The Lewiston High School girls basketball team finished off its long trip to Oak Harbor for the Santa Slam Tournament in fine fashion by thumping the host Wildcats 73-29 Friday, Dec. 30.
The Bengals (9-1) are Idaho’s defending state champions and they had little trouble putting away the 1-9 Wildcats. Lewiston led 15-5, 29-10 and 54-21 at the quarters.
After a shaky start when his team committed five turnovers in the opening minutes, Lewiston coach Pat Teichmer called timeout to get his troops on track. His team ramped up the defensive pressure, forced 12 Oak Harbor first-quarter turnovers and went on an 11-2 run to start the rout.
After Oak Harbor’s Annie Leete dropped in a three-ball to start the second half, Lewiston strung together 13 straight points to go up 42-13 and douse any hopes of a Wildcat comeback.
Leete provided most of the Oak Harbor offense with 18 points. Morgan added four, Rayan Russell three, Tatiana Cumming two and Kelsey Rankin two.
Tisha Phillips led 10 different Bengal scorers with 20 points.
Oak Harbor returns to league play Wednesday, Jan. 4, with first-place Glacier Peak (6-0, 9-1) at home at 7:15 p.m.
