PREP BOYS BASKETBALL: Post Falls bigs come up big

POST FALLS — Missing their biggest big guy, the other Post Falls post players stepped up big-time in the Trojans’ 64-50 Inland Empire League victory over the Lewiston Bengals on Friday night at The Arena. 

Sophomore Connor Carver scored nine of his game-high 22 points in the fourth quarter for the Trojans (9-3, 1-0 IEL).

“Next man up; you’ve just got to be able to step up and play inside,” Carver said. “It looked like they (the Lewiston bigs) were getting a little tired. We just kept being persistent, and I think we got the better of them. We were trying to get it inside.”

Senior Alex Shields added 14 points, nine rebounds and five assists for Post Falls, which was without Asher Bowie (6-5, 210), who has signed to play tight end at Eastern Washington. Junior Tyras Blake added 12 points and seven rebounds. Carver had eight boards.

“I thought it was a great opportunity (for the other players),” Post Falls coach Mike McLean said. “Alex got three fouls there in the first half, and Connor and Tyras … and Isaac McKeown comes off the bench for us, and maybe he doesn’t look like a post, height-wise, but he battles … he plays much bigger than his shadow, and I’m really proud of him.

“Connor did a good job of playing with pace, and allow the defense to get themselves out of position," McLean added. "Connor did a good job of waiting for his opportunity. They (the Bengals) were worried about ball-reversal, and he took great advantage of that. He did a good job of finishing through a lot of contact.”

Lewiston (7-4, 1-1) pulled to within 40-38 on a jump-hook by Drew Hottinger early in the fourth quarter. But Carver answered with a three-point play, and the Trojans sealed it by hitting 14 of 14 free throws in the final quarter, 21 of 24 for the game.

“Lewiston tried to take away our outside shooting; tonight we had to go a different route,” McLean said. “Alex did a great job facilitating.”

Even without Bowie, McLean thought the Trojans had an advantage inside on the Bengals.

Rylan Gomez (6-4) led Lewiston with 17 points, but picked up his fourth foul early in the fourth quarter and fouled out late. The 6-5 Hottinger, the Bengals’ other big, added 14 points.

“One of the keys tonight was, our full-court pressure really made their guards work hard,” McLean said. “They couldn’t get into their sets. If you allow them to come down and get into one of their 45 sets that they run, they’re going to pick us apart.”

Post Falls plays host to Moscow on Wednesday.

Lewiston    13    6    17    14    —    50

Post Falls    15    12    13    24    —    64

LEWISTON — Gomez 17, Bramlet 6, Walker 5, Fisher 3, Torpey 5, Bogar 0, Hottinger 14, Hepburn 0.

POST FALLS — Lysne 0, McLean 3, McCarthy 6, Cameron 4, McKeown 3, Carver 22, Blake 12, Shields 14.

Sandpoint 63

Lakeland 56

SANDPOINT — Junior Beth Roth had 16 points, four rebounds and four assists for the Hawks, but Emerik Jones scored 11 of his game-high 22 points in the second half to lead the Bulldogs to the Inland Empire League win at Les Rogers Court.

Jones also had nine rebounds, two steals and two blocked shots for Sandpoint (6-6, 1-1 IEL), which took the lead 44-43 late in the third quarter.

Junior Mason Hensley scored nine points and junior Gabe Harris had six points and 11 rebounds for Lakeland (6-5, 0-2), which travels to Timberlake on Tuesday.

Lakeland    21    13    12    10    —    56

Sandpoint    11    18    17    17    —    63    

LAKELAND — Roth 16, Hensley 9, Norce 7, Ferguson 7, Harris 6, Varner 6, Hillman 3, Weil 2.

SANDPOINT — Jones 22, Childs 14, Chamberlain 10, Gion 6, Williams 3, Roos 2.

Ferris 68

Coeur d’Alene 60

SPOKANE — The visiting Vikings pulled to within one in the fourth quarter, but couldn’t get over the hump against the Saxons in nonleague play.

“We were focused at the offensive end. We weren’t too focused at the defensive end,” Coeur d’Alene coach Jon Adams said. “We just never made the extra pass, and they did.”

