5A Region 1 girls basketball tournament Runkle sparks Post Falls

POST FALLS - It took every player that stepped onto the basketball court to get them a victory on Friday.

Should the Post Falls Trojans girls basketball team find similar success on Tuesday, they'll have stated their case as one of the top teams in the 5A ranks.

Sam Runkle had 19 points and 10 rebounds to lead the second-seeded Trojans past the third-seed Lake City Timberwolves 56-49 in the opening round of the 5A Region 1 tournament at The Arena.

Runkle, a senior, averaged 17.5 points per game against Lake City in two regular season games.

"I think Sam would like to play Lake City every night," Post Falls coach Marc Allert said. "They played her a little differently tonight, but she did a good job of knocking down shots and making things happen."

Post Falls (17-5) advances to Tuesday's championship game at 7 p.m. at top-seeded Lewiston (20-1), which beat fourth seed Coeur d'Alene (10-12) 81-31 in the other opening round game on Friday at Booth Hall.

"Our main focus was getting the win tonight," Allert said. "Obviously, Lewiston was in the back of our minds a little bit. I told the girls to enjoy this tonight, and at 9 a.m. tomorrow (for practice), we're on to Lewiston."

Lake City (14-8) hosts Coeur d'Alene in a loser-out game on Tuesday at 7 p.m.

"I thought we came out and played hard," Lake City coach Bryan Kelly said. "We took away what we wanted to take away from them. There was a couple of times (Melody) Kempton got the ball down low, and we came in with a gameplan to not let them get it down low."

Kempton, a freshman post, had 10 points and 10 rebounds and seniors Olivia Ellison scored eight points and Madie King scored six for Post Falls.

"That's kind of what this team is about," Allert said. "At a certain point, every kid that went into the game did something to help us win this game tonight. When they'd go in, they'd make the right play at the right time, and everyone did that tonight."

Senior Shayna Allert scored eight points for Post Falls.

"Those seniors have some pride," Marc Allert said. "That's something that Olivia and Madie can do for us."

Lake City took a 14-10 lead after the first quarter, only to have Post Falls outscore the Trojans 15-11 in the second to go into halftime tied at 25-all.

Runkle hit a jumper with 3:27 left to push Post Falls up 47-41, and the Trojans held off a late rally by Lake City after the Timberwolves cut the deficit to 52-47 with 50 seconds remaining.

"They were able to hit some 3s, but we didn't quit," Kelly said. "We fought until the bitter end and didn't give up. We knew it was going to be a battle all the way out. I told the girls after the game that we need to keep fighting and our goals are still right out in front of us. We just need to keep plugging away."

Junior Whitney Meier scored 10 points for Lake City, and sophomore guard Halle Eborall added eight off the bench.

"I think our balance and energy was big," Kelly said. "I told them before the game we've got nothing to lose and go out and play as hard as they could. We did a good job of attacking the basket, but it came down to a few possessions there and we missed a shot, and they'd go down and score, or we'd turn it over and they'd score and it's a six-point game. Every possession counts."

Clarissa Smith had eight points and 15 rebounds, Keara Simpson seven rebounds and Eborall four assists for Lake City.

"Halle's very athletic and when she gets on the loose, she can be hard to stop," Kelly said. "She's a handful for their guards. I thought CC (Nina Carlson) did a great job coming off the bench. We need to keep fighting."

Lake City 14 11 9 15 - 49

Post Falls 10 15 11 20 - 56

LAKE CITY - Eborall 8, Dvorak 4, Carlson 5, Wheelock 2, Smith 8, O. Maryon 3, Rewers 6, Meier 10, Simpson 6.

POST FALLS - Allert 8, O. Ellison 8, A. Ellison 0, Brennan 1, King 6, McComb 0, Anderson 2, Kempton 10, Runkle 19, Reynolds 2.