes to forge a thrilling back-and-forth first-round game, but Bonners Ferry outscored the Bengals 16-9 from inside the arc and 52-38% overall.

What’s next?

Lewiston will face McCall-Donnelly at 1:30 p.m. in a consolation game while Bonners Ferry advances to face Moscow at 7:30 p.m. today. Both games will be played at the P1FCU Activity Center.

The Bengals beat the Vikings by one point, 61-60 on Dec. 20 in McCall. They will meet in a “neutral site” rematch about 11 minutes from Lewiston High School.

Lewiston’s close loss to a reigning state champion is not the end of the world for the Bengals. It provides a blueprint for what they need to improve upon to extend their season.

Malm said very few teams go undefeated all year and the Bengals will learn from their loss.

“We lost the game to a good team,” Malm said. “We lost to the defending state champs. We’ll watch the film, we’ll see what we can get better at, and we’ll go from there.”

BONNERS FERRY (8-0)

Ty Schrock 0 0-0 0, Eli Blackmore 2 0-0 5, Brody Rice 5 1-1 11, Peyton Hinthorn 0 2-2 2, Asher Williams 6 2-3 15, Thomas Bateman 8 1-2 19, Ivaan Cartwright 0 0-0 0, Sulay Abubakari 3 0-0 7. Totals 24 6-8 58.

LEWISTON (8-1)

Dray Torpey 4 2-2 12, Royce Fisher 6 3-4 15, Drew Alldredge 1 2-4 4, Jordan Walker 2 0-0 5, Alex Shafter 0 0-0 0, Guy Krasselt 0 0-0 0, Brady Rudolph 2 0-0 5, Blaze Hepburn 5 0-0 11, Parker Bogar 1 0-0 3. Totals 21 7-10 55.

Bonners Ferry 16 10 18 14—58

Lewiston 16 15 11 14—55

3-point goals — Bateman 2, Torpey 2, Abubakari, Walker, Rudolph, Hepburn, Bogar, Blackmore.

Taylor can be reached at 208-848-2268, staylor@lmtribune.com or on X (formerly Twitter) @Sam_C_Taylor.