MOSCOW -- For the Moscow Bears, the final buzzer Wednesday evening signaled redemption and celebration. It also confirmed a district championship.
Moscow captured the Idaho Class 4A District I-II girls' basketball title it couldn't clinch a night earlier by beating Sandpoint 61-42 at Bear Den.
After the horn, the Bears swarmed halfcourt to celebrate their first state tournament berth since 1999. It was a jubilant scene, though not one preceded by much excitement.
The Bears won the deciding game of this best-of-three series so efficiently and convincingly, all the drama had disappeared by the start of the fourth quarter -- if not earlier.
"We had a much deeper bench, and we wanted to focus on finding our post on offense," Moscow coach Lisa Carscallen said. "We did that."
In their biggest game of the season -- that will presumably change when they play their state-tourney opener on Feb. 19 -- the senior-laden Bears found their dominating post presence in sophomore Kelsey Taylor.
She entered the game in the middle of the first quarter, and Sandpoint's shortcomings began to show roughly at that moment. The sporadically used 6-foot-3 center connected on turnarounds and putbacks for the rest of the night, scoring 17 points and contributing six blocks.
"I just went out and played for the team," Taylor said. "I knew that State was on the line and I knew that we could do it."
The Bulldogs, whose tallest player is 6-1, struggled to keep Taylor outside of easy scoring range.
"That was probably (Taylor's) best game of the year," Sandpoint coach Scott Salesky said. "But when you let a team get that close to the hoop, a kid who's 6-3 probably should inflict some harm on your team."
Kelsey James kept the Bulldogs close during the first quarter, after which the Bulldogs trailed 17-9.
But shortly after Taylor began her breakout performance, James disappeared -- at least in an offensive sense. James scored 10 of Sandpoint's first 17 points in the first half but did not take a shot the rest of the game.
Moscow's Cassie Freer, a senior guard, was responsible for defending James in the second half.
"We were embarrassed by the way we played last night. That's not the way we play," said Carscallen, referring to the Bears' 55-45 loss at Sandpoint. "We improved 100 percent tonight."
The Bears, 15-7, will make their State debut in the third of four-round games at Meridian's Mountain View High. They will face the winner of Saturday's interdistrict playoff between the second-place finisher in District IV-V and the third-place team in District VI.
Sandpoint, 14-8, will take part in another Saturday playoff for a State berth, facing the No. 3 team from District III.
MOSCOW (15-7)
Alisa Hart 2 3-4 7, Jenny Tibbals 5 0-0 10, Cassie Freer 10-0 3, Annie Shull 4 0-0 8, Jaycie Schneider 1 0-0 2, Michelle Alexander 2 1-2 5, Tey Tey Peterson 0 0-0 0, Cassie Bottini 1 0-1 2, Jacki Calhoun 3 1-2 7, Emily Pierce 0 0-0 0, Mandi Richards 0 0-0 0, Laura Hilmes 0 0-0 0, Kelsey Taylor 8 1-1 17, Anni Hubbard 0 0-0 0. Totals 27 6-10 61.
SANDPOINT (14-8)
Kelsey James 3 4-6 10, Ashleigh Mire 2 0-0 5, Kara Verby 2 0-0 5, Abby Jensen 1 0-0 2, Kendal Burt 0 1-2 1, Nikki Fitchett 3 1-4 7, Val Visser 2 2-4 6, Caitlyn Free 1 0-0 2, Allison Sletager 1 0-0 2. Totals 16 8-16 42.
Moscow 17 15 17 12--61
Sandpoint 9 11 11 11--42
Three-point goals -- Freer, Mire, Verby. Total fouls -- Moscow 18, Sandpoint 15. Fouled out -- none.
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