The Anton Watson show
LOREN BENOIT/PressDrake Thompson drives to the basket against Gonzaga Prep Thursday night at Post Falls High School.
LOREN BENOIT/Press David Bourgard looks to pass the ball to a teammate as Gonzaga Prep’s Liam Lloyd applies pressure Thursday night at Post Falls High School.
LOREN BENOIT/PressDrake Thompson loses the ball as he drives into the Gonzaga Prep defense Thursday night at Post Falls High School.
LOREN BENOIT/PressNicolas Morris keeps his eye on the ball.
LOREN BENOIT/Press Anton Watson drives around Post Falls defender Jake Pfennigs Thursday night at Post Falls High School.
LOREN BENOIT/PressDrake Thompson drives into the Gonzaga Prep defense Thursday night at Post Falls High School.
LOREN BENOIT/PressGavven Desjarlais dribbles the ball under the basket against Gonzaga Prep Thursday night at Post Falls High School.
LOREN BENOIT/PressTanner McCliment-Call goes for a layup against Gonzaga Prep Thursday night at Post Falls High School.
LOREN BENOIT/Press Post Falls Head Coach Mike McLean talks to his team during a timeout during Thursday night’s game.
LOREN BENOIT/PressTyler McCliment-Call dribbles the ball by Gonzaga Prep defender Grace Hammon Thursday night at Post Falls High School.
LOREN BENOIT/PressPost Falls guard Melody Kempton goes for a layup against Gonzaga Prep Thursday night at Post Falls High School.
LOREN BENOIT/PressJenna Gardiner passes the ball to a teammate around Gonzaga Prep defender Kerynica Keyes Thursday night at Post Falls High School.
LOREN BENOIT/PressPost Falls Head Coach Mike McLean gives directions to his team as they play against Gonzaga Prep Thursday night at Post Falls High School.
LOREN BENOIT/PressTyler McCliment-Call shoots a three-pointer against Gonzaga Prep Thursday night at Post Falls High School.
LOREN BENOIT/Press Gonzaga Prep’s Grace Hammon passes the ball around Post Falls defender Tyler McCliment-Call Thursday night at Post Falls High School.
LOREN BENOIT/PressBayley Brennan dribbles the ball pass half-court against Gonzaga Prep Thursday night at Post Falls High School.
LOREN BENOIT/Press Post Falls cheerleaders pump up the student section during Thursday night’s game.
LOREN BENOIT/PressMackenzie Morris goes for a layup against Gonzaga Prep Thursday night at Post Falls High School.
LOREN BENOIT/Press Fans offer good luck in the form of “spirit fingers” from the student section Thursday during a Post Falls free throw.
POST FALLS — The 2,000 or so fans that necessitated the upstairs bleachers being pulled out at The Arena came to see a show between two boys basketball teams ranked No. 1 in their respective states’ largest classification.
And Anton Watson didn’t disappoint.
The former Coeur d’Alene resident, now a junior at Gonzaga Prep, dominated with 28 points 12 rebounds, three steals, two assists, one block and a handful of dunks as the Bullpups, ranked No. 1 in 4A in the Seattle Times preseason poll, put on a clinic in a 68-51 victory over the Post Falls Trojans, ranked No. 1 in 5A by media statewide, Thursday night.
“I’ve been watching them since I was a little kid,” Watson said of Post Falls. “I’ve been waiting for this for a long time.”
Earlier, Post Falls’ girls forced Gonzaga Prep into 22 turnovers, many with a full-court press, and held the Bullpups to 7-of-48 shooting in a 58-22 romp.
BOYS
Gonzaga Prep 68, Post Falls 51: The smooth, 6-foot-7, Gonzaga-bound Watson had just the one blocked shot, and it came early. However, its impact seemed to affect the Trojans on future trips to the basket.
Meanwhile, the slender Watson scored inside early, stepped out and hit a couple of 3-pointers later, then sprinkled in a mixture of two-handed dunks and one-handed slams, even while closely guarded by Post Falls players. In the third quarter, he curled off the left wing, roared down the lane and dunked on 2-3 Trojans and drew the foul.
“This was my brother’s rival,” Anton said of his older brother Deon, who starred at Coeur d’Alene High. “So it’s always fun to come here and win. The adrenaline ... it was fun tonight, lot of fans, a lot of my family, a lot of friends ... it was just fun like that.”