Sophomore Caden Symons made three 3-pointers, and scored 11 of his 23 points in the third quarter for Coeur d’Alene (10-3). Carter Rupp hit four 3s and added 14 points for the Vikings. 

Dylan Skaife hit four 3s and scored a game-high 24 points for Ferris (4-7). Cannon Dean hit six 3s and added 20 points for the Saxons, who totaled 14 3s.

“They shot incredibly well,” Adams said of Ferris.

Coeur d’Alene returns to action next Friday at Lake City in the Fight for the Fish spirit game.

Coeur d’Alene     14    11    20    15    —    60

Ferris     17    12    20    19    —    68

COEUR d’ALENE — Larson 0, Orchard 4, Rupp 14, Riley 0, Wheeler 13, Booth 2, Symons 23, Entzi 4.

FERRIS — Weledsenbet 6, Markham 12, Dean 20, Roland 2, Skaife 24, Merritt 2, Moffitt 2.

Genesis Prep JV 64

Kootenai 38

POST FALLS — Landon Gintz scored 19 points and Sawyer Bateman added 16 as the Jaguars junior varsity defeated the Warriors at The Courts at Real Life.

Chris Moore scored a game-high 23 points for Kootenai (0-4), which travels to Wallace on Tuesday.

“We got clobbered at both ends of the court with good offense and a tenacious defense,” Kootenai coach Tom Tucker said. “The boys played hard and never gave up, showing improvement in their fundamentals and ball movement, but struggled getting our offense moving.”

Kootenai    6    7    13    12    —    38

Genesis Prep JV    18    10    21    15    —    64

KOOTENAI — Addington 5, Braz 0, Derry 0, Strobel 2, Moore 23, Hodges 2, Unger 2.

GENESIS PREP JV — Swanson 2, S. Bateman 16, Gintz 19, Miller 4, I Bateman 4, Tucker 10, Hatten 0, Stewart 0, Stetzelberger 0, Morast 9.

The Oaks 63

N.I. Christian 40

SPOKANE VALLEY — Ethan Antone scored 14 points for the Royals in a Mountain Christian League loss to The Oaks.

Caden Smith scored 13 points for North Idaho Christian (7-5, 4-4 MCL), which faces Christian Heritage on Tuesday at the HUB Sports Center in Liberty Lake.

Cole Harken scored 31 points for The Oaks (7-3, 6-1).

N.I. Christian    11    9    15    5    —    40

The Oaks    16    17    16    14    —    63

NORTH IDAHO CHRISTIAN — Smith 13, Scott 0, Winde 1, Ca. Malinauskas 7, Lawhead 0, Antone 14, Hill 2, Co. Malinauskas 0, Finney 3.

THE OAKS — L. Van Horn 0, Wendt 0, Harken 6, Schurter 0, James 0, Doster 2, C. Van Horn 3, Bailey 10, Mattson 11, Harken 31.

Christian Center 57

Christian Heritage 16

POST FALLS — Carter Siers scored 14 points for the Lions in a Mountain Christian League win over the Patriots of Edwall, Wash., at The Courts at Real Life.

Michael Marshall scored 13 points for Christian Center (5-4, 4-4 MCL), which faces Pullman Christian at The Oaks in Spokane Valley on Monday.

Christian Heritage is 0-6, 0-6.

Christian Heritage    2    6    4    4    —    16

Christian Center    32    12    7    16    —    57

CHRISTIAN HERITAGE — Z. Calvin 4, Roberts 4, O. Pendell 0, Flowers 2, E. Calvin 0, Victor 2, N. Pendell 4.

CHRISTIAN CENTER — Tesky 7, Smith 6, Coppinger 6, McWhorter 2, Cotton 8, Marshall 13, Sperling 2, Mametiff 4, Paulson 5, Siers 14.

    MARK NELKE/Press Alex Shields, left, and Connor Carver of Post Falls surround Drew Hottinger of Lewiston on Friday night at The Arena.
  

    JASON DUCHOW PHOTOGRAPHY Lakeland junior Mason Hensley splits the Sandpoint defense on his way to the basket during Friday's Inland Empire League game at Les Rogers Court.