THE FRONT ROW WITH JASON ELLIOTT: Saturday, January 2, 2016
As the calendar turned from 2015 to 2016 this week, area high school teams are trying to find that gear that will lead them right where they want to be in the next six to eight weeks.
The Boise area, for the state boys and girls basketball tournaments.
Whether at home, or on a bus, some teams are finding what they need to keep that momentum going.
THE POST Falls boys basketball team, which claimed a state 5A title last year with a 25-1 record, is 8-4 record after the Lake City Invitational.
“At the beginning of the season we had our five returners, and our five new kids,” Post Falls coach Mike McLean said. “And they’ve practiced together in the past. (Monday night), I think our season might have turned the corner a little bit. At the hotel, all the roadtrips being forced to stay together, I see this group being a true team, not just a group of guys playing together.”
After starting the season 5-0, Post Falls lost its final two games at Curtis High of Tacoma Invitational, then suffered another setback against Kentwood on Monday night.
“Now, I think these challenges on the road and challenges have galvanized them. They’ve had some rough patches and it’s been a while since we’ve lost three games in a row. Those losses galvanized us and brought us together. It’s only going to help us.”
Post Falls romped past South Kitsap, then had senior guard Max McCullough hit a game-winning 3-pointer to push the Trojans past Timberline High of Boise on Wednesday the Lake City Invitational.
“When we schedule in the preseason, you can either schedule for games you know you’re going to win, or try to schedule for games that are going to challenge us,” McLean said. “We go to Chiawana, that Curtis tournament, and play good teams. The reason we came to the Lake City tournament because coach (Jim) Winger brings in good teams and challenging teams. We’ll go wherever we need to in order to get ready for the IEL (Inland Empire League).”
Post Falls stayed at the Coeur d’Alene Resort, as did the other traveling teams in the tournament.
“Coeur d’Alene Resort is a great sponsor here,” McLean said. “We’re not very far from Coeur d’Alene, but that’s a cool deal for the kids. Getting to spend time together, it’s invaluable for us as a team.”
After a loss to eventual tournament champion Bothell, the Post Falls girls bounced back to win two straight, improving to 8-5 on the season.
“We’re still a work in progress,” Post Falls coach Marc Allert said. “But we’re making some strides and figuring some things out. Have some stuff that we’re working on and just getting better. A lot of it is learning the style of play and what it’s going to take to compete at the varsity level.”
FOR THE Lake City girls basketball team, a win over the Coeur d’Alene Vikings in the third place game of the Coeur d’Alene Winter Classic will also come with another league opener against the Vikings just a few days later.
Lake City, now 11-2, hosts Coeur d’Alene on Tuesday. Coeur d’Alene (5-6) came up short against Lewiston in its league opener.
“Our season starts on Tuesday,” Kelly said. “Everything we’ve done so far has been to prepare us for league and getting better heading into that. Thought Tuesday’s game was a great game for our girls (against Bothell in the semifinals). I thought it was a great game for our girls to get that experience in a game like that. And we’re going to win a game like that because we’ve got the experience and know that we’re going to knock those free throws down in that situation. Bothell’s a great team, and we battled back and we had some opportunities and you live and learn from that.”
Lake City lost to Bothell 53-50 in overtime in a semifinal game on Tuesday.
“Think it’s great to play as many games as you can going into league and district play,” Kelly said. “Playing different teams like Bothell and Lake Stevens, it’s great because they’ve got some great athletes. Playing Coeur d’Alene is great too. Game experience is going to help our team a long way for our girls. Not a lot of girls have been in a game like that (against Bothell) and we’ll learn from that. It wasn’t our best game against Coeur d’Alene, but we’ll get better from it.”
Chances are, if they were spending the holidays getting better, on or off the field, everyone will be a lot better when school starts up again next week.
Jason Elliott is a sports writer for the Coeur d’Alene Press. He can be reached by telephone at 664-8176, Ext. 2020 or via email at jelliott@cdapress.com. Follow him on Twitter @JEPressSports.