STATE 5A GIRLS BASKETBALL: Trojans lose starter to injury in first minute of loss to Boise
JASON DUCHOW PHOTOGRAPHY Letti Asper, left, of Post Falls, and Avery Howell of Boise battle for a loose ball in a first-round game of the state 5A girls basketball tournament Thursday at the Ford Idaho Center in Nampa.
JASON DUCHOW PHOTOGRAPHY Senior Lexi Heath hit 3 of 6 3-pointers and led Post Falls with 13 points against Boise in a first-round loss at the state 5A girls basketball tournament Thursday at the Ford Idaho Center in Nampa.
By JASON ELLIOTT
Sports writer
NAMPA — When the pairings came out for this year’s state 5A girls basketball tournament, Post Falls coach Marc Allert knew that Boise was going to be a handful.
Then, the fourth-seeded Trojans lost a starter.
After that, the shots just didn’t fall as the Trojans fell to the fifth-seeded Boise Brave 52-38 in an opening round game at the Ford Idaho Center on Thursday.
“You’ve got to give them credit,” said Allert of Boise, which advanced after winning the District 3 title last Friday against Timberline, which is seeded second at state. “They’re very well coached, disciplined and run their stuff well.”
Post Falls senior guard Americus Crane suffered a right ankle injury 41 seconds into the game and did not return.
“Losing Americus hurt, but we had some other kids try to pick up the slack,” Allert said. “She just does some things for us that we were missing. But give Boise all the credit. We knew coming in what they were, and they were all of that. They’re very good.”
Senior guard Lexi Heath led Post Falls with 13 points on 5-of-10 shooting, including 3 of 6 from 3-point range. The Trojans face Rocky Mountain (12-14) in a loser-out game today at 11 a.m. PST at Mountain View High in Meridian. Boise (20-3) faces Lake City (21-3) in a semifinal game tonight at 4.
“I think Boise came out ready to play,” Heath said. “We had some early turnovers and things that didn’t go our way. We’ve just got to come out ready to play tomorrow.”
“I thought she played really well,” Allert said of Heath. “I thought she shot the ball really well. When she does that, it opens things up from the inside. She was just doing what she does well.”
“We knew we’d have to score to be in this game,” Allert said. “To start the second half, we were 0 for 8 from the free-throw line and missed some lay-ins, so that hurt.”
Post Falls finished 4 of 13 from the line.
Junior forward Capri Sims had nine points for Post Falls, which is at state for the third straight year.
Boise senior post Ashley Banks, who has signed with Southern Utah, had 18 points and three blocked shots. Ava Oakland, a Carroll signee, had 15 points and Ella Nelson, who signed with Lewis-Clark State, scored 13 points. Avery Howell had nine rebounds for Boise, which outrebounded the Trojans 31-18.
“Marc does a tremendous job,” Boise coach Kim Brydges said. “I’ve know him for a few years and his teams always play tough and physical, so we knew what to expect out of them. We just had some players step up and have huge games for us.”
Post Falls beat Rocky Mountain 55-22 in a regular season game in December at Post Falls High.
“We’re kind of right back to where we’ve been for a while,” Allert said. “If we want to keep playing, we need to start winning. So we’ve got to regroup ready to play tomorrow. We don’t get to start with the same score we had the last time, so it’s a different team and they looked good today.”
Boise 19 12 12 9 — 52
Post Falls 12 11 7 8 — 38
BOISE — Knutsen 0, Clark 0, Nelson 13, Oakland 15, Turcke 2, Patricco 3, Munch 0, L. Howell 0, Haan 0, Banks 18, Kluksdal 0. Totals 21-44 7-9 52.
POST FALLS — McLean 0, Nichols 8, Heath 13, Grant 1, Brennan 0, Sims 9, Berg 0, Asper 0, Crane 0, Walton 2, Christensen 5. Totals 15-38 4-13 38.
