Spartans get OT border win

Priest River, Newport game goes down to wire

PRIEST RIVER — The Priest River Spartans and Newport Grizzlies boys’ basketball teams battled it for the entire game Wednesday night, Dec. 10, with the game not decided until the final seconds.

Priest River got the 54-52 win with the Spartans’ Lucas Matthews sinking a pair of free throws with less than eight seconds remaining in the game.

Priest River, coached by interim coach Mason Clark, was up 34-26 at the half before the Grizzlies mounted a comeback, outscoring the Spartans 15-7 in the third quarter to tie the game at 41-41 to start the fourth quarter.

With two and a half minutes left in the game, Newport was up 52-49, Clark says.

Priest River’s Brady Hatten was fouled and went to the foul line, making one of two free throws, then put back his own rebound to tie the game at 52-52.

Matthews was then fouled with eight seconds left, going to the line for the winning free throws.

“It was a great game,” Clark says. “It was our first win of the season.”

Clark says Hatten came through at a key time to tie the game. He also spoke highly of sophomore Madden Redinger.

“Madden Redinger handled the pressure really well,” he says.

Clark was also impressed by Newport’s Jacob Hamberg. When the Spartan’s Ian Lamanna went down with a leg cramp, Hamberg was there to help him stretch it out. “No. 14 (Hamberg) really impressed me with his sportsmanship,” Clark says.

Hamberg was the game’s top scorer with 24 points. He also grabbed five rebounds.

Jamieson Oaks was Newport’s top rebounders, with 11 rebounds, including five offensive boards. Jayden Hunt had four steals for the Grizzlies.

Despite the loss, Newport coach Jason Coolbaugh was happy with his team’s efforts and attitude.

“Super proud of the boys’ heart and energy along with the Mudita and DRE mindset,” Coolbaugh says. Mudita refers to finding joy in others’ success. DRE refers to Dre Baldwin, a former professional basketball player whose philosophy focused on taking initiative, mental toughness and cultivating confidence.

For Priest River, in addition to Matthews’ 20 points, Lamanna scored 10 points. They also had three steals each.

Spartan rebounding was led by Jacob Best with seven and Hatten with six.