Post Falls earns berth to state
POST FALLS - Marcus Colbert wasn't known as an outside shooter until the Post Falls High sophomore put in some time on Sunday nights working on his outside shot.
On Friday night, that extra work paid off.
Colbert sank back-to-back 3-pointers early in the fourth quarter to snap a 32-all tie, and the Trojans went on to pull away from the Coeur d'Alene Vikings 53-36 in the second-place game of the 5A Region 1 boys basketball tournament at The Arena to earn the region's final berth to state.
"I've been coming in on Sunday nights to work on my jump shot, because it's the weaker part of my game right now," said Colbert, who hit all three of his shots from behind the arc and finished with a game-high 14 points. On the first 3, "I saw (Jake) Matheson, who was guarding me, was way deep in the key, and left me wide open, so I let it go. On the second one, I was just feeling it."
"Marcus has become a more respected shooter," Post Falls coach Mike McLean said. "When he came into high school, with his abilities, playing against his peers, he could get to the rim when he wanted. Now, he's had to add a new element to his game."
Post Falls (19-4), bouncing back from a loss to Lake City at home in Tuesday's regional title game, advances to state March 4-6 at the Idaho Center in Nampa. The Trojans will open vs. Vallivue (18-5) of Caldwell, which lost to Eagle in the District 3 title game, next Thursday at 2 p.m. PST.
Lake City (13-9) opens next Thursday at 7 p.m. PST vs. the winner of a play-in game today between Borah (13-11) and Highland (15-9) in Twin Falls.
Coeur d'Alene, which finished 15-8, led 28-24 early in the third quarter, but scored just eight points in the final 13 minutes of the game, as Post Falls picked up the defensive pressure.
"They just physically manhandled us in the second half," Coeur d'Alene coach Kent Leiss said. "They were all over us, and we struggled to get into our offense. Give credit to Mike; they just wore us down."
For slightly more than three quarters, Coeur d'Alene dictated the tempo, running a patient offense with well-timed drives to the hoop. The Vikings jumped out to leads of 9-2 and 11-4.
Point guard Connor White hit his first six shots and finished with 12 points. Deon Watson had five rebounds and four blocked shots, and his 3-point shot made it 28-24 Vikings with 5:02 left in the third quarter.
Shawn Reid had nine points, five rebounds and four assists for Post Falls. One of those assists came when the Vikings sagged off of Colbert, and he buried a 3 with 5:35 left in the game to put Post Falls up 35-32. Moments later, Colbert sank another wide-open 3, then Reid fed Jared Kennedy cutting to the hoop for a layin to complete the 8-0 run that pretty much clinched the game.
"I thought they (the Vikings) executed their slowdown game better than most teams do against us," McLean said. "We knew we had more depth, and we wanted to wear them down. Halfway through that fourth quarter, our pressure got to them."
Connor Hill had 11 points for Post Falls. Matheson added eight points and six rebounds for Coeur d'Alene.
Coeur d'Alene 15 8 7 6 - 36
Post Falls 12 9 9 23 - 53
COEUR d'ALENE - Matheson 8, Chalich 0, White 12, Reno 3, Watson 4, Stevens 4, Williams 5.
POST FALLS - Gonzales 2, Hill 11, Muncey 0, Mal. Colbert 5, Reid 9, Mar. Colbert 14, Mikkelson 2, Lickfold 4, Kennedy 6, Cragin 0.