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PRIEST RIVER — For the 2026 Battle of the Border, the Newport and Priest River Lamanna High School girls’ basketball teams played their first rematch of the season, with the Spartans defeating the Grizzlies once again.
Newport (4-14, 3-8) hosted Priest River (8-8, 2-6) Friday, Jan. 30, losing to their cross-border rival 50-38. The Grizzlies are seeded sixth in the Northeast 2B North league, the Spartans fourth in the 3A Central Idaho league.
Priest River took a 19-5 lead from the first quarter. Though Newport managed to outscore Priest River 11-9 in the second quarter, the teams headed into intermission 28-16, with Priest River still in the lead.
The Spartans pulled further ahead in the third quarter, adding 3 points to the gap and heading into the fourth quarter 38-23 over the Grizzlies. Newport retook those 3 points in the fourth quarter, outscoring Priest River again 15-12, but it wasn’t enough for the Grizzlies to win.
McKinley Burgess-Duquette led Priest River with 20 points. Haylee Jepson, with 12 points, made two of the Spartans’ 3-pointers. Aleigha Jensen made the third one, with 7 points overall.
Across the border, Grace Keck led Newport with 14 points, 6 of which were from two 3-pointers. With 8 points, Marri Hinchliff also made two 3-pointers.
