THE FRONT ROW WITH MARK NELKE: Thursday, December 17, 2015

When last we checked in on the Post Falls High boys basketball team, the Trojans had just won their second state 5A title in six seasons, and had made their seventh straight trip to state.

Graduation took a big chunk, size-wise and numbers wise, from last year’s squad. But five players return, and last Friday, that mixture of the old and the new looked like some Trojan teams of years past — pressure on defense, pushing the pace on offense, beating their man off the dribble and, if help comes, kicking the ball to an open teammate for a 3-point shot.

“We feel pretty confident that any of our guys can get in the lane, and if the defense collapses … just kick it to the open guy, and we don’t even have to talk about it,” said Mike McLean, in his ninth year as Post Falls coach. “And you should be just as excited if your teammate gets an easy shot … that’s just as important as the box score. At the end of the day, if you have three points or 19, somebody helped you get there.

“It’s that selfless (attitude) that we’ve tried to create over the nine years, and the kids have bought in at a young age — that’s just what we do. I don’t ask you to make the pass, that’s just what we do,” added McLean, after last Friday’s 68-39 victory at Lakeland in the Prairie Pig game pushed Post Falls’ record to 4-0.

The Trojans, who fell the following night at Chiawana of Pasco, Wash., return to action tonight at the Curtis Winter Classic in Tacoma, Wash.

BACK FROM last year’s state champions are senior guards Max McCullough, Zach Hillman and Blake McLean, junior guard Wyatt Millsap and sophomore forward Jacob Pfennigs.

On Friday, Post Falls went 10-deep, the varsity newcomers being junior guards Cameron McKeown and Jayden Gering, junior forward Mark Haines, and sophomore guards Tanner McCliment-Call and David Bourgard.

And the newbies are expected to come in and get up to speed immediately.

“In our program, the varsity and JV practice together,” Mike McLean said. “Our JV kids, they take their lumps in practice; they’ve got to earn it. And I demand from our varsity kids … a part of your legacy is what you did when you were playing, but a part of your legacy is the kids coming behind you — you better make sure through practice that they’re prepared. Once you’re a Trojan player, even though you’ve graduated, it’s still your program — your fingerprints are still on it.

“Our four little guards, Blake, Max, Zach and Wyatt, they’ve played a lot together, and they do things seamlessly, the way they transition,” McLean added. “And I hope people don’t take it for granted, but if you’re the new guy in, it’s hard to go at their speed, and do it seamlessly. That’s part of the challenge, just being able to play at their speed. I think our guys have accepted the challenge.”

Against Lakeland, nine of the 10 players scored, and six of them — McLean, Millsap, McCullough, McCliment-Call, Bourgard and Pfennigs — hit 3s.

POST FALLS graduated its two inside bangers from last year. Pfennigs, at 6-7, can play inside, but is just as comfortable facing the basket. Haines can also play inside.

But other than that, the Trojans are a bunch of guards pestering the other team’s offense, pressuring their defense and sharing the ball as they look to repeat as 5A Inland Empire League champions.

“There’s no excuses,” McLean said. “We don’t ever whine or complain … next guy, you step up and do your job. It starts all the way down with our freshmen — honestly it goes down to our AAU program that we got going in Post Falls. We’re a non-excuses (program), we’re going to be hard-nosed, tough nosed. Because you just can’t do this in one season. Our kids have worked on this year-round, for years, starting at a young age.”

All told, Post Falls has brought home four trophies (top-four finishes) from their seven straight trips to state, including a runner-up finish in 2012. But the Trojans don’t talk about the past because, well, that’s in the past, McLean said.

“This group, you’ve got to write your own story,” he said.

Mark Nelke is sports editor of The Press. He can be reached at 664-8176, Ext. 2019, or via email at mnelke@cdapress.com. Follow him on Twitter@CdAPressSports.