5A REGION 1 BOYS BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP: Shot down from outside

LEWISTON — Punished inside by the taller Lewiston Bengals in the first meeting this season, the Coeur d’Alene Vikings decided to force the Bengals to do something different to beat them Tuesday night.

But Lewiston found a way.

Or rather, the Bengals found a Way.

Riley Way, a 5-foot-10 junior guard, hit four 3-pointers and scored a game-high 19 points as top-seeded Lewiston defeated the second-seeded Vikings 57-45 in the championship game of the 5A Region 1 boys basketball tournament at Booth Hall.

“We just thought, we’d rather get beat from 25 feet than from 2 or 3 feet,” Coeur d’Alene coach Kurt Lundblad said. “When we played them down here the first time, Wilson and Bradley combined to go 14 for 16 from the field, something like that. We can’t give up that high percentage shot that close to the rim, so we thought, let’s see if they can beat us from the perimeter, and Way just made a bunch of shots and forced us out of that zone.”

Lewiston (14-8) won its first regional title since 2006, and qualified for state for the first time since 2009 — when the Bengals won the state title.

Coeur d’Alene (18-5) will play host to Post Falls on Thursday at 7 in a loser-out game. The winner advances to a state play-in game Saturday at Grangeville.

Coeur d’Alene opened in a 2-3 zone, and Way hit two 3s and scored Lewiston’s first eight points for an 8-4 lead. The Bengals held a slim lead for most of the half, but Coeur d’Alene came back to take a 22-21 lead late in the half when Joey Naccarato grabbed a rebound, went coast to coast and hit a short jumper in the lane. The game was tied at 22 at the half.

Whatever momentum the Vikings took into the locker room, the Bengals grabbed it back early in the third quarter. Way hit a couple of 3-pointers and sank a runner in the lane for a 30-22 Lewiston lead just over 2 minutes in.

Lewiston led by as much as 11 late in the third. Naccarato scored on the drive to pull the Vikings within 40-35 early in the fourth quarter. But Coeur d’Alene came no closer.

“We thought it was real critical that we come out and make the first run of the second half, and obviously they were able to do that, and we weren’t,” Lundblad said. “Kudos to that kid (Way), he hit a couple big shots, and gained them a little separation. We had a hard time closing that gap the rest of the way.”

Way finished 4 for 8 from beyond the arc.

A play typical of Coeur d’Alene’s night — trailing by seven points with 2 1/2 minutes left, the Vikings got a deflection on the press. But the ball went right to Lewiston’s Braeden Wilson at mid court. He passed to Dalton Stamper, who drove and fed Trystan Bradley, the Bengals’ 6-foot-7 junior, for a dunk.

Bradley finished with 18 points, nine rebounds and two blocked shots. Wilson, a 6-5 sophomore, scored just four points, but chipped in seven rebounds, two assists and two blocks.

“The second half we came out on our heels a little bit,” Naccarato said. “We didn’t come out as focused as we did at the beginning of the game. But overall, we just didn’t execute. We didn’t keep them off the glass, is what really lost us the game.”

Naccarato finished with 15 points and eight rebounds before fouling out with 1:15 left and the Vikings down by 8.

Brody Lundblad scored eight of his 10 points in the third quarter, including a 3 with 4 seconds left to pull Coeur d’Alene within 40-33 at the quarter.

“I thought we did a pretty good job containing them inside in the first half,” Naccarato said. “And then their guards stepped up and hit the shots they needed to make.”

“Realistically, the difference in the game was rebounding,” Kurt Lundblad said. “We just gave up far too many offensive rebounds, and most of those offensive rebounds they scored on, or ended up at the free-throw line. They had to get 14-18 points on offensive cutbacks. It’s a tall order to keep Bradley off the offensive glass. He’s 6-7 with an incredible wingspan.”

Lewiston, which starts three juniors, a senior and a sophomore, has been pointing to this season for a while.

“Last year’s JV guys went 20-0,” said second-year Lewiston coach Jayson Ulrich, a 1995 Lewiston High grad. “This is the first year they’ve been able to play with Trystan and Braeden together, and they’ve just got a natural chemistry.

“It’s nice to put years on the banners, and get back down where we belong — in Boise,” Ulrich added.

Coeur d’Alene was trying to win its first regional title since 2011. Lundblad said his team would regroup today, “and see if we can make it to Boise through the back door.”

“I told the kids, I couldn’t be prouder,” Lundblad said. “We were picked by you media people and the coaches to finish third or fourth. Not many people had us playing in the championship game. These kids have been warriors all year. We didn’t execute and defend and rebound like we worked on all week, and offensively we struggled, especially in the second half, but it wasn’t for lack of effort.”

Coeur d’Alene 10 12 11 12 — 45

Lewiston 13 9 18 17 — 57

COEUR d’ALENE — Lee 4, Lundblad 10, Lynn 0, Matheson 9, Yankoff 0, Bronson 7, McElver 0, Naccarato 15, Kofmehl 0, Edwards 0.

LEWISTON — Stamper 4, Driskill 2, Ahlers 0, Wilson 4, Way 19, Clarke 6, Baerlocher 0, Bradley 18, Richardson 4.

Post Falls 65, Lake City 44: Junior guard Wyatt Millsap scored seven of his game-high 19 points in the third quarter as the Trojans eliminated the visiting Timberwolves in a loser-out game in the 5A Region 1 tournament at The Arena.

“At the start of the game, Lake City seemed like they were switching defenses each time down the court,” Post Falls coach Mike McLean said. “It took us a while to adjust to it, but I thought Wyatt did a good job of attacking the gaps in the zone.”

Jake Pfennigs had 16 points and 14 rebounds and Zach Hillman had 14 points, five rebounds, five assists and three steals for Post Falls (15-8), which plays at Coeur d’Alene on Thursday at 7 p.m. in the regional second-place game, with that winner advancing to a state play-in game on Saturday in Grangeville.

“Jake had a really good game and Zach also had a good game for us,” McLean said. “At halftime, I thought our kids responded to the things we needed to change and responded offensively and defensively in the third quarter.”

Kenny Louie-McGee scored 12 points for Lake City, which finishes 6-17.

Lake City 15 12 6 11 — 44

Post Falls 11 17 23 14 — 65

LAKE CITY — Louie-McGee 12, Kolden 6, Womelduff 4, Butler 8, Hartz 0, Carlson 9, Manzardo 5, Sells 0.

POST FALLS — McLean 4, Millsap 19, McKeown 0, McCullough 12, Haines 0, McCliment-Call 0, Bourgard 0, Pfennigs 16, Hillman 14, Trom 0.