Vikings' ship still sailing
<p>Coeur d'Alene High's Carli Rosenthal, center, battles between Highland's Cassidy Elgan, left, and Dylan Gonzalez during the second half of the Vikings' 56-36 semifinal win over the Rams on Friday night in the state 5A basketball tournament semifinals at the Idaho Center in Nampa.</p>
<p>Coeur d'Alene High's Erin Legel attempts to sweep past Timberly Bowie from Highland.</p>
NAMPA - Early this season, Coeur d'Alene coach Dale Poffenroth had junior Erin Legel move from the starting lineup into a reserve role in the hopes of finding a spark.
That move paid off in a big way Friday night as Legel came off the bench on fire at the Idaho Center as the three-time defending state champion Vikings rolled to a 56-36 win over the Highland Rams of Pocatello to advance to the state 5A girls tournament championship game for the sixth straight year.
Coeur d'Alene (20-5) will face 5A Inland Empire League rival Lewiston (21-3), which defeated previously unbeaten Centennial 58-53 in the other semifinal, tonight at 7 PST. Coeur d'Alene beat Lewiston in last year's state title game.
Legel was 7 of 9 from the floor, 2 of 2 from beyond the 3-point line and a perfect 5 of 5 from the free-throw line for a game-high 21 points.
"I play better off the bench," Legel said. "I don't get so nervous when I get on the floor. It really helped a lot."
Coeur d'Alene took a 13-7 lead after the first quarter and used a 10-5 run in the second quarter to build a 28-19 halftime lead.
"It was a hard-fought game," Coeur d'Alene coach Dale Poffenroth said. "Highland plays very physical defense. It's not just the twins (Dylan and Dakota Gonzalez), everyone plays tough defense."
Coeur d'Alene held Highland to 13 of 48 from the floor. Dakota Gonzalez led the Rams with 18 points.
“They play stingy defense,” Highland coach Tony Green said. “We were able to keep the game lower scoring in the first half. Coeur d’Alene has so many weapons, we weren’t ready for Legel tonight. We spent all week in practice preparing for (Kendalyn) Brainard and (Carli) Rosenthal, but we weren’t ready for Legel at all. She did a great job — this is what the state tournament is about, a player shining at the state tournament.”
Highland (23-2) cut the deficit to 25-19 on a Dakota Gonzalez basket and free throw, but Legel countered with a basket and free throw of her own to get the momentum back for Coeur d’Alene.
“I thought it was a big momentum shift for them,” Green said. “We shot pretty bad and Coeur d’Alene was the better team tonight. They’re the three-time champion and showed it tonight.”
Carli Rosenthal finished with 12 rebounds and eight points for Coeur d’Alene.
Coeur d’Alene’s win sets up a third matchup with Lewiston, which defeated the Vikings twice this season, with the Bengals winning 55-48 in overtime on Dec. 9 at Elmer Jordan Court and 41-33 on Jan. 4 at Booth Hall in Lewiston.
Sophomore Kendalyn Brainard, who had 12 points and nine rebounds for Coeur d’Alene, missed the first matchup and played sparingly in the second after returning from an ACL injury.
“We’re fully healthy for this game,” Poffenroth said. “They’ve got some good athletes in Lewiston. We’ll do the best we can tomorrow.”
“They’ve beat us twice this year,” Legel said. Now it’s our turn.”
Coeur d’Alene 13 15 13 15 — 56
Highland 7 12 7 10 — 36
COEUR d’ALENE — Baughman 0, Sumner 0, Orlandi 7, C. Williams 0, K. Parker 6, Legel 21, Petit 0, Rosenthal 8, S. Parker 0, Brainard 12, S. Williams 2. Totals 22-42 9-11 56.
HIGHLAND — Bowie 2, Dy. Gonzalez 8, Sargent 0, Da. Gonzalez 18, Olsen 0, Smith 0, Belnap 2, Reed 0, Adams 0, Elgan 6. Totals 13-48 10-16 36.