Season aligning for Post Falls

To evaluate the potential of a possible state 5A championship for the Post Falls Trojan girls basketball team - just point to the Stars.

The Spokane Stars AAU basketball team to be exact.

Of the team's five starters, Dani Failor, Brooke Litalien and Hallie Gennett are seniors on the Trojans roster, with another senior - Katie King a reserve.

"I feel like it's been super good since the start of the season," said Failor of the team's continuity. "Katie, Brooke and I have played with her during the summer and it was already like she was part of the team when she got here. Everyone else has adjusted really well to her once the season started."

For Gennett, who transferred from University High in Spokane last summer, it was a good transition.

"I fit in really well with them," Gennett said. "I had so many friends that I've played basketball with and met some of the girls and guys over the summer. It was a really good transition to a new school."

King has already helped one Post Falls High team advance to a state championship game this year. She was a starting forward — and lone senior — on the Trojan girls soccer team which finished runner-up to Lake City in the state 5A tournament in October at Coeur d’Alene High.

“I definitely have the same goal as in soccer,” King said. “Except for actually winning this time. I got hurt and couldn’t finish the game — but it’s not going to happen this time.”

“Oh my gosh, she’s like the glue that keeps us together,” Failor said of King. “She’s a huge part of the team and a great leader. She keeps her head when we need her to and slows it down on offense when we need her to. She’s what keeps us together.”

“It’s been really nice,” Gennett said of King. “She’s a really good floor leader and can see the floor really nice.”

Post Falls beat Coeur d’Alene 55-45 for its first regional title since 2008. That was also the Trojans’ last trip to state.

Post Falls’ last state girls basketball championship was in 2003 at the 4A level, when the Trojans finished off back-to-back titles.

State tournaments begin in all six classifications today in the Boise area. All six championship games will be played at the Idaho Center in Nampa on Saturday.

“We knew we were going to get there (to state), but it just took some time,” King said. “Our goal was definitely to make it to the championship game — but win it. We’ve all got the same work ethic and the seniors are the ones that lead the team and get everyone going and pushing us to get going. Everyone needs to be focused and not satisfied with what we’ve got now. We’ll need to be on our game and think, ‘yeah, we can be happy, but we need to keep going forward.’”

“It’s something we’ve been planning on all year,” second-year Post Falls coach Marc Allert said. “That was the expectation all year long — and this is just another step. We kind of had a three-step process of getting through the league — winning the regional title — and now state. Step No. 2 was accomplished and now we’ll see what we can do about Step 3.”

Post Falls (21-1) will face Mountain View (18-5) of Meridian today at 12:15 p.m. PST to open the state 5A tournament at the Idaho Center in Nampa.

Mountain View lost in the District 3 championship game to Capital (16-7) of Boise — which won its first district title since 1978.

With a win, Post Falls could face Highland of Pocatello, a team the Trojans beat 57-44 in mid-December in Post Falls.

“We’re going to get down there and play,” Allert said. “We don’t care who or when we play at this point. We’re going to show up and whoever is warming up on the other end, we’ll play — whenever they tell us to play them. If we go down and play like we have and are capable of, we can play with anyone in the state. The competition level is a step up, but playing games against Coeur d’Alene is preparing us.”

Lewiston beat Centennial to win a second straight 5A title last year, but was eliminated in the Region 1 second-place game at Coeur d’Alene last Thursday. Coeur d’Alene (18-5) advanced by beating Boise 51-40 in a play-in game Saturday in Grangeville. The Vikings open tonight at 7 vs. Rocky Mountain (20-3) of Meridian.

“The Boise schools are really balanced this year,” Coeur d’Alene coach Dale Poffenroth said. “There might be one team that’s better than the rest, but it will be a pretty even tournament.”

Coeur d’Alene senior forward Kendalyn Brainard, who was sidelined for the regional second-place game and the play-in, was cleared by doctors to play at state.

4A: Moscow (8-11) advanced for the fourth straight year after beating Sandpoint twice to win the 4A Region 1 tournament.

Middleton beat Rigby in last year’s championship game 51-35 and has won three straight state championships and enters the tournament with a 72-game win streak.

3A: Bonners Ferry (16-6) defeated Priest River to advance to the 3A tournament, starting today with a 2 p.m. matchup vs. Parma (20-2). Marsh Valley beat Timberlake 64-47 in last year’s championship game. Timberlake, which played in the last two state title games, did not qualify this season.

It is Bonners Ferry’s first appearance at state since 2009 — when the Badgers finished 0-2.

“We’re really excited,” ninth-year Bonners Ferry coach Travis Hinthorn said. “We were the second place team in the district and Priest River had beaten us twice. We really stepped it up and came from behind and outscored them in the fourth quarter to take the lead and eventually win it.”

Priest River (16-8) beat Kimberly 43-40 in a play-in game last Saturday, advancing to a fourth straight state tournament — a run which included a win over Kellogg for the 2010 championship. The Spartans open today at 12:15 p.m. against Snake River (20-2), which beat Priest River 56-34 in the third-place game last year.

“I’m kind of relieved,” seventh-year Priest River coach Gary Stewart said. “After losing to Bonners Ferry in the championship game, I didn’t know if we had the conditioning to play Kellogg the next night and then come down to McCall for a play-in game because it was a little bit of a shorter drive for Kimberly, but we’re excited to go back to state. Anything is possible. The year we won state, and the next year when we won the consolation trophy, I didn’t like our matchups on paper. But players don’t care about rankings or opponent stats, they just want a shot to play and compete. I still have two girls from that state championship team (Melissa Trost and Steffie Pavey) and four others (Jill Weimer, Trost, Pavey, Kelsie Fink) from our consolation year, so they know that anything is possible. They understand the mindset that’s needed to bring a trophy home.”

Marsh Valley beat Timberlake in last year’s championship game.

2A: Butte County beat Kamiah 52-48 in last year’s championship game. Both teams dropped down to 1A Division I this season, and both won their district titles to qualify for state.

Grangeville (13-7), which won the District 1-2 tournament, won the state championship two years ago.

Coeur d’Alene Charter Academy, the District 1-2 runner-up, lost in a state play-in game.

1A Division I: Prairie beat Troy in last year’s championship game. No local teams qualified for state. Wallace, the District 1 champion, lost in a state play-in game.

1A Division II: Despite its 4-18 record — which included a stretch of 13 straight losses — Kootenai is not apologizing as it heads to its first state tournament in five seasons.

“No, we’re not,” Warriors coach Mike LaFountaine said. “I’m proud of these girls. So we’ll take our intense defense down there and give them a fight.”

Kootenai opens today at 12:15 p.m. vs. Dietrich (23-1), which recently had its 50-game winning streak snapped.

LaFountaine recalled a talk he had before a game a few years back with Wallace coach Kirby Krulitz, who has since passed away.

“He said, ‘Mike, sometimes the teams that don’t have as much talent, that come together during the season, those are the most fun to coach,’” LaFountaine said.

Kootenai’s last state appearance was in 2008, when the Warriors went 0-2 in what back then was a single-classification 16-team tournament for all of 1A. They split 1A into two divisions starting with the 2008-09 season.

Deary, which won the District 2 championship, advanced to state for the first time since 1982.

Dietrich beat Summit Academy of Cottonwood 53-52 in overtime of last year’s championship game.

Sports editor Mark Nelke contributed to this story.