5A Region 1 boys basketball championship: Lake City stays under control, handles Post Falls for first regional title since 2014

By MARK NELKE

Sports editor

COEUR d'ALENE — Composure.

It's not a word often associated with a team which often starts four sophomores.

But the Lake City Timberwolves are young only in age, not in experience.

So when Lake City fell behind a senior-laden Post Falls team by double digits in the first half, there was no panic.

The top-seeded T-Wolves simply clamped down on the Trojans in the middle two quarters, took the lead for good late in the first half, and pulled away after intermission for a 63-47 victory in the 5A Region 1 boys basketball championship game Tuesday night at Lake City.

"That's crazy; that (a regional title) has been pretty much my whole goal coming in as a freshman, and to finally get one is huge," said senior Jack Kiesbuy, who hit three 3-pointers and had 17 points for Lake City.

Lake City (16-6) won its first regional title since 2014, and qualified for state for the second straight year. The T-Wolves open state next Thursday at 10:30 a.m. PST at the Ford Idaho Center in Nampa vs. the District 3 runner-up — the loser of Friday's district title game between top-seeded Rocky Mountain and No. 2 Meridian.

"What I liked about it was, we called that timeout (down 11-2) and they were very composed; no panic, no finger pointing, no palms up," Lake City coach Jim Winger said. "I said to myself, 'we're going to be all right.' Now, I didn't think we'd come back and do what we did in the second half, but these kids have done that before; they're competitors, and they're getting better each week."

Third-seeded Post Falls (14-7), last year's state runner-up and the three-time defending regional champion, travels to No. 2 Lewiston on Thursday at 6:30 p.m. in a loser-out game. Lewiston eliminated No. 4 seed Coeur d'Alene 58-49 on Tuesday night.

Lake City 63, Post Falls 47: The Trojans made five 3-pointers in the first quarter, two by Caden McLean, who finished with 20 points. His first 3 hiked the Trojan lead to 14-2 after four minutes. When Alex Horning scored on a runner two minutes into the second quarter, Post Falls led 21-11.

Then Kolton Mitchell got offensive.

Lake City's sophomore point guard scored 11 of his 13 first-half points in the second quarter. He started the run with a 3, fed soph Blake Buchanan for a three-point play, and hit two more 3s and a jumper from the left wing.

Ben Janke's three-point play on a driving layup put Lake City up 28-27 with just over a minute left in the first half. The Timberwolves pulled away in the second half.

"I just told myself I need to start looking for my shot; start getting our team some points," said Mitchell, who finished with 20 points. "My shot just started going in, and then I could just let it fly."

A putback by Zach Johnson, who finished with 12 points and eight rebounds, midway through the third quarter increased Lake City's lead to 41-30, and the T-Wolves led by double digits the rest of the way.

"We just played our game," Johnson said. "They shot extremely well the first quarter, and we know how to handle that. We just play our game, chip away, and eventually, when the time's right, we just pounce on 'em — and that's what we did in the fourth quarter."

Buchanan had 11 points and 12 boards for Lake City, which held Post Falls to 13 points in the middle two quarters.

"The kids did a great job offensively, but I thought our defense was fantastic," Winger said. "We were really just rock solid in the second half, against a team with a very good history over the last quite a few years."

Cole Rutherford and Isaac Ballew each finished with nine points for Post Falls, which starts five seniors. Horning added eight points.

"I thought Jack Kiesbuy played a phenomenal game tonight," Post Falls coach Mike McLean said. "He was able to get in the lane and get shots, and he made all those open 3s. Mitchell does a great job breaking teams down; you have to collapse and help. We don't really an answer for Jack Kiesbuy and Zach Johnson; those guys really hurt us. Mitchell is really good, but those guys are a matchup nightmare for us, with their length and size and physicality. And then you have 6-9 (Buchanan) down in the key, so if you do beat them off the dribble, they've got a shot-blocker down there that can disrupt some things."

Post Falls 19 8 5 15 — 47

Lake City 11 18 15 19 — 63

POST FALLS — Anderson 0, McLean 20, Rutherford 9, Ballew 9, Lee 1, Horning 8, Shields 0.

LAKE CITY — Buchanan 11, Janke 3, Irvin 0, J. Kiesbuy 17, Spellman 0, Johnson 12, Mitchell 20.

Lewiston 58, Coeur d’Alene 49: Junior Cameren Cope scored 20 points on 8-of-15 shooting from the field and 4 of 5 from the free-throw line for the Vikings, who fell to the Bengals in a loser-out game at Lewiston High.

Coeur d’Alene finished 7-10 in coach Jon Adams’ first season at the helm of his alma mater.

“We came out pretty strong in the first,” said Adams, whose team led 14-9 after the first quarter. “We’ve been a strong third quarter team all year, but weren’t tonight.”

George Forsmann scored 10 of his 16 points in the third quarter for Lewiston (11-6), which hosts Post Falls in the second-place game on Thursday at 6:30.

“He’s a load and played really well in the third quarter,” Adams said. “It’s a tough way to lose, but the kids fought hard and played hard. We just got outrebounded and executed tonight. They’re a good perimeter shooting team.”

Senior Luke McLaughlin scored 12 points for Coeur d’Alene.

Coeur d’Alene 14 9 9 17 — 49

Lewiston 9 17 16 16 — 58

COEUR d’ALENE — Bengston 0, King 0, Prka 0, Burgess 3, Larson 4, Entzi 4, Cope 20, Smith 6, McLaughlin 12.

LEWISTON — Eke 3, McKarcher 11, Lang 14, Mullikin 5, Hepburn 4, Forsman 2, White 2, Goeckner 0, Forsmann 16.