Vikings rout Eagle in state opener

NAMPA - Coeur d'Alene looked polished in its zone offense in the first half - though the Vikings rarely get the chance to use it up north.

But in the second half, when Eagle switched to a man-to-man and Coeur d'Alene was able to get out and run, the Vikings really flourished.

Jake Matheson scored 20 points and Coeur d'Alene ran Eagle off the floor in the second half for a 59-41 victory in the first round of the state 5A boys basketball tournament Thursday afternoon at the Idaho Center.

"I think we got the nerves out early," said Matheson, who, along with his Viking teammates, had never played in a state basketball tourney game - though three of the starters played key roles in Coeur d'Alene's state football title last fall. "A win feels great, but three would feel a lot better."

Coeur d'Alene (16-7), at state for the first time since finishing second in 2008, plays Centennial (19-5) in the semifinals tonight at 5:15 p.m. PST. Centennial, the District 3 champion defeated Timberline (15-9) 61-48.

Eagle (14-11) came out in a 3-2 zone, but Coeur d'Alene was able to infiltrate it with Matheson driving from the top of the key and dishing off, and from posts like Chad Chalich passing to cutters knifing down the lane.

"We rarely get zoned up in our district," Coeur d'Alene coach Kent Leiss said. "That's something we worked hard on the last three days in practice, and I thought for just three days of working on it, for three days work, we did OK.”

In the second half, with Leiss shouting “Go” every time a Coeur d’Alene player grabbed a rebound or a loose ball, the Vikings often beat the Mustangs down the floor for easy layups. Coeur d’Alene opened the third quarter with an 8-2 run in the first 3 1/2 minutes and opened the lead from there. The Vikings led by as many as 25 points in the second half.

“They’ve got some big boys, and we saw them huffin’ and puffin’,” Matheson said. “We knew we could beat them down the floor. We may not be able to go over them, but we knew we could go around ’em.”

“That was one of our goals coming in — if at all possible we wanted to speed the game up,” Leiss said. “Watching them on tape, I think they like to play a lot of zone and keep the tempo slow.”

Eagle’s front line went 6-8, 6-5, 6-2, compared to Coeur d’Alene going 6-1 and 6-5 down low. But the Vikings held Eagle without an offensive rebound in the first half, and only four for the game.

“I think they (Coeur d’Alene) out-physicalled us, and we backed down far too often and far too quickly,” Eagle coach Tom Seifert said. “Credit to them. They came in, they were strong, and they did what they needed to put it to us. (Defensively) Coeur d’Alene took the middle away from us, just controlled the key area, and that’s where we get a lot of our shots.”

Ty Higbie, a 6-5 junior, had 10 points, five rebounds and three assists off the bench for Coeur d’Alene. Chalich finished with 11 points and Deon Watson had eight points and six boards.

Senior guard Michael Johnson led Eagle with 13 points. Daved Gillmor, a 6-5 senior who came in averaging 17.8 points a game for Eagle, finished with 11 points and nine rebounds.

Coeur d’Alene led most of the first half. Eagle took a 13-12 lead early in the second quarter, but that lead lasted only a minute.

Coeur d’Alene shot just 10 3-pointers, making four. Matheson hit two in the first three minutes.

“Jake Matheson came out and hit two big 3-point shots and I think that loosened us up,” Leiss said. “We did a really good job on Gillmor — that was a big key for us, because we knew they didn’t have a lot of other scorers.”

Eagle 6 14 5 16 — 41

Coeur d’Alene 10 17 19 13 — 59

EAGLE — Johnson 13, Kent 0, Mangum 2, Glazier 0, Van Dyk 3, Lugeiyamu 0, Shaw 8, Dean 4, Gillmor 11, Patton 0. Totals 15-41 8-15 41

COEUR d’ALENE — Tackett 0, Matheson 20, Chalich 11, Roletto 0, Carpenter 0, Loy 5, Moore 0, Sutton 0, Higbie 10, Baracco 5, Watson 8. Totals 26-52 3-9 59.

Times PST

At the Idaho Center, Nampa

Thursday

Game 1 — Coeur d’Alene 59, Eagle 41

Game 2 — Centennial 61, Timberline 48

Game 3 — Mountain View 60, Idaho Falls 55

Game 4 — Borah 70, Post Falls 64, OT

Friday

Game 5 — Eagle (14-11) vs. Timberline (15-9), 12:15 p.m. (loser out)

Game 6 — Idaho Falls (18-6) vs. Post Falls (19-5), 2 (loser out)

Game 7 — Coeur d’Alene (16-7) vs. Centennial (19-5), 5:15 (semifinal)

Game 8 — Mountain View (19-5) vs. Borah (19-8), 7 (semifinal)

Saturday

Consolation championship — Winner Game 5 vs. Winner Game 6, 8:15 a.m. (at Columbia High)

Third-place game — Loser Game 7 vs. Loser Game 8, 10 a.m. (at Columbia High)

Championship game — Winner Game 7 vs. Winner Game 8, 7 p.m.

