THE FRONT ROW with MARK NELKE, Jan. 15, 2015

Life on the road is a relative one in the 5A Inland Empire League.

Especially among the three league schools that reside in Kootenai County.

It's roughly 8 miles from Lake City High to Post Falls High, and 10 miles from Coeur d'Alene High to Post Falls High.

The city rivals, Lake City and Coeur d'Alene, are roughly 2 miles apart.

The only true road trips for those three schools are to Lewiston, some two hours away.

BUT THAT'S not to say there's little difference when one Kootenai County team visits another, particularly in boys basketball.

When Lake City and Post Falls play at Coeur d'Alene, for example, the atmosphere still makes it feel like a true road game, even though the bus trip was a short one. Same for when the games are at Lake City and Post Falls.

"It's hard to win in this league on the road," Post Falls coach Mike McLean said. "Especially the three of us up here. We know each other; there's no secrets. Our kids play against each other all the time."

So a win on the road, like Post Falls' 59-58 victory at Coeur d'Alene on Tuesday, on a 4-point play by Max McCullough with 4.5 seconds left, was a big one. It was the Trojans' first game since Jan. 3, when they played the last of six games in six days.

"I don't know how much of that is 10 days off, as much as where our team is," Post Falls coach Mike McLean. "We're pretty skilled, but we're pretty inexperienced. Other than three guys, they've never been in that kind of environment before. And even for veteran guys, that environment takes a little while to get used to."

Ah, the environment.

"You walk in here, the kids, when we get back from Christmas break, the first thing we hear from the kids is, 'We can't wait for the Coeur d'Alene game,'" McLean said.

"And I'm sure the Coeur d'Alene kids said the same thing."

For Coeur d'Alene, it was the Vikings' second white-knuckle finish at home in six days. Last Thursday, Coeur d'Alene survived a game-tying 50-footer at the buzzer by Lake City, and went on to win in overtime.

Afterward, Coeur d'Alene coach Kurt Lundblad chuckled a bit - if that is even possible after such a tough loss - when asked if he could make it if all six of the Vikings' league games were like this.

"You know, I doubt it," he said. "I figured, with our luck, he (McCullough) would miss the free throw and we'll go to another overtime."

POST FALLS' win gives the Trojans (13-1, 1-0 5A Inland Empire League) the early upper hand in the battle for home-court advantage for the 5A Region 1 tournament next month.

Coeur d'Alene (8-4, 1-1) travels to Lake City (7-5, 1-1) on Friday for the Fight for the Fish spirit game (in which the loud environment resembles little to do with basketball), one which also counts in the league standings. Lewiston is 6-7, 0-1 after a 24-point loss at Lake City on Tuesday night.

Post Falls has league home games vs. Lake City (Jan. 23), Coeur d'Alene (Feb. 7) and Lewiston (Feb. 13), and road games at Lewiston (Jan. 24) and Lake City (Feb. 3).

After Friday, Coeur d'Alene's remaining league games are Jan. 23 (vs. Lewiston), Feb. 3 (at Lewiston) and Feb. 7 (at Post Falls).

After Friday, Lake City's remaining league games are Jan. 23 (at Post Falls), Feb. 3 (vs. Post Falls) and Feb. 7 (at Lewiston).

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