(COLIN HAFFNER/Chewelah Independent)

Chewelah’s Cassie Whittekiend dropped 20 on the Grizzlies. (KS Brooks photo)

Cougars drop season opener to 1A Newport…

The Cougar girls joined the boys side in hosting 1A Newport, never truly letting the Grizzlies squad pull away in a hard-fought game but ultimately falling 50-36.

Newport had some offensive weapons on display, but Chewelah had one of their own to keep the game within striking distance all nigh long despite an opening quarter that saw them in an early deficit.

Cassie Whittekiend dropped 20 on the Grizzlies to help keep the pace for the Cougars, matching Newport’s Alika Robinson for the game high in points. Wittikends performance proved crucial in keeping the Grizzlies from running away with the game  and helping Chewelah (0-1) stay in it until the end. More

(COLIN HAFFNER/Chewelah Independent)

Chewelah’s Jaron Baldwin scored 22 points against Newport last Friday. (KS Brooks photo)

Kubik notches nine against 1A opponent…

Chewelah hit the court Friday night, taking a page from their football team and playing up a level against Newport, and playing the Grizzlies tough all night showing they have the mettle to compete with the bigger schools despite losing 61-48.

A slow start didn’t help the Cougars as they fell behind 20-9 after the first quarter, but the team came back strong to pull things to within seven by the end of the third. Newport managed to get their game back on track just in time to thwart the awakening Cougar (0-2) offense and pull out the win. More

(COLIN HAFFNER/Chewelah Independent)

Wellpinit cruises to win

An opening quarter 25-10 run sling-shotted Wellpinit to a big early lead against their Valley Christian hosts Friday, and they rode that lead to a big win 60-39.

The big first quarter lead grew by half, and Wellpinit hit the cruise control in the second to down the Panthers.

Steven Ford, Jr. had a team high 16 points for Wellpinit (2-0), and Smokey Abrahamson and Aiden Wynne both had nine to top the scoring.

Valley Christian (0-2) got 19 from Adam Bruno to lead all scorers.

Hunters falls to Wilbur-Creston in opener

The Hunters Lions looked to get the season started off right with a win over the visiting Wilbur-Creston Wildcats Friday, but the visitors had a different outcome in mind and went home with a 75-37 victory.

The outcome of the game may have looked one-sided, but Hunters played tough all night long, using just a six-man rotation that played the Wildcats strong most of the game. A 24-11 second quarter proved to be the difference maker in the game for Wilbur-Creston as they used that to propel them to the win in an otherwise fairly close game the rest of the way.

Trey Young was a star for the Lions (0-1) on the night with 18 points. That was paired with a good performance from teammate Owen Nelson, who added 11 in the game.

(COLIN HAFFNER/Chewelah Independent)

The Kettle Falls Bulldogs left themselves a bit more breathing room as they rolled to another victory and improved to 3-0 on the year.

Winners of their first two games by a single bucket in each, the Bulldogs (3-0) stormed out to a big first half lead and carried it home in the second half, beating Curlew on the road 70-58.

Kettle Falls built up a solid 35-22 lead in the first half with a combination of good offense and defense against the Panthers (0-1). The second half proved a little more challenging, but the Bulldogs never broke en route to the win.

Mya Edwards put on a show for the Bulldogs, scoring 33 points, while Jocelyn Glover added nine and Zarah Johnson had eight to lead the team.

Next up for the Bulldogs is a home game with Deer Park Dec. 12 starting at 6 p.m.

Hunters falls in opener

Hunters couldn’t overcome a sluggish start to open the season Friday night, eventually falling to the visitors from Wilbur-Creston 56-25.

The Wildcats came out firing in the opening half, putting up 17 in each quarter to take the lead into halftime. However, the Lions came out roaring in the second half to try and make it a game, outscoring the visiting team in the fourth quarter to keep the game from getting too far out of hand.

While the second half performance wasn’t enough to erase the deficit, it did show the Lions (0-1) have plenty of fight in them and gives them some momentum to build on as they move further into the season.

Lexi Nelson had a game high 14 points despite the loss for the Lions, and Precious Ruballo chipped in three more.

Hunters has a quick turnaround with another game Dec. 7 at Almira-Coulee-Hartline beginning at 4:30 p.m.

(COLIN HAFFNER/Chewelah Independent)

Kettle Falls is making a habbit of pulling out close wins.

For the second time to open the season, the Bulldogs came away with a two-point win, this time over the visiting Selkirk Rangers 41-39. Kettle Falls got off to the hotter start, taking a four-point lead after one, but surrendered that lead in the second as the Rangers went into the half leading 21-19.

Another good quarter in the third put the Bulldogs (2-0) back on top by two, and the teams played all square in the fourth to give Kettle Falls the win. Zarah Johnson lead the way with 13 points for Kettle Falls and Iris Armstrong added seven points in the win.  Selkirk (0-1) got ten points apiece from Madison Chantry and Bree Dawson.

The Bulldogs get right back on the court with a Dec. 6 game at Curlew tipping off at 6 p.m. Selkirk goes to Republic Dec. 7 for a road game starting at 4:30 p.m.

(BRANDON HANSEN/Chewelah Independent)

Chewelah opens up the season with a difficult task, hosting 1B power Cusick at Pein-Lynch Gym on Thursday evening. The Panthers got some great performances from Devin Browneagle and Celias Holmes as Cusick survived a late Chewelah comeback for the 62-60 victory.

Nick Franks led the Cougars with 13 points, as the junior two three pointers from the field, while Lukas Kubik added 10 points and Jaron Baldwin hit three three-pointers for nine points. More