Shelley drops TitleOne opener against Sandpoint despite Landen Smith double-double

IDAHO FALLS — The Shelley Russets battled back from several late deficits, but were never able to crest the hill, falling to the Sandpoint Bulldogs in the opening round of the TitleOne Tip-Off Challenge at the Mountain America Center in Idaho Falls.

Head coach Keegan Keller said his team just lacked the killer instinct it needed to overtake the lead late in the 51-50 loss. But, he said, there were some positives — specifically, what the team did on both sides of the court during their several second-half runs.

Keller called Shelley’s effort “up-and-down” after the game.

“We had moments where we looked like the team I think we can be, and then we had moments where we just coasted — too many times,” he told EastIdahoSports.com. “We just can’t coast and expect to win, just because we think we’re good.”

After a back-and-forth first half, Sandpoint (3-1) seized control in the third quarter, behind senior forward and team captain Logan Roos, taking a 38-33 lead into the fourth.

But Shelley (0-4, 0-0) battled back, riding a pair of big triples from junior Bridger Brunson.

The Bulldogs quickly snatched that momentum, however, with Roos scoring through contact. Roos, though, missed the free throw and and-one opportunity, only to grab his own rebound and score on the putback, pushing Sandpoint back ahead, 45-39.

That “can’t happen,” Keller said.

“We had a couple kids fall asleep — we were expecting them to make it, that’s what it looked like to me. That can’t happen — that’s a frustrating one,” he said.

Keller’s Russets had one more run in them, when they scored five straight to make it a 45-44 game with less than four minutes to play.

But once again, the Bulldogs answered with six straight to stretch the lead.

“We played with some urgency, to cut it to one, and then it was almost like we felt like we’d arrived, and our urgency kind of — we relaxed a little bit,” Keller said.

Roos was off on a pair of free throws in the final minute, missing out on the chance to push a three-point lead to five. But he made up for that gaffe by blocking an attempted game-tying 3-pointer from Kael Remington.

Roos finished the game with 13 points, five rebounds, two blocks and one steal.

Senior Landen Smith paced the Russets, with 13 points, 11 rebounds, two steals and one block. Brunson added 12 points, while Remington contributed 11. Beck finished the game with nine points, four steals, three rebounds and one block.

Sandpoint advances into the semifinal game, where they will face the winner of Thursday’s Coeur d’Alene-Star Valley (WY) game.

Shelley will face the loser of the same game in the consolation bracket.

Keller said that Russet will have another test in front of them, regardless of the outcome, adding that their recipe for success will be simple:

“We’ve got to play with urgency for a full game.”