Post Falls finds a way in 5A IEL opener

- BOYS

LEWISTON — Going into its first league game of the season, Post Falls knew it needed to do a few things a little better than Lewiston on Friday night.

Rebound the ball.

Break the press.

Execute in the fourth quarter.

Done, done and done.

Colby Gennett had 23 points and 10 rebounds and Cole Rutherford made 8 of 11 free throws in the fourth quarter, leading the Trojans past the Bengals 65-58 in the 5A Inland Empire League opener for both schools at Booth Hall.

“In the IEL, especially with just four of us, there’s no secrets,” Post Falls coach Mike McLean said. “Everybody knows everybody, and what your tendencies are. Each time you get a road win, you feel fortunate to survive. We knew coming in we had to win the battle on the boards.”

Post Falls outscored Lewiston 42-34 in the second half.

“I thought we did a good job executing on our press break,” McLean said. “Cole stepped up and hit some big shots for us in the fourth quarter. Those are things you’ve got to do on the road to find a way to win.”

Caden McLean scored 13 points for Post Falls (10-6), which hosts Lake City on Tuesday.

Donaven Santana scored 23 points for Lewiston (4-7).

Post Falls 13 8 23 21 — 65

Lewiston 8 16 15 19 — 58

POST FALLS — Gennett 23, McLean 13, Hauser 0, C. Rutherford 16, Ballew 3, Desjarlais 0, Horning 8, J. Rutherford 0, Mitchell 2.

LEWISTON — Lang 3, Johnson 17, Mullikin 0, Spencer 2, Santana 23, Forsmann 8, Van Boeyen 5.

Cheney 78

Lakeland 65

CHENEY — Josiah Haaland had 22 points and 10 rebounds for the Hawks, who committed 30 turnovers in a nonleague loss to the Blackhawks.

“It was a game in which their competitive energy just kind of overwhelmed our guys,” Lakeland assistant coach Tyrel Derrick said. “They were good, and have players that had high basketball IQ’s. We struggled against their press. Josiah gave us some energy, but their guards kind of took over the game and didn’t give it back.”

Jalen Skalskiy scored 17 points for Lakeland (4-8), which travels to Timberlake on Tuesday.

Guards Devin Cook and Camden Verstrate scored 21 points each for Cheney (6-6).

Lakeland 13 21 14 17 — 65

Cheney 14 22 27 14 — 78

LAKELAND — Taylor 7, Zubaly 4, Seay 10, Munyer 5, N. Haaland 5, Skalskiy 17, J. Haaland 22.

CHENEY — Cook 21, Verstrate 21, Goodlow 2, McPherson 4, Vega 0, Custer 7, N. Berman 8, Hemenway 2, Baycroft 4, J. Berman 16.

Genesis Prep 46

Lakeside 41

PLUMMER — Jonny Hillman had 24 points and four steals for the Jaguars in a North Star League win over the Knights at Ron Miller Court.

Jacob Schultz had nine points and six rebounds and Kon Ajang seven points and three steals for Genesis Prep (6-6, 2-1 NSL), which faces Clark Fork at Post Falls Middle School tonight at 7:30.

Day Day Higgins scored 14 points for Lakeside (7-5, 1-2), which travels to Mullan on Tuesday.

Genesis Prep 14 9 8 15 — 46

Lakeside 8 14 14 5 — 41

GENESIS PREP — Hillman 24, Schultz 9, Ajang 7, Mwinuka 2, Gonzales 2, Neely 2, Bohannan 0.

LAKESIDE — J. Abuan 5, Higgins 14, Hall 4, Twoteeth 8, SpottedHorse 10.

Wallace 66

Mullan 21

MULLAN — Zack Welch scored 13 points to lead the Miners past the Tigers in a North Star League game at the Mullan Pavilion.

Ryan Perno scored 11 points for Wallace (11-0, 4-0 NSL), which travels to Kootenai on Wednesday.

Riley Trogden scored 11 points for Mullan (4-6, 1-3), which hosts Lakeside on Tuesday.

Wallace 23 12 20 11 — 66

Mullan 4 4 6 7 — 21

WALLACE — Welch 13, Brackebusch 10, Hogamier 3, Neubauer 0, Brantz 9, Hull 8, Denson 4, Hammerberg 4, Gunderson 2, Perno 11.

MULLAN — L. Trogden 3, Holling 1, Hess 5, R. Trogden 11, King 1.

- GIRLS

Lewiston 54

Post Falls 46

LEWISTON — Dylan Lovett scored 13 points for the Trojans in a 5A Inland Empire League loss to the Bengals at Booth Hall.

“We caused a lot of turnovers and outrebounded them, but just didn’t score,” Post Falls coach Marc Allert said. “We had our chances, but just didn’t make any shots. We did a good job of turning them over with our press, and Dylan did a good job on guarding (Fresno State signee Kendyll) Kinzer. But we just couldn’t put the ball in the basket.”

Sandy Faulkner, Ali Carpenter and Maya Blake scored seven points each for Post Falls (3-15, 0-3 5A IEL), which hosts Lake City on Tuesday.

Lewiston is 7-7, 1-2.

Post Falls 8 9 15 14 — 46

Lewiston 13 7 15 19 — 54

POST FALLS — Johnson 5, Blake 7, Gardiner 2, Gleaves 3, Smith 2, Faulkner 7, Lovett 13, Carpenter 7.

LEWISTON — Collins 3, Wells 9, Bausch 9, Kinzer 17, Eke 4, Taylor 2, Richardson 10.