The Chiawana boys basketball team shadowed Lake City throughout most of a North Idaho College Invite matchup, but the Riverhawks still failed to outpace their opponent and lost 48-45 in the teams' tournament opener Tuesday.
Miquiyah Zamora had four steals and four assists to go with his game high 16 points and Zach Mendoza had 14 points.
Luke Ness led the LCHS attack with 11 points.
Chiawana lagged behind only 3 points at the half and, despite outscoring Lake City by 6 in the final quarter, were the casualties of the Timberwolves' 15-9 third quarter rally, which put just enough distance between the two schools for an opening-round tournament victory.
"It was a frustrating game," Chiawana coach Chad Herron said. "We outrebounded them and only had eight turnovers. We forced them into 15 turnovers, but we haven't shot the ball that poorly all year."
Herron was particularly irked with the Riverhawks' free throw performance, where Chiawana made only 10 of 22 chances for a 45 percent success rate.
Chiawana will play Prairie at 10:30 a.m. today in a consolation matchup.
CHIAWANA -- Torres 3, Downing 7, Zach Mendoza 14, B. Mendoza, Perez 3, Briones, Miquiyah Zamora 16, Babinchuk 2, Hergert. Totals 14-52 10-22 45.
LAKE CITY -- Traverse 6, Pratt 9, Bezarqua 4, Ross 2, Luke Ness 11, Moreen 5, Guice 8, Winger 3. Totals 18-46 8-12 48.
Chiawana 7 12 9 17 -- 45
Lake City 5 17 15 11 -- 48
Highlights -- Alex Babinchuk 8 rbs; Zamora 4 stls, 4 assts; Jordan Downing 4 assts.
Wahluke 52, TC Prep 48 (3 OT): Saul Juarez had 18 points and Wahluke combined for 23 steals in a triple overtime victory over Tri-Cities Prep at the Moses Lake Christian Academy tournament.
Wahluke coach Cody Marlow said it was a back-and-forth contest, with Edgar Ledesma's free throw in the third overtime clinching the outcome.
"Both teams shot pretty horribly," Marlow said. "Our steals are what really got us over the edge."
TC PREP -- Perez 5, Scott 4, Rivas 4, Jameson Pederson 20, Whitsett 1, Ledesma 2, Daly 2, Westerfield 10, Versteeg, Loftus.
WAHLUKE -- Abarca 2, Ledesma 9, Mendoza 2, Onofre 9, Saul Juarez 18, Sabin 4, Prudente 4, Gallardo 4, Caro, Zirker.
TC Prep 17 8 9 6 5 3 0 -- 48
Wahluke 12 12 0 16 5 3 4 -- 52
Highlights -- Edgar Ledesma 6 rbs, 5 stls; Oscar Onofre 4 assts, 5 stls; Juarez 5 rbs; Jared Sabin 4 stls, 11 rbs; Dario Prudente 3 stls, 10 rbs.
Weston-McEwen 65, Liberty Christian 54: Brandon Peterson had 15 points for Liberty Christian in a loss to Weston-McEwen at the DeSales Christmas Tournament.
The Patriots will play Seton Catholic 8:30 a.m. today.
LIBERTY CHRISTIAN -- Ty. Koglin 6, Morris 4, Brandon Peterson 15, Olson 9, Crawford 6, Hoey 8, Ti. Koglin 6.
WESTON-MCEWEN -- Salter 5, Terjeson 13, Ramirez, Chapman 5, Dallas Reich 30, C. Thacker, L. Thacker, Peterson, Sederberg 12, Pease.
Liberty Christian 17 13 9 15 -- 54
Weston-McEwen 20 18 7 20 -- 65
