5A INLAND EMPIRE LEAGUE BOYS BASKETBALL: Trojans to the Max

POST FALLS — In his four years as a starter on the Post Falls High varsity boys basketball team, Max McCullough has made plenty of big shots for the Trojans.

Although it didn’t seem like they’d need it at first, he had at least one — three to be exact — in him when his team needed them the most.

McCullough scored a game-high 20 points, including the final two from the free throw line with 15.7 seconds remaining, as the Trojans held off the fast-closing Coeur d’Alene Vikings 50-49 in 5A Inland Empire League play on Tuesday at The Arena.

“I was doing whatever I could to have the ball in my hands at the end,” McCullough said. “I want to be shooting those at the end. And then I’ve got to make them.”

McCullough, a 5-foot-11-guard, also grabbed eight rebounds for Post Falls (9-5, 1-0 5A IEL) in its league opener. McCullough and senior guard Zach Hillman are lone returning starters for Post Falls this season.

“I like it,” McCullough said. “It’s kind of new for me because I’ve always been the youngest guy on this team, but I like having that pressure on me. It’s kind of new, but I like it.”

Coeur d’Alene outscored Post Falls 19-11 in the fourth quarter, with sophomore Sam Matheson scoring the final seven for Coeur d’Alene (10-2, 1-1), which hosts Lake City on Friday in the Fight for the Fish spirit game.

“Thought we kind of got behind the eight ball in the first half with too many turnovers and missed shots,” Coeur d’Alene coach Kurt Lundblad said. “It allowed them some transition buckets and offensively I thought we were in a hurry. Most of the night, but especially in that first half, we took some shots that were ill-advised and we just didn’t shoot it that well tonight. (We were) 1 for 9 from beyond the 3-point line in the first half, and part of it was because of their defense and part of it was because we were rushing and in a hurry tonight.”

McCullough, who hit a game-winner earlier this season against Timberline High of Boise, also have five assists.

“It feels good,” McCullough said. “I think we’re right where we want to be right now. We knew it was going to be a close one, especially with Coeur d’Alene. We’re coming along and right where we need to be.”

Post Falls jumped out to a 17-8 lead after the first quarter, 31-17 at half, but was held to 19 points in the second half.

“That’s the 5A IEL,” Post Falls coach Mike McLean said. “It was nice to play a league opponent and now we’ve got some film to look at for things that are going to help us down the stretch. I thought the key for us, we didn’t have any peaks or valleys. In the first half, didn’t have any peaks or valleys down the stretch. Coeur d’Alene made some tough shots in the fourth quarter, and we made some uncharacteristic mistakes and bad decisions. I thought our kids held it together emotionally. Outside of Max, none of our other guys have been in that kind of war in our league. You can talk about it, practice it, but until you’re actually in it, you don’t know what it’s going to take.”

Sophomore Jake Pfennigs scored seven of his nine points in the first quarter, and also grabbed seven rebounds and blocked three shots for Post Falls.

“Jake did a really good job of getting open,” McLean said. “He did a really good job of letting the offense get him open and he did a really job of letting the game come to him and he took advantage of it with some shots and taking the ball to the rim. He’s a very skilled, capable young man. He’s kind of learning on the fly and was a guy that we counted on to give us a spark. Now he’s got to give us a spark from the start of the game.”

Post Falls hosts Moscow next Tuesday, then plays three straight league, starting at Lake City on Jan. 22.

“All we talked about was this is what we prepare for,” McLean said. “We do our stuff. Coeur d’Alene is going to pressure us, but that’s why we go to Curtis High, and Chiawana. That’s why I think that the gauntlet we put ourselves through really prepares us for league. Coeur d’Alene does things a little different that other teams, but we’ve been there before. We need to come down and make our free throws at the end, and the game was a little closer than maybe it should have been. Thought the key to the night was we got some good minutes off the bench from David (Bourgard), Tanner (McCliment-Call) and Jayden (Gering) that really played some big minutes tonight.”

Brody Lundblad had nine points and seven rebounds, Matheson finished with 17 points and Joey Naccarato had 11 points and nine rebounds for Coeur d’Alene.

“I thought they played more aggressive than us for almost 32 minutes tonight,” Lundblad said. “Against a good Post Falls team, you can’t just spot a team like that 17 points and expect to come back. I was proud of the team coming back, but we’ve got to clean some things up and come out ready to play from the start and make better decisions on offense and dig in a little more on defense and get some stops.”

McCullough’s free throws increased Post Falls’ lead to 50-46. Matheson’s 3-pointer went in as time expired.

“We finally hit a couple shots late,” Lundblad said. “Sam’s got ice in his veins and has hit some big shots for us and doesn’t play like a sophomore. He’s not afraid to take those shots, and has already hit some big shots for us early in the year already. He’s comfortable doing it, so we had to lean on him a little bit. We’ll need to get back after it on Friday against Lake City and learn something from this hopefully.”

Coeur d’Alene 9 8 13 19 — 49

Post Falls 17 14 8 11 — 50

COEUR d’ALENE — Lee 2, Lundblad 9, Matheson 17, Bronson 2, Naccarato 11, Grinde 0, Yankoff 6, Kofmehl 0, Edwards 0, McElver 2.

POST FALLS — McLean 0, Millsap 8, McCullough 20, Pfennigs 9, Hillman 5, McCliment-Call 2, Bourgard 4, Gering 2.