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Post Falls goes for rare winter sweep

| March 1, 2018 12:00 AM

Members of the Post Falls High boys basketball team had just two questions after beating Lake City in the first round of the 5A Region 1 tournament a couple weeks ago.

“Who do we play next?”

“How are the girls doing?”

In the locker room after the game, Trojan boys basketball coach Mike McLean kept his postgame talk to his team short.

It was time to hurry to the school commons, where the webcast of the Post Falls girls basketball team playing in the semifinals of the state 5A tournament in Nampa was being screened.

The boys team got to the commons in time to see Tyler McCliment-Call — sister of Tanner McCliment-Call, starting guard on the boys team — hit a 3-pointer in the closing seconds as the Trojan girls, trailing at the time, edged Borah of Boise to advance to the state title game.

“There was probably 100, 150 people in there watching,” McLean said of the scene at the commons. “It was an exciting night for Post Falls.”

THE FOLLOWING night, the Post Falls girls won the state championship.

Last weekend, the Trojan wrestlers romped to a state title.

This week?

Post Falls boys, you’re up.

“From the get-go, talking last spring as coaches, Post Falls High School is attempting to do something pretty dang special ... ” McLean said. “We knew our girls were going to be loaded. I’ve watched our girls; I’ve watched how hard they worked, and it didn’t surprise me. Eagle got all the press down there, but I’ve seen what our girls can do, and what they did in Las Vegas (going 3-1 vs. national-level competition).”

Speaking prior to the state wrestling tournament, McLean said it wasn’t a matter of whether Post Falls would win, but by how much.

And he was right, as the Trojans set an all-classification record for team points, nearly double the runner-up in 5A.

“So, make no mistake, our guys know what’s on the line for us, to try to do something very special for this community and this high school.”

FOLLOWING

EXHAUSTIVE research (I got tired scanning through rows and rows of years and teams), it appears Meridian in 1983 is the only school to have won state titles in the three winter sports. And the Warriors did it with a who’s who of coaches — Emery Roy (girls basketball), Bruce Burnett (wrestling) and someone pretty famous up here, Don Haynes (boys basketball).

Some other schools have won two of the titles in one year, but not the third.

In 2010, Coeur d’Alene won state in girls basketball and wrestling, and lost in a state play-in game in basketball.

In 1989, Lakeland won state in girls basketball and wrestling, but did not qualify for state in boys basketball.

Priest River won girls and boys basketball titles in 2010.

Ririe won state in girls basketball and wrestling last year, then lost in the state title game in boys basketball.

Sugar-Salem, in 3A, can also accomplish this year what Post Falls is trying to do.

So Post Falls wouldn’t be the first, but would be the first school in 35 years to sweep the winter sports.

How much inspiration have the Post Falls boys taken from the Trojan girls winning state?

“A lot,” senior guard David Bourgard said last week, before the Post Falls wrestling team romped to its title. “They’re saying, ‘Now it’s you guys’ turn.’ It’s like more weight on our shoulders than we had before.”

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