Post Falls returns with many new faces

A team that lost all five of its starters and most of its key bench players from last year's state runners-up, the Post Falls Trojans weren't expected to return to the state 5A boys basketball tournament by many people.

But one of them was Trojans coach Mike McLean.

"Getting to state was my goal when I met with (Post Falls athletic director) Craig Christensen at the start of the season," McLean said.

He thought getting there by winning the regional title might have been a reach, given the returning experience of eventual regional champ Lake City. But he thought if the Trojans could make it through the state play-in game route.

"What I'm most proud of is, this team has grown as teammates and friends," McLean said. "We just keep going to work, we've never self-imploded, we just played big-boy basketball - no excuses."

Post Falls (11-13) opens state vs. Mountain View (18-5) of Meridian, the third-place finisher from District 3, on Thursday at 7 p.m. PST at the Idaho Center in Nampa.

The Trojans are an athletic bunch which has overcome its struggles in field-goal shooting and free-throw shooting with hard work and effort, pure and simple.

"We've owned the fact we weren't good free-throw shooters," said McLean, whose team shoots 53 percent from the line. "We've owned the fact we haven't been good shooters. We just had to lock down tighter, and work more on shooting. Our kids owned what we are. We're not a gimmick team - we're going to work hard and get it done."

Junior Dalton Thompson leads Post Falls in scoring, averaging 9.9 points per game. Senior Keaton Corr is next at 6.5, and shoots 45 percent from 3-point range. Corey Koski, a reserve last year, averages 5 rebounds per game, as does Tim Mueller, he of the three energizing, rim-rattling dunks in the Coeur d'Alene game.

"The entire season we were losing games, but we weren't off by much," McLean said. "We just tried to work on getting better every day."

Like Lake City, Post Falls played a nomadic nonleague schedule - which included three separate trips to the Tri-Cities, and a jaunt to the Seattle area for a pair of games.

"We didn't have the most feel-good schedule early, but this is why we did it," McLean said. "Our kids truly believe in one another. The starters are playing for the guys on the bench, and the bench players are playing for the starters. And defensively, we can guard people."

Post Falls won two loser-out games on the road last week, followed by a victory over Eagle in a state play-in game at Grangeville, to make it back to state for the fifth straight season.

The Trojans' win over Coeur d'Alene on Thursday was the 100th at Post Falls for McLean, in his sixth season.

Mountain View returns most of its team from last year, when Post Falls beat the Mavericks in the state semifinals.

After what the Trojans have accomplished this season, you think facing an experienced team at state concerns McLean?

"It doesn't matter how you get to the party - just that you get there," McLean said. "Once you get to state, records mean nothing - it's about executing."