But Gonzaga Prep (3-0), even without two projected starters until after Christmas as they recover from injuries suffered during football season, was more than just Watson.
Senior guard Sam Lockett hit a couple 3-pointers and added 13 points, and junior forward Jamaari Jones was a man-child inside with 13 points and five boards.
Gonzaga Prep shot 61 percent (25 of 41) from the field.
“I had no illusions that this was going to be easy,” Post Falls coach Mike McLean said. “We want to play teams like this. A team like this will expose you for mistakes, they expose you if you try to cut a corner, if you don’t do your job. Not only do they cause a turnover, they go down and throw it and try to rip your rim off your backboard.”
McLean said Post Falls’ 11 first-half turnovers were killer, noting Gonzaga Prep turned them into 15-18 points in breaking the game open in the second quarter.
“We’ve got to take better care of the ball,” McLean said. “I thought we looked tentative at times. We really struggled tonight when we did break them down off the dribble, their rim protection altered our guys’ shots.”
Colby Gennett scored 10 points to lead Post Falls (1-1), which shot just 16 of 47 from the field. David Bourgard added nine points on three first-half 3s that kept the Trojans within striking distance.
“Really, we were just trying to play our tough man-to-man defense,” said Gonzaga Prep coach Matty McIntyre, who grew up in Post Falls. “They have guys that can score at every position, so we didn’t try to focus on one or two players. We really focused on limiting straight-line penetration, and I was thrilled the way the kids took charges.”
Post Falls led 8-5 midway through the first quarter following back-to-back 3s from Gennett and Bourgard. But Prep closed the quarter on an 11-0 run, and was never headed.
The Bullpups built a 50-25 lead with 3 minutes left in the third quarter. The Trojans got more aggressive at the end, fueled by some backcourt pressure, and came with 14 in the final quarter.
“We got out in transition, got some easy buckets and got the energy up with some of the dunks and finishes at the rim,” McIntyre said. “But it’s all predicated off our defense; our defense is what makes the whole thing go.”
“I am thoroughly impressed with their defensive effort,” McLean said of G-Prep. “They have the athletes, but they ‘D’ you up.”
Post Falls returns to action next Friday at Lewis and Clark of Spokane.
Gonzaga Prep 16 15 19 18 — 68
Post Falls 8 12 14 17 — 51
GONZAGA PREP — Parola 1, Costello 0, Lloyd 8, Lockett 13, Ni. Drynan 3, Jones 13, Watson 28, No. Drynan 0, Sonneborn 2, Few 0.
POST FALLS — Gennett 10, Thompson 6, Buer 4, McCliment-Call 7, Walker 2, Bourgard 9, Ballew 3, Pfennigs 6, Morris 0, Desjarlais 4.
GIRLS
Post Falls 58, Gonzaga Prep 22: Sophomore Tyler McCliment-Call scored 12 of her 14 points in the first half for Post Falls (5-0). Bayley Brennan added 12 points, four assists and four steals as the Trojans shot 20 of 39 from the field.
“We got a few transition baskets,” Post Falls coach Marc Allert said. “The faster we can make it, the better.”
Kempton sat for part of the first half with two fouls. She had four blocks and two rebounds in the first quarter. The Gonzaga-bound Kempton finished with 11 points, four rebounds, six blocked shots and two steals.
Macky Morris added six points, five rebounds and three steals for Post Falls.
“Macky Morris was awesome tonight,” Allert said. “She gave us a bunch of extra possessions with hustle plays.”
Gonzaga Prep shot 5 for 25 from the field in the first half, and committed 13 turnovers.
“They just boatraced us,” Gonzaga Prep coach Mike Arte said. “They did a nice job pressuring the ball, and making us quicker in our offense.”
Post Falls plays host to Shadle Park on Saturday.
Gonzaga Prep 12 6 4 0 — 22
Post Falls 16 17 20 5 — 58
GONZAGA PREP — Hammon 0, Muse 0, Decker 0, Bertotti-Metoyer 2, Carney 5, Howlett 6, Gardner 2, Scelfo 0, Dodson 3, Pinney 0, Keyes 4.
POST FALLS — Gleaves 1, Morris 6, Gardiner 0, Brennan 12, T. McCliment-Call 14, J. McCliment-Call 3, Faulkner 4, Kempton 11, Parks 7.