A Rocky start to tourney for Trojans
NAMPA - As one 3-point shot after another rimmed out, as one drive to the basket after another resulted in nothing, as one perimeter shot after another by Rocky Mountain swished through the net, the Post Falls Trojans came to the realization that this wasn't going to be their night.
Rocky Mountain of Meridian buried eight 3-pointers and shot 50 percent (30 of 60) from the field in routing Post Falls 74-43 in a first-round game at the state 5A boys basketball tournament Thursday night at the Ford Idaho Center.
"I'm shocked at the outcome of this game," Post Falls coach Mike McLean said. "I didn't go into this game necessarily thinking we were going to win, but I thought we would battle and it would be a game. But, this will be a good test for us, as a program, as a staff, and as individuals of this team. You can't judge a lot about character when you're beating teams bad; this will be a test of how resilient we are ... like I told the guys in the locker room, this one's on me; obviously I didn't have us prepared ... that's on me."
Post Falls (15-9) will play Highland (19-5) of Pocatello today at 2 p.m. PST in a loser-out game. Highland lost to two-time defending champion Borah (17-7) of Boise 69-54. Borah will play Rocky Mountain (18-6) in the semifinals at 7.
Post Falls, a prideful defensive team which allows 53.2 points per game, yielded 23 points to Rocky in the first quarter. And the Grizzlies reached the 54-point mark before the third quarter was over.
"We just didn't come out to play in the first half," senior guard Michael McKeown said. "Obviously we're all a little disappointed, but we've got to try and bounce back. We're a pretty humble team, so we'll definitely come out tomorrow and try to play our game and bounce back for sure."
Rocky hit five 3-pointers in the first half, three by senior guard EJ Boyce, who finished with four 3s and 20 points. Logan Skurdal, a junior who does a lot of the dirty work inside, added three 3s and finished with 18 points and 10 rebounds. Senior John Sherle, he of the mid-range game, added 12 points.
"We've shot that well, but in this stage, that was a great effort for us," Rocky Mountain coach Dane Roy said.
Post Falls tried to keep up in the first half from 3-point land, and made three in the first quarter. But the Trojans finished the half 3 of 11 from beyond the arc, and was 4 of 18 on 3s for the game.
"What surprises me the most about tonight was how much their physicality at the guard position took a toll on our guards," McLean said. "It took us out of sets, and took us out of positions where we wanted to get to. Teams have been physical with us before, but tonight, that really affected our guards."
"We wanted to play physical, tough 'D,' especially inside," Roy said. "We knew that (Dalton) Thompson was a great shooter, and (Max McCullough) and (Braden Davenport) are too. It was our focus to get a hand in their face, not necessarily stop them, but just make the shots tougher. And I think we accomplished that."
Thompson, a junior, led Post Falls with 10 points. Corey Koski added eight points and nine rebounds.
"Their guards were a lot more physical than we had anticipated, " McKeown said. "They were pretty strong; it was hard to get to the rim, and that's usually what helps us. We had to settle for (3s)."
Koski had all eight of his points in the second quarter, trying to keep Post Falls within striking distance. Rocky led 35-25 at halftime.
But the game got away from Post Falls in the third quarter as Rocky kept hitting shots, and the Trojans couldn't match the Grizzlies - in part due to turnovers caused by the fast-handed Grizzlies.
"I'm disappointed in myself," McLean said. "I thought we hit the panic button in the first quarter, and took too many deep 3s. But that's on me; obviously I didn't do something to get our guys ready for that."
Post Falls 13 12 10 8 - 43
Rocky Mountain 23 12 21 18 - 74
POST FALLS - Hall 2, McKeown 2, Davenport 3, Pfennigs 7, M. Hillman 4, Gondo 0, Anderson 0, McCullough 6, Thompson 10, Bowers 1, Koski 8. Totals 15-48 9-18 43.
ROCKY MOUNTAIN - Shepherd 7, Jones 0, Toffelmier 4, Skurdal 18, Nawahine 6, Boyce 20, Miller 0, Sherle 12, Erickson 0, Ludwig 0, Hamilton 0, Knight 1, Lee 6, Faigl 0. Totals 30-60 6-8 74.