Post Falls wins, but not happy about it

By MARK NELKE

Sports editor

POST FALLS — The Post Falls Trojans trudged out of the locker room with a lot more questions than answers Tuesday night.

And they were the winning team.

"It’s not a win in (coach) McLean’s eyes, or our eyes; there’s a lot of work to get done," Post Falls senior forward Alex Horning said after the Trojans, last year's state 5A runners-up, held off the Coeur d'Alene Vikings 45-43 in Inland Empire League play at The Arena. "Every game we’re making it harder on ourselves. We started out well those first three games (at Middleton); defensively we were locked in. But the last five games our team defense has not been good."

Coeur d'Alene, meanwhile, was encouraged after having a chance to knock off one of the area's top teams for the second time this season.

"We’re putting ourselves in position; that’s about all we can ask," said Coeur d'Alene coach Jon Adams, whose squad won at 4A Region 1 favorite Lakeland last month. "We’ve just got to figure out how to win now, how to close out games. We’re this close; I can taste it. And I know the guys are too; they’re starting to believe in what we’re doing."

Horning scored a game-high 16 points for Post Falls (5-3) in its league opener, as well as its home opener. Cole Rutherford added 12 points, including the Trojans' last six.

It was the seventh game for Post Falls this season that has been decided on the last possession.

"We have the same issues now that we had in the east," said Post Falls coach Mike McLean, whose squad played four games in four days in eastern Idaho last week, going 1-3. "We have bad turnovers, we miss easy shots, our defense — and this is going to sound crazy because we held them to 43 points — I thought our defense was atrocious."

It was a game in which Post Falls held a slim lead much of the last three quarters, but Coeur d'Alene (2-5, 1-2) wouldn't go away. Too many turnovers and missed shots by the Trojans — caused in part by tough Viking defense — kept the game close.

After Alex Reyes, who finished with 10 points, drained a 3-pointer to put the Vikings up 38-36 with just over 3 minutes left — Coeur d'Alene's first lead since the first quarter — Horning answered with a 3 for Post Falls.

Rutherford scored on the drive for a three-point lead, then hit two free throws with 57.4 seconds left to increase the Trojans' lead to 43-38.

Steven Burgess sank a 3-pointer to pull the Vikings within 45-43 with 18 seconds left.

After Post Falls missed a pair of free throws, Coeur d'Alene had a shot to tie or win, but an off-balance shot on the drive bounced off the rim and into the hands of the Trojans at the buzzer.

"We, as an entire team and (coaching) staff, are struggling," McLean said. "We are in way too many final-possession games for us to be successful. Everybody does the same thing to us (defensively); they try to slow us down, try to get us out of our normal flow. The hard part is, right now, we can't even get in our normal flow."

Cameren Cope had 10 points, six rebounds, five steals and two blocked shots for Coeur d'Alene, before fouling out with 28 seconds left.

Cope scored a pair of inside baskets as the Vikings jumped out to a 10-4 lead. Caden McLean hit both of his 3-pointers in the second quarter as Post Falls forged a 22-18 halftime lead.

The Trojans led by as much as six points in the third quarter, but could never pull away.

"We kept them a little off balance," Adams said. "We played physical again, we were collapsing and causing a lot of turnovers. They’re a great team, they execute great, but we did give them some problems. We just need to execute on offense a little better."

On Friday, Coeur d'Alene plays host to Lake City, and Post Falls travels to Lewiston.

Coeur d’Alene 10 8 11 14 — 43

Post Falls 8 14 9 14 — 45

COEUR d’ALENE — Bengtson 0, King 3, Prka 0, Larson 6, Ivankovich 0, Entzi 0, Cope 10, Smith 4, Reyes 10, McLaughlin 7, Burgess 3.

POST FALLS — Anderson 0, McLean 9, Hauser 2, Rodriguez 2, Rutherford 12, Ballew 0, Sciortino 0, Lee 4, Horning 16, Shields 0.