At Borah High, Boise

Thursday

Game 1 — Minico 57, Rigby 44

Game 2 — Skyview 56, Moscow 42

Game 3 — Madison 51, Bishop Kelly 49

Game 4 — Twin Falls 42, Century 31

Friday

Game 5 — Rigby (16-11) vs. Moscow (8-14), 12:15 p.m. (loser out)

Game 6 — Bishop Kelly (15-9) vs. Century (13-10), 2 (loser out)

Game 7 — Minico (23-1) vs. Skyview (19-5), 5:15 (semifinal)

Game 8 — Madison (15-8) vs. Twin Falls (19-7), 7 (semifinal)

Saturday

Consolation championship — Winner Game 5 vs. Winner Game 6, 8:15 a.m.

Third-place game — Loser Game 7 vs. Loser Game 8, 10 a.m.

Championship game — Winner Game 7 vs. Winner Game 8, 5 p.m. (at the Idaho Center, Nampa)

At Meridian High

Thursday

Game 1 — Snake River 55, Kimberly 52

Game 2 — Fruitland 72, Priest River 61

Game 3 — St. Maries 50, Sugar-Salem 44

Game 4 — Weiser 47, Marsh Valley 36

Friday

Game 5 — Kimberly (17-6) vs. Priest River (17-6), 12:15 p.m. (loser out)

Game 6 — Sugar-Salem (16-8) vs. Marsh Valley, 2 (loser out)

Game 7 — Snake River (18-5) vs. Fruitland (17-6), 5:15 (semifinal)

Game 8 — St. Maries (19-5) vs. Weiser (20-4), 7 (semifinal)

Saturday

Consolation championship — Winner Game 5 vs. Winner Game 6, 8:15 a.m.

Third-place game — Loser Game 7 vs. Loser Game 8, 10 a.m.

Championship game — Winner Game 7 vs. Winner Game 8, 2:50 p.m. (at the Idaho Center, Nampa)

At Capital High, Boise

Thursday

Game 1 — Soda Springs 62, McCall-Donnelly 55

Game 2 — Melba 56, Valley 39

Game 3 — West Side 42, Kamiah 36

Game 4 — New Plymouth 66, Firth 54

Friday

Game 5 — McCall-Donnelly (15-10) vs. Valley (15-9), 12:15 p.m. (loser out)

Game 6 — Kamiah (21-2) vs. Firth (19-5), 2 (loser out)

Game 7 — Soda Springs (19-3) vs. Melba (16-6), 5:15 (semifinal)

Game 8 — West Side vs. New Plymouth (18-3), 7 (semifinal)

Saturday

Consolation championship — Winner Game 5 vs. Winner Game 6, 8:15 a.m.

Third-place game — Loser Game 7 vs. Loser Game 8, 10 a.m.

Championship game — Winner Game 7 vs. Winner Game 8, 12:40 p.m. (at the Idaho Center, Nampa)

1A Division I

At Vallivue High, Caldwell

Thursday

Game 1 — Prairie 43, Grace 42

Game 2 — Clearwater Valley 47, Cascade 35

Game 3 — Shoshone 37, Wilder 20

Game 4 — Genesee 43, Notus 27

Friday

Game 5 — Grace (17-8) vs. Cascade (18-6), 12:15 p.m. (loser out)

Game 6 — Wilder (18-4) vs. Notus (21-3), 2 (loser out)

Game 7 — Prairie (19-5) vs. Clearwater Valley (19-7), 5:15 (semifinal)

Game 8 — Shoshone (20-4) vs. Genesee (19-5), 7 (semifinal)

Saturday

Consolation championship — Winner Game 5 vs. Winner Game 6, 8:15 a.m.

Third-place game — Loser Game 7 vs. Loser Game 8, 10 a.m.

Championship game — Winner Game 7 vs. Winner Game 8, 10:30 a.m. (at the Idaho Center, Nampa)

1A Division II

At Caldwell High

Thursday

Game 1 — Nezperce 41, Castleford 33

Game 2 — Salmon River 56, Rockland 55

Game 3 — Carey 59, Meadows Valley 36

Game 4 — Murtaugh 50, Kootenai 48

Thursday

Game 5 — Castleford (18-3) vs. Rockland (16-3), 12:15 p.m. (loser out)

Game 6 — Meadows Valley vs. Kootenai (6-12), 2 (loser out)

Game 7 — Nezperce (15-8) vs. Salmon River, 5:15 (semifinal)

Game 8 — Carey (22-2) vs. Murtaugh (14-9), 7 (semifinal)

Saturday

Consolation championship — Winner Game 5 vs. Winner Game 6, 8:15 a.m.

Third-place game — Loser Game 7 vs. Loser Game 8, 10 a.m.

Championship game — Winner Game 7 vs. Winner Game 8, 8:30 a.m. (at the Idaho Center, Nampa)