Post Falls in a zone of its own
Post Falls guard Alex Horning drives into the Lake City defense during Tuesday night’s game in Post Falls. LOREN BENOIT/Press
Lake City's Jack Kiesbuy goes for a layup in traffic during Tuesday night's game against Post Falls High. (LOREN BENOIT/Press)
Post Falls guard Cole Rutherford dribbles the ball between Lake City defenders Ben Janke, left, and Brayden Sundstrom during Tuesday night's game in Post Falls. (LOREN BENOIT/Press)
Post Falls guard Caden McLean dribbles the ball down the court in Tuesday night's game against Lake City. (LOREN BENOIT/Press)
Post Falls guard Alex Horning shoots a layup while defended by Lake City's Josh Stellflug during Tuesday night's game in Post Falls. (LOREN BENOIT/Press)
Post Falls guard Jake Rutherford shoots a three pointer in a game against Lake City. (LOREN BENOIT/Press)
Post Falls guard Gavven Desjarlais, left, and Dylan Brum battle for a rebound in the second half of Tuesday night's game in Post Falls. (LOREN BENOIT/Press)
POST FALLS — Scoring against a zone defense hadn’t been something the Post Falls High boys basketball team had done well this season.
Until Tuesday night.
Post Falls displayed nice ball movement, strong play inside, and hit just enough from the outside in a 58-34 victory over the Lake City Timberwolves in 5A Inland Empire League play at The Arena.
“We’ve seen a ton of zone, and the games we have struggled were against zone,” Post Falls coach Mike McLean said. “(Tonight) I thought our interior passing was good, and our guards did a better job recognizing when to get the ball to the bigs.”
One of those bigs was 6-foot-5 Gavven Desjarlais, one of only two seniors for Post Falls (11-6, 2-0 5A IEL).
Desjarlais scored nine of his game-high 15 points in the first quarter, and also finished with six rebounds as the Trojans worked over Lake City (2-11, 0-2) inside.
“Gavven did a really good job tonight of not playing too fast,” McLean said. “He played at the speed in which he was comfortable, and he kept his shoulders square. There was a lot of contact down there, and he was able to finish through the contact. Gavven’s really good around the basket, but his ability to pass is what separates him from most high school bigs, especially in the zone. His court vision is excellent for somebody his size.”
Colby Gennett scored eight of his 12 points in the first quarter for Post Falls. He picked up his second foul with 1:35 left in the quarter, and sat the rest of the half. He finished with six rebounds and three blocked shots.
Cole Rutherford added eight points for the Trojans. Terrell Mitchell scored eight points off the bench, and Alex Horning had seven rebounds and three assists.
“We did a good job of not settling against their zone defense,” McLean said, “and not taking what they wanted us to take.”
Sophomore Jack Kiesbuy scored 11 points to lead Lake City, which shot 9 of 41 from the field.
Post Falls led 5-4 after 3 minutes before going on a 12-0 run to take control of the game. Desjarlais scored seven straight points for the Trojans, and Gennett capped the run by taking a feed from Horning and burying a 3-pointer.
Post Falls led by as much as 25 points in the second quarter.
“The start of the game was very concerning to me,” Lake City coach Jim Winger said. “Our lack of fire; we were cemented to the floor defensively. Very disappointed in the intensity level and fight. Our defensive level and fire were not to the level we need to compete in the IEL. Being young and inexperienced is one thing (Lake City has one senior, seven juniors and five sophomores on the roster), but not playing with intensity — I’m not happy with that.”
Post Falls has two juniors and six sophomores on its roster, along with its two seniors.
On Friday, Lake City is home vs. Lewiston, and Post Falls plays host to Coeur d’Alene.
Lake City 7 12 12 3 — 34
Post Falls 21 20 13 4 — 58
LAKE CITY — Stellflug 4, Janke 7, Kiesbuy 11, Spellman 2, Sallis 0, Hanson 4, Sundstrom 2, Brum 4.
POST FALLS — Gennett 12, McLean 3, Hauser 0, C. Rutherford 9, Ballew 4, Shields 0, Desjarlais 15, Horning 5, J. Rutherford 2, Mitchell 8.