Recalling strange bounces of the ball

Spending part of the summer thinking back to stuff that happened during the high school sports season ...

BASED ON returning players, the Coeur d’Alene Vikings were considered the favorites to win the 5A Inland Empire League in boys basketball.

Of course, as it turned out, the sophomore-heavy Post Falls Trojans won the league, won the regional title and placed third at state.

Coeur d’Alene came up short in its bid to qualify for state for the first time since 2012. But it took some quite unusual circumstances for that to happen.

So you wonder how things would have turned out if a few of Coeur d’Alene’s games had turned out differently.

TWO OF those Vikings games came against Post Falls, during league play.

The first one, on a Friday night in Post Falls, appeared to be all but wrapped up by Coeur d’Alene.

The Vikings led by 3 points with just under 2 minutes left, and still were up by 3 after sinking a free throw with 6.6 seconds left.

But Post Falls rushed the ball up the court, and Colby Gennett buried a 3-pointer from the right corner at the buzzer to force overtime, tied at 60.

The overtime was even more unusual — Post Falls then outscored Coeur d’Alene 12-0 in the extra four minutes to improve to 12-6, 3-0 in league. The Viks fell to 10-4, 2-1.

THIRTEEN DAYS later, the teams met again, this time at Coeur d’Alene — Post Falls’ first game in the renovated, expanded Viking Court.

Coeur d’Alene flustered Post Falls with a full-court press, and led 9-0 after two minutes.

The Trojans weathered that storm, then Gennett scored 11 of his 20 points in the third quarter, and Post Falls led by 12 points heading into the fourth.

But Coeur d’Alene, again showing its explosiveness, fought back and closed within 3 points in the closing seconds. The Vikings had the ball late with a chance to tie, but turned the ball over in the front court and Gennett sealed the win with a layup at the buzzer.

Post Falls (14-6, 5-0) clinched its third straight league title with the win. Coeur d’Alene fell to 12-5, 3-2.

EIGHT DAYS later, with a chance to clinch the No. 2 seed to regionals, Coeur d’Alene was blown out at home by Lewiston by 23 points. The Bengals’ victory, coupled with its margin of victory, gave Lewiston the second seed over the Vikings.

But that didn’t seem to matter one week later, when Coeur d’Alene coasted to a 12-point victory at Booth Hall in Lewiston, earning a third shot at Post Falls, this time in the regional title game.

That matchup was anticlimactic by comparison, though Coeur d’Alene did pull within five points after three quarters before Post Falls eased away to win by 14.

Three days later, in a game where the winner advanced to a state play-in game, Coeur d’Alene built another lead at Lewiston, before getting caught in the fourth quarter and losing in overtime.

As good as the Vikings have been in recent years, it’s almost hard to believe their last trip to state in boys basketball was seven seasons ago.

But we’ve got the bizarre examples to prove it.

